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My parents let their wishes be known and then left us alone to make our own choices. It was a big part of why we were all still so close. They never judged either one of us for the choices we made and were always there to pick us up when we fucked something up.
Just as I turned to go back into the kitchen to see if my mom needed any help, Zen strolled into the yard, looking like he owned the place.
"Hey, Mr. E, Hale." He greeted my dad and brother with a tilt of his chin before his eyes landed on me. "What's up?"
"Just got here. Where's Kennedy?" I asked.
"Oh…" He looked decidedly uncomfortable. The fuck? "Amara flew down this morning as a spur of the moment thing, and they've got plans."
I perked up. Amara was here? Remember earlier when I talked about finding that girl who I could picture my future with? The one I could look at the way my dad looked at my mom? I had a sneaking suspicion Amara could be that girl for me. The best friend of my best friend's wife. She was stunning, an exotic beauty like no one I'd ever seen before.
I had to try and play it cool. "Amara's here? I thought she had to work."
Zen shifted again. Now I knew something was up. It wasn't like him to be anything other than completely confident. "Yeah, it was sort of a last-minute emergency thing."
My heart started to beat faster. Was she in some kind of trouble? "Emergency? What kind of emergency?"
"It's nothing, Kennedy's handling it."
What kind of bullshit was that? "If it was important enough to take off work and fly down here, it's obviously not nothing. Tell me what the fuck is going on."
Zen looked at me critically, his gaze narrowing. "Why do you care so much? What don't I know?"
Ah, shit. I had not played that coolat all. What happened between Amara and me was private, but I'd been dying to talk to someone about her. Zen was my best friend, but he'd tell Kennedy anything I told him. I knew it, which was why I hadn't talked to him about Amara yet.
I pulled him to the side of the house, not wanting any of the other guests showing up to overhear what I was about to tell him. Fuck it, I needed advice because what I'd been doing so far had been a spectacular failure.
I blew out a breath and crossed my arms. "You can't repeat anything I'm about to tell you."
"But-"
"Obviously Kennedy's the exception. I'm not that big of a dick. I know you're going to tell her whatever I tell you. That's why I haven't said anything up until now."
He grinned at me. "I'd say I'm sorry, but I'm really fucking not. I love my wife."
I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah. We all know. You love her often and loudly."
He chuckled. "Out with it."
I sighed. "Remember when we first met Amara? That weekend trip they took to LA?"
"Yeah, when we did the interview?"
"Right. Well, I'm sure you warned her off of me and rightly so. But I took one look at her and, Z, I've never wanted anyone as much as I wanted her."
"Shit."
"Yeah, shit's about right. I tried all my normal bullshit, flirting with her like crazy. None of it worked. Nothing. But when she came on tour with us we talked. We started getting to know each other, and she's so fucking cool. We started texting, but I thought she'd friend-zoned me pretty hard."
"Sounds right."
"Shut up, asshole. When we all went to Hawaii for your wedding, we were hanging out, dancing and drinking. One thing led to another and…" Fuck, I hoped he got what I meant because it felt wrong to talk about being with Amara that way.
"Wait, did you fuck her?" he asked.
"Don't talk about her like that, but… yeah. Yeah, I did." I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face at the memory. It was a bit hazy because we were both really fucking drunk, but it was still a great night.
"Oh, shit." His brows furrowed, his eyes moving back and forth without really seeing me.
