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Shayna Curtis had made Billy want more from his life. She’d thrown light on all the dark, twisted places inside of him from which he’d been hiding. And now he was a goddamn wreck and a pressure cooker of rage and guilt and shame besides.
“He’s not wrong, is he,” Mo said, opening his locker. It came out as a statement, not a question.
“No,” Billy bit out.
“She got under your skin—”
“Goddamnit, I don’t wanna talk about Shayna,” Billy said, cutting Noah off.
“Too bad,” the Marine said, risking Billy’s ire by coming closer. All that separated them was the bench between the rows of lockers. “Because it was falling in love with Kristina that did the same damn thing to me.”
“I’m not fucking in lo—” His voice cracked on the lie.
Jesus Christ, it was a lie.
Billy braced his hands on his knees and heaved a breath.
Because he was in love with Shayna Curtis. The girl—no, the woman—who was supposed to have been off limits had stolen his fucking heart.
A big, meaty hand grasped his shoulder. “You gotta talk to someone, Billy. And you gotta talk to her.”
He forced himself into an upright position and met Mo’s dark stare. He didn’t know what to say. Not really. Not yet. So he just nodded.
“Or you could come take an art therapy class with us,” Noah said, a bit of humor playing around his mouth.
“Fuck that,” Billy managed, earning a few chuckles from the other men.
“Don’t knock it ‘til you try it, Parrish,” Mo said, folding his big arms.
Noah clapped Mo on the shoulder. “You know the big guy here’s taken so many art therapy courses that he’s on a first-name basis with all the instructors and helps out like a damn teaching assistant.”
Mo’s laugh was a deep rumble. “That shit chills me out. And you do not want to meet me unchilled. That’s all I’m saying.”
Billy managed a smirk. He couldn’t imagine Moses losing his cool like he was currently doing, nor did he wish the way he was feeling on anybody else anyway. Because this out-of-control shit sucked ass.
“Text her and tell her to come to dinner with us.” Noah gave him a no-nonsense look.
Mo nodded. “Longer you put it off, the more you’re going to build it up in your mind as something big and insurmountable.”
“All right,” Billy said, even though a part of him remained hesitant. He didn’t want her to see him when he was mid-losing-his-shit, but just talking to the guys had made him feel a little better. Though his problems were clearly too big and fundamental to be fixed by a single conversation no matter how helpful it’d been.
He saw that now. Still, maybe hanging with Shayna in a big group of friendlies was the perfect way to ease into the conversation he needed to have.
Once and for fucking all.
So he sent the text and invited her out.
And then he pecked out an email to Ryan:
Hey Ryan – Need to talk to you ASAP. Let me know when you can Skype? Nothing’s wrong, so don’t worry.
Now Billy just had to figure out what to say to both of the Curtises that would give him a chance in hell of earning him a chance at what he really wanted.
A woman. A relationship. A life that was bigger than himself.
Shayna was a bundle of nerves by the time she arrived at the barbecue joint where she was meeting Billy and his WFC friends. She’d been excited and really pleased that Billy thought to invite her, not to mention glad for him that he’d taken a break from working. And she was happy to get to see his friends again because she really liked them.
But she was also nervous because, without question, her apartment search was going to come up. And she’d have to tell Billy that she was leaning towards taking Malik up on his offer.
