Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 65083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 325(@200wpm)___ 260(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Now I’m kicking myself. I should have given myself at least a few days. I should have trusted my old friends that much.
Gage is still waiting. “That’s a tricky one to answer,” I hedge.
“You mean Scott won’t want you spending time with us.”
“No, he won’t.” And even though I’m done taking my cues from my boyfriend, I do try to avoid conflict. I sigh. “I hate fighting.”
“You never minded it with us.”
I laugh. “With Kai, you mean.”
“He did have a genius for setting you off.” Gage’s eyes twinkle.
I grin. “And vice versa, to be fair.”
The song ends, but I’m not ready for this moment to end. Neither is Gage, it seems. We stand on the dance floor, watching each other. “So what have you two been up to, anyway?” I ask.
His eyebrows go up. “You don’t know?”
I frown. “No. Should I know?”
From the corner of my eye, I see the DJ signaling me. It’s time for the cake. This wedding keeps interrupting my reunion.
I squeeze Gage’s arm. “I’m sorry; I need to go deal with a few things.”
He nods. “I’ll be here.”
Fifteen minutes later, the cake has been cut. My dad and Belinda are making the rounds, chatting with all their guests. I look to the back of the room and see Kai and Gage standing together; there’s a third man with them.
It has to be Thorn. He’s built like a slightly smaller version of Kai, which is even more mind-bending in his case. Thorn is three years younger than his big brother, a year younger than me. He was the kid who tagged along on all our adventures, a puny eleven-year-old when I left. There is absolutely nothing puny about him now.
My father comes up next to me. He looks where I’m looking and after a moment says, “I never liked those boys.”
Anger, hot and bright, slashes through me. That was the other reason I used to hate my father, the other thing I couldn’t forgive him for; it hurt even more, if I’m honest, than him cheating on my mother. “Those boys were my best friends.”
“They were a bad influence on you.”
“They kept me sane. God only knows what I might have gotten caught up in if I hadn’t had them.”
Dad shakes his head. “At least you have better taste in men now. Where is Scott, by the way?”
I laugh, and it’s not a friendly sound. “He left. Let me know when you and Belinda want to wrap things up.”
He looks at me like he wants to say something else, but fortunately thinks better of it. “Another few minutes.”
I nod and make my way to the back. Since I’m expecting Thorn, it’s easy to recognize him, but the changes in him are still impressive. I stop at his side and smile. “You grew up.”
He turns, and I’m startled by the flash of heat in his eyes. “So did you.”
Ava’s words come back to me—Have you seen your boyfriends?—and for a split second, I wish myself into one of those alternate realities, a fantasy realm where it’s true.
In this world, the gods don’t like me that much. I let the fantasy go. “I’m nearly done here. Do you all have time to grab a drink?”
“It’s Saturday,” Kai says. “Family dinner. You should come with us.”
“Scott would be welcome too, of course,” Gage says diplomatically.
Kai grins, a fierce baring of teeth. “Yeah. Bring him along.”
Every weekend, when we were kids, we ate dinner at Kai and Thorn’s house. His parents always welcomed Gage and me like we were family, too.
Fifteen years of family dinners that I’ve missed. Longing pierces me again. “I’d love that.”
Scott will hate it.
Too bad.
I look for my father. He’s watching us, and I can imagine what he’d say if he were close enough. I don’t care. This reunion is happening, and anyone who doesn’t like it can get lost.
I raise my eyebrows in question; Dad nods. I signal the DJ, who announces, “All right, everyone, this is our last dance before the bride and groom leave.”
“My turn,” Kai says, and before I can ask him what he means, he’s taking my hand and leading me out onto the dance floor.
I’m flustered, just like I was when he first showed up. Was he watching me with Gage? Is he, what, jealous?
I can’t process that, so I go with my other reaction: Gage asked, Kai didn’t. I scowl up at him. “Bossy much?”
His eyes glitter. “Hard not to be, with you.”
“What does that mean?”
The hand splayed across my lower back pulls me even closer. “You make me want things, Lexy. All kinds of things.”
Evidence of that presses against my belly, and the size of it makes my legs weak. Wrong as it is, my body has an instant need for Kai to pin me against a wall and show me just what he can do with it.