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“Well, damn,” Holden said. “Great game, everyone.”
“Congratulations, Billie,” Owen added.
Brayden laughed. “I guess that’s what happens when you bring a badass girl to poker night. She beats all of us, and we can’t even swear at the winner like we normally do because we don’t want to seem like the assholes we are.”
“Swear away. I can take it,” she said.
I walked around the table and gave her a celebratory kiss on the cheek.
“Hey, no kissing, remember?” she teased.
“Oh, yeah. Forgot…” I said as I took a long sniff of her neck.
“What the fuck?” Holden drew in his brows. “Does he always sniff you like that?”
“It’s what we do instead of kiss,” she said.
“Y’all are weird,” Holden said, getting up from his seat and heading to the bathroom.
I chuckled and took our trash to the kitchen. Owen followed.
He spoke in a low voice. “You’ve been holding out on me. What’s really going on between you and that vixen? I ain’t buying that not-dating crap.”
“Could you maybe try a little harder not to stare at her chest, so I don’t have the urge to murder my best friend?”
“Was I?” His eyes widened. “Shit. Sorry. I didn’t even realize. Maybe I need to get laid.”
I arched a brow. “What’s going on there? Dry spell?”
“Work’s been too damn busy. I haven’t gone out in ages.” He shook his head. “Wait. I see what you did there. Don’t change the subject. I asked you a question. What’s the deal with Billie?”
I sighed. “The deal with Billie is that…we seem to like each other…a lot. But she doesn’t want to date me. So we’re pretending like we’re not dating so we can spend time together.”
“So, you’re essentially dating.”
“Undating,” I corrected.
“Believe what you want.” He shook his head. “Anyway, why doesn’t she want to date you?”
“I think she’s scared. Wouldn’t you be? I mean, any woman in my life has to consider the possibility of being a mother to a child who’s not hers. That would be enough to make me run away.”
“Has she met Saylor?”
“She has. Saylor freaking adores her.”
Owen smirked. “Saylor isn’t the only one. You really like her. I can tell by the way you look at her.”
I smiled. “Remember when your dad took us on that fishing trip when we were twelve? You caught that big, beautiful bass? We were all so damn envious of you. None of us had been able to catch anything all day. That thing was wiggling like crazy to get away from you. And it won. It broke away from the hook somehow, and you lost it after all that. Remember?”
He grinned. “Yeah. I sure do.”
“Well, that bass reminds me of Billie.”
“Because she’s a great catch?”
“No.”
He crushed a pizza box. “Not seeing where you’re going with this, then.”
“I haven’t finished yet,” I said.
“Well, don’t forget what happened after I lost the bass, by the way. I caught it again.”
“Yeah. That’s getting to my point. The second time you threw it back—after all that work. We didn’t even get to take it home and eat it. So, Billie is like the bass. I want her. And she’s struggling to get away—because she wants me, too, I think, but I scare her. Ultimately, though, I’m not even sure if I’m right for her long term. So, the thought is always there that even if I did catch her, I might—”
“Throw her back in the ocean for her own good?”
“Figuratively. Yeah.” I rubbed my temples.
“Well, since we’re talking fish metaphors,” he said. “There are a lot of fish in the sea, but a bass like that is worth fighting for, if it’s what you really want.”
“I wasn’t expecting this, man. You know? I’d written off the possibility of finding someone I could connect with, at least until Saylor was older. But she just came out of nowhere.”
“Life has a way of surprising us when we least expect it. Good and bad.” He opened the garbage and put in some of the trash we’d piled on the counter. “I envy you, though.”
“Why?” I crossed my arms. “You want blue balls, too?”
“You’ve found someone you’re passionate about. I haven’t experienced that in…well, ever. I’d rather be alone than waste my time with someone I’m not that into. That’s part of why I haven’t dated a lot lately. But if you can find that passion? Shit! Don’t let it go.”
Owen worked with a lot of attractive women who were constantly throwing themselves at him. But he found that to be a turnoff. He wanted to be the chaser. And he was picky. He deserved to be.
“You’ll find her someday,” I said.
“Find who?” Brayden asked as he entered the kitchen. “If you guys don’t come back out soon, I’m gonna start flirting with that smokeshow you brought tonight, Colby. Can’t believe she kicked all our asses. I also can’t believe I never saw her downstairs before. If I had, I might’ve gotten to her first.”
