“I hoped.”
I go still.I hoped.NotI knew— not the certain one, not the all the way in one.I hoped.I sit with that for a second before I cover it.
“That’s the closest thing to vulnerable I’ve ever heard you say.”
“Don’t push it.”
“I’m going to need you to say that again sometime.”
“No.”
“For the book.”
“Absolutely not.”
He’s trying not to smile. I’m already smiling. Brick watches from the manuscript with great neutrality.
“The Fancy Cat can,” I say. “From the night we argued at the grocery store. I tried to give it to Dina once. She walked away.”
“Apparently.”
“It’s been on the shelf for over a year.”
“I know.”
“You never asked for it back.”
He looks at Brick. At Dina. At the room. “Didn’t need to,” he says.
I look at my hands. Then at him. “I asked for Liam’s number that night. On the way out of the grocery store.”
“I paid the check anyway.”
“You knew.”
“I knew something.” He looks at me. “Didn’t know what yet.”
I shake my head. He watches me do it. I look at the room and then at him and then at the room again.
“Okay,” I say.
Just that.
Okay.
Brick’s on the manuscript. Dina’s in the window. The Fancy Cat can’s on the shelf. The coffee cups are his and hers. The plant is alive.
Everything exactly where it belongs.
I stayed.
For the first time, I’m not something being chosen around.
I’m the point.
And I don’t feel like I have to prove it.
If you loved Jax and Nova’s Smexy love story then you’ll LOVE Book one in the Canyon Bay Heat Series. Pucking Off-Sides With My Brother’s Best Friend!
