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When Alley pulled back and he saw her tears he was at her side in a second. “Baby, are you okay?” He touched the side of her face with his palm gently.
“Honey, I’m fine. Give us a minute, okay?” she asked him, nodding her head in my direction.
I hadn’t moved and when Landon looked over, I could only imagine what he saw, but his expression was full of understanding. Looking back at his wife, he gave her a quick kiss. “Sure, I will see you out front in a bit, take your time.”
But as he walked back toward the door, he turned just before he left and looked at me again. “I don’t know what's going on, but I am always there for you if you need an ear.”
Then he walked out.
Witnessing their love after everything they had gone through was amazing, even if it was a little painful at times too.
“Is it any wonder why I love that man so much?” Alley said.
“I’m happy for you,” I told her with a genuine smile on my face. It was great to see her that way.
Smiling at me, she grabbed my hands and looked me in the eye.
“What she did to you was awful. As hard as it is to hear, I am a straight shooter, and I have to say that woman wouldn’t know what love truly was if it smacked her in the face with a sledgehammer. You deserve the real thing.”
“Alley—” I started, but this time she cut me off as I had done her moments before.
“Just as Landon said, I’m here for you whenever you need to talk. You took the first step toward healing, now keep going. And if you want me to take my bat to your hometown and teach the girl and everyone else a lesson, I can do that too.”
I knew she was kidding. Well sort of. But her friendship and the warrior in her on my behalf felt good. That still didn’t mean I wanted to keep taking these trips down memory lane. Or that I believed I could let it all go and find someone to spend my life with. I had chuckled at her comment though and that felt good.
“She is stupid for giving someone as special as you up. You happen to be one of my favorite humans in the world,” she said with a cheesy smile on her face.
“That’s just because you don’t like very many humans,” I replied, laughing.
Alley shrugged her shoulders. “This is true. I’d much rather interact with animals or talk to myself than most people.”
Then before we left to go find her husband and I could finish my workday, she touched my arm and left me with one more parting comment. One that had me second-guessing myself on the matter of ever finding another person to share my life with.
“Don’t let her win, Kace. Don’t let that girl take your chance at real love away from you.”
I let Alley head out and I stayed back. My body was tense, my mind was in a million places, and I needed to process all the emotions spinning out of control after our conversation.
It was my turn to shoot.
ChapterEight
TEAL
I couldn’t believeI was going through with it.
It was the weekend after Alley had come intoNo Surrenderand the girls happened to be free on Sunday so we were finally getting together.
The rest of the week had gone fairly well, but I still couldn’t forget the look on Kace’s face when he and Alley had come out to the lobby after he’d been giving her a lesson. Of course, Alley didn’t say a word about what happened back there, but I knew it was a whole lot more than shooting.
They’d both seemed off-kilter.
Seeing Kace like that and watching him struggle the rest of the week with whatever may have been said, tripped me up inside.
But why?
I didn’t truly understand most of the feelings I had been having since I got to the city and started my new job. I’d like to blame it on my pregnancy but I knew there was more to it. Right then, I shoved my thoughts aside and got ready for my day out.
Alley was picking me up and we were meeting the others for lunch first and then would hit the mall. I’d never gone out to eat or gone shopping with a friend before.
