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Her glare softens. “Tav.” When she calls my name, I can’t help but really look at her. Since Kane claimed her as his, I’ve come to care for the woman, like I imagine I’d care for a sister. I can tell right now that she’s being sincere, and this means something to her. “I want you to be happy. I think if you let her, she’d make you happy.”
“You don’t think I’m letting her?” Well, fuck, it appears I’m the one losing the bet after all.
Nevaeh studies me, a little wrinkle between her brows. “I can’t tell. But something is off. You’re—I don’t know. I think you’re holding yourself back. And I think she’s—I think she might not know how to push.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean you’re a hard nut to crack. And she’s soft.” She steals a quick peek at Olympia, who’s gone back to talking with Candace about med school. “If you don’t open up for her, she has no hope of ever getting inside.”
“Then maybe she shouldn’t be inside at all.”
Nevaeh frowns at me. It’s sad, like she’s hurting for me. I don’t like it. “I’m pretty sure she’s in love with you, so if you decide not to let her in, you’re going to hurt her. And if you hurt her—” Her eyes hold mine. “I think she’s the kind of soft that builds walls. The kind of walls you won’t be able to break down or climb. I think—I think she’s been hurt before—” Her voice drops. “Like me.”
My blood cools. My pitch drops. “Like you?”
She nods slowly. “Maybe not quite as intensely—as physically—but someone has hurt her. Someone has scared her. I can tell by the way she tenses when she’s touched. Even by you. She doesn’t know—” She rolls her lips in thought. “I don’t think she knows who she can trust. I don’t think she can differentiate between someone who just says they’ll care for her, and someone who means it when they say it. That comes from experience, and I don’t think she has that experience.”
When I say nothing, because my tongue is dry where it sits stuck to the roof of my mouth, Nevaeh gives my arm a squeeze before she pushes up from the chair. Having said what she needed to say, she walks away.
It takes me a solid minute to un-stick my tongue. With a pull on my beer, I rise from my chair to close the distance between me and my—what the fuck is she to me? A bet? An inconvenience from my past? My fake girlfriend? Or something else? Something more? Something I’ve yet to discover…
Pushing the thoughts from my mind, I decide to let that uncover itself as it does.
Without the final piece of the puzzle, there’s no deciding anything.
As I lower myself to the edge of the pool behind Olympia, my legs spread wide around her hips, my hand sliding around the small of her waist to rest on her belly, she tenses. It’s not a lot, but after Nevaeh’s words, I note it. I don’t like it.
Tugging her back into my front, I drop my chin to her shoulder, reveling in the way she shivers when my scruff scrapes against soft bare skin as I tip my head to the side to murmur gently in her ear, “Relax, Princess.”
“I am,” she lies. I grin, because her voice couldn’t be pitched higher.
“You’re not.” I let my thumb drift over her belly, noting the sound of her breath hitching.
“Tav.” My name is a protest I ignore as I run my lips down the side of her neck.
“Your skin is so soft.” Goosebumps rise on her flesh. I love how responsive she is to even the most simple of touches. My voice pitches low, husky. Hungry. “You smell so damn good.”
I’m not sure she’s breathing now as she twists in my arms to glance over her shoulder at me. Her eyes seem to ask if my words are for her or for the audience we have. To answer her question, I let my hand drift from her belly to her jaw. Angling her head, I hold her blue eyes for a long moment before I take her mouth. I kiss her softly, gently, and, I realize, just for her.
I break the kiss as Kane splashes us, kicking a wave back at him in response. Then I go back to holding Olympia as Candace leans back against Ian’s chest, gliding her feet in the water as she says, “So, when are you starting class again, Pippa?”
“September. I couldn’t get in earlier, or I would have. I plan to work at Laurier Lines in the city as soon as I have a car.”
“You need a car?” Kane asks, and I don’t miss the way he smirks at me. “Why didn’t you say?”
“Um…” Olympia shrugs. “Why would I?”
Kane holds Nevaeh close as he swims closer. “We’re friends. Friends help each other out.” I can feel Olympia tensing in my arms. “I’ve got a spare car you could borrow until you get one, if you want to get yourself free of your big bad boyfriend to go work.”
She straightens, wiggling against me as she does. “You’d really let me borrow your car?”
I growl. It’s an animal sound that surprises even me. “If she needs a car, she can use one of mine.”
“Oh.” Kane’s gonna get himself a knock upside the head if he keeps this shit up. “I just figured that was off the table considering she’s been trapped here with no way to escape your sorry ass.”
Alright, that’s enough. I start to stand, but Olympia’s hands on my thighs make me pause. She twists to face me again, and I’m not sure what she sees in my eyes, but whatever it is has her turning to Kane.
“I don’t want to escape, Tav.” Something hot unravels in my chest. “I kinda like him. Besides, I’m getting a car in three weeks.” She smiles, and it’s filled with mischief I want to devour. “I just haven’t decided what I want yet.”
