Catalina pipes up instantly, “Reed doesn’t do physical touch, Layla, get with the program.”
“Yes, he does,” Amelia cuts in, rolling her eyes. “He hugged me at our baby shower, you guys saw.”
“That was a side hug,” Maverick calls, already laughing. “Doesn’t count.”
The group erupts with loud, overlapping voices, but Reed never looks away from me.
It feels like the noise around us turns into static. Like it’s just me, leaning against the bar, and him, standing firm in the chaos as his eyes are locked onto mine.
My smile softens. “It’s good to see you.”
His jaw flexes as his eyes sweep over my face like he’s memorizing it. When he finally answers, it’s quiet, so quiet I almost miss it over the noise of Boots & Bourbon.
“You too, sunshine.”
Sunshine? SUNSHINE?! HELLPPP.
My heart practically skips a beat. Butterflies hit me so hard I almost lose my breath.
I give him a curt smile, turning my attention back to the group.
Catalina’s laughter rings above the music, her hands flying as she recounts some dramatic story, and Carter watches her like she hung up the moon and the stars, holding on to her tightly as he kisses her knuckles.
The sight of that makes me tear up, but I swallow it down.
I want that.
Amelia mutters under her breath about swollen ankles and heartburn, but the second Maverick presses a kiss to her temple, she softens, leaning into him despite her grumbling.
I jump right in, loud and laughing, rubbing Amelia’s belly every chance I get until Maverick swats at me, groaning that she’s his wife.
Weirdo.
Catalina and I scream-laugh at that, and Carter pinches the bridge of his nose, sighing, while tugging her into his lap.
The chaos swirls around us, and this is the only place I truly feel like I can be myself and have fun when I’m withmy friends, my soul sisters, and I guess their wild husbands, too.
It’s easy to get caught up in it, easy to forget the ache in my chest, the text burning a hole in my bag, the reason I left in the first place.
Every time I glance up, Reed’s eyes are always on me, not once wavering.
Always steady. Always watching.
When our eyes lock, he looks away just as quickly, dropping his focus back to a glass, a rag, or the bottles lined neatly behind him.
Hours slip by, drinks and laughter flowing until the night stretches long. One by one, my friends peel away—Amelia crying about her feet hurting as Maverick carries her out, Catalina dragging Carter toward the door while mumbling about it’s their facemask and bubble bath time.
Just like that, the noise is gone.
I’m perched at the bar, scrolling through my phone, checking my stats as Reed wipes down the same glass, all while doing everything in his power not to look at me.
He clears his throat, the sound making me sit up straighter. “Where are you staying?”
I bite my lower lip, glancing toward the door my friends disappeared through. “I… didn’t want to intrude. They deserve their privacy with their obsessed husbands.” My voice softens around the last words, a smile curling my lips. “I found a place outside of Ruby Ridge, called the Lone Star Motel.”
“The Lone Star Motel?” His voice rumbles low, “Layla, that place is barely standin’. The roof leaks when it rains, and the locks don’t always stick. You shouldn’t be staying there.”
The rag in his hands is abandoned, tossed onto the bar.His eyes find mine, and my chest tightens under the weight of them.
