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“Just friends?”
“There’s no point in anything more.” She didn’t bother to hide the disappointment in her voice, and Shelby squeezed her shoulder in commiseration. “Neither of us is into casual flings, and other than this one month, our lives are hundreds of miles apart.”
“Hmm. That’s a shame. The miles apart that is—not the casual stuff.”
You’re telling me.
Someone called her name, and as she turned to look, Reyes’ lashes lifted and their gazes connected. Her heart thumped hard. Seconds ticked by as the world shifted beneath her feet while undeniable yearning made it hard to swallow.
“A real shame,” Shelby whispered before walking between them.
She blinked as the connection was broken, and then her cousin Merit stepped up to envelop her in a bear hug. Raine spent the next five minutes making her way around the island and table, giving hugs to everyone. Grandma and Grandpa, Asher and Honor, Devante, Celia and Robert, Merit, Mae, and Ian, and last but not least, Loyal and Roxanna.
Merit and Mae’s little guy Maverick was firmly ensconced in Grandma Irene’s arms, so she turned to Reyes, who still held Ava. “My turn.”
He twisted away with a teasing smile. “I just got her.”
“I haven’t even met her.”
“Fine, you win.”
She leaned forward to take the baby, her pulse kicking up when his large hands brushed against hers in the exchange. She focused on Ava, teasing and tickling to make her smile and giggle. Asher and Honor watched from over by the island, but the two seemed content with having a break.
After a few minutes, the baby fussed and twisted in her arms, so she turned her around to face all the action. When Reyes held out a rattle, Ava seized it and shook her little fist with gusto. After the first smack to her face, Raine laughed before ducking backward to avoid a second. Reyes was quick to switch the rattle for a stuffed animal.
“Good call,” she said with a smile of thanks. “I didn’t know you were going to be here.”
“Dev made me come.”
His wry tone had her arching her brows.
He rolled his eyes the tiniest bit. “He thinks I need to socialize more.”
Despite their acrimonious start earlier in the week—and last summer—anytime she’d seen him interact with other people, he seemed friendly and outgoing. But after their talk at the pool, she was pretty sure she could read between the lines. “Because of…?”
His eyes were a dark shade of green, solemn and shadowed. “Yeah.” He shifted his gaze to the baby and reached out to let Ava wrap her tiny hand around his finger. “He’s not wrong.”
Sympathy pulsed with each heavy thump of her heart. Yet another reason they couldn’t act on the chemistry between them—she wouldn’t be the one to screw up a job that helped him deal with the horror he’d lived through.
So…friends it would be.
She leaned the baby in to plant a slobbery kiss on his cheek as she said, “Then I’m glad you’re here.”
13
Emotion swelled in
Reyes’ chest at Raine’s soft statement. Other than his brother, she was the only one here who knew exactly what he’d gone through. Well, he suspected Dev had told Shelby some, but he’d never talked to her about it himself.
Yesterday, he’d spent the entire day without any heavy moments cutting off his air until later in the evening when he laid in bed and tried to turn the light off for the first time in months. It took all of five seconds before he had to flip it back on, but at least as he drifted off to a replay of the day spent with Raine, he’d gotten a restful night’s sleep.
While he had told her his brother made him come today, knowing she was going to be there, he hadn’t scrambled for an excuse when the invite was issued. And Dev was also right that he needed to stop isolating himself at the stables with the horses. Other than the Diamonds, he hadn’t taken any time to reconnect with high school friends still in the area, and he only texted his Army buddies every so often.
Sitting at brunch with all of the new, happy families, watching how cute Maverick and Ava were as they interacted with everyone, he found himself yearning for more in his own life. And with that yearning, he couldn’t help watching and listening to Raine across the table during brunch, and later, when everyone pitched in to clean up after the meal.
She was a vision with her loose hair falling in soft waves past her shoulders. A gauzy, mint shirt brought out the green in her hazel eyes, and a pair of white jean capris showed off her great ass and legs. Hell, even the gold sandals on her small feet were enough to make his pulse skip.
Stop looking.
