“Now, see that’s where your logic goes completely off the rails, my friend.” Kelsey picks up her water to take a small sip.
“Why’s that?” Angel throws back.
“First, because you’re presuming that Ry loves or hates tequila enough to disguise it enough with Kool-Aid.”
Angel gives Kelsey a pshaw gesture as if anyone wouldn’t want to drink that sickening-sounding concoction. “And?”
“And second, he’ll never be pregnant, so”—Kelsey shrugs—“there’s no chance he’ll ever feel your pain. Even if he was a tequila savant. Even if he lusted for the taste of green apple and Patrón mixed over ice with sugar…”
Angel picks up half of a fresh bun and throws it at Kelsey’s head. Kelsey ducks, and it flies harmlessly into the grass. “I hate you.”
“You love me,” Kelsey counters.
“I do. But right now, I want a Jolly Rancher to make up for you taunting me, and those things are nothing but crap.”
“So are Darin’s margaritas, but you want one of those,” Kelsey logically points out.
“You both realize that you’re giving Ry a terrible impression,” Darin calmly says. He’s rewarded for his sensibility by his pregnant wife chucking the other half of the bun at his head. Scowling, he demands, “What was that for?”
“For being logical. For making magical margaritas. For being so damn hot I want to carry your baby,” Angel lists.
“I’ll show you how hot I am,” Darin mumbles around another bite of his burger, unconcerned about his wife’s lunatic outburst.
Kelsey peals into laughter. Turning to face me, her smile is brighter than the setting sun. “Do you see why I need to find a place to live?”
I pick up my burger and take a hefty bite. Swallowing, I grin at her. “Just think of all the fodder you have for future books.”
“Hmm,” she answers noncommittally.
Angel’s head snaps up. “You wouldn’t dare.” Her face is comically horrified.
Darin snorts just as he takes a pull from his beer.
“Any resemblance to actual persons…” Kelsey begins to recite, but Angel interrupts.
“Oh, come on! There’s like a sacred rule between besties. You have to make me superhot having mad sex with a gazillionaire.”
Darin coughs loudly. “Excuse me?”
Angel flicks a hand at him. “She can make him look like you. Jesus, get over it.”
At this point, I can’t control my laughter any longer. “Is every day like this?”
It’s Kelsey who answers. “If by ‘like this’ you mean Angel being a lunatic, then yes. Once she’s claimed you as hers, she has no boundaries—emotional or physical.”
“Listen, just because I like seeing your hot body all wet in the shower…” Damn her, Angel times that comment just as I took a drink of my own beer. It ends up all down the front of my shirt and across my plate of food.
“God help me,” I wheeze out.
“He can’t, but if you haven’t seen her wet and naked yet, I can give you a verbal description,” Angel offers.
Luckily, Darin decides at that moment to gently place his fingers over his wife’s lips, giving me time to recover. “Sweetheart, if you don’t stop torturing Ry, I really will go make margaritas for the rest of us.”
Angel glares at him before yanking her head away and picking up her burger. “Fine. I’ll behave. So, tell me, Ry. What do you do?” Angel flutters her eyelashes at me innocently.
Looking down at my slightly soggy burger, I shrug before picking it up.
“I work for Bayou Enterprises.”
“No, what I’m asking is, can you keep my girl in her addiction for shoes?”
Kelsey’s head thunks against the table as she groans aloud. “Dare, control her, for Christ’s sake!”
“I haven’t had much luck in ten years, Kels. What makes you think I can start now?” he replies with a note of despair in his voice. Giving me a wink, he picks up his burger to show me exactly what I’m meant to see, which is that he finds the antics of these two friends—no, sisters—utterly hysterical.
I follow his lead. Taking another bite, I hold back my smile. Instead, my ears pick up the song I set for Kelsey’s ringtone as it plays softly through the speakers on the deck. Not that she has any idea I was already programming Dave Matthews’s song about finding your one person and hanging on to them through ups and downs as I was walking away from her at the gym. Sliding out of the chair, I offer her my hand. “Care to dance?”
“What? Here?” I nod. Slowly her hand slides into mine, and I’m pulling her from the bench.
Kelsey’s laughter, even as she shakes her head at my antics, makes me want to show off a little. I spin her out to the hoots and hollers of our audience, before yanking her back into my arms. Pulling her close, I begin to sing the refrain in her ear. “You make me a better person since the day we met. Every single day.”
Kelsey’s body molds to mine as she tugs my head toward her. Obliging her by leaning down, I accept her kiss, but when I taste her words against my lips, it’s then I know I’ll never be the same.
“I’ve been alone and still had you with me. I’m strong enough to survive that. It’s being with you and worrying you want this to head in the same direction I do that scares the hell out of me.” Pulling back slightly, her full lips quirk in a smile before she brushes a kiss against mine, then returns to the dinner table.
I’m shell-shocked standing there. Because in such a short time, she’s becoming everything.
We’ve known each other forever and in all the worst ways. Now, we’re getting to know each other in the best ones. Before, Kelsey was twisted and broken; now, she’s strong. The sadness that used to envelop her has been replaced with determination, will, and strength. She’s quick to anger when someone she cares for has been wronged. Better yet, she’s faster to apologize if she’s mistaken. She’s brilliant. She’s beautiful. And she cares about the hearts of everyone around her. I’m utterly besotted, captivated. Time isn’t going to change what I feel.
It isn’t going to take me much more before I’m ready to accept the fact I’ve fallen in love with her.
Rubbing a hand over my chest, I try to alleviate the ache settling there. I don’t even realize Darin’s come to stand next to me until a fresh beer’s placed in my hand. “So, based on the look on your face, I’m assuming I should stall on finding Kelsey a new house?”
My head jerks up a little to meet the dark black eyes of the six-foot-six former college ballplayer. “You’re her Realtor?”
He shrugs. “She’s the best and worst client ever. She has an unlimited budget but no idea what she wants other than to live close to us. Oh, and a shoe closet.”
I think about the two unused closets in my master suite, and a satisfied “Hmm” comes out of my mouth.
Darin shakes his head. “Any idea on how long it’s going to take before I can scratch her off my client list?”
Without thinking, I blurt out, “I’m going to have to get her on a plane back to Savannah.”
“The hell you are,” he rumbles. He takes a step forward to get into my space.
I hold up both hands. “I want to take her outside of the city to meet my parents.” And to get my grandmother’s engagement ring, but I keep that last part to myself.
“Oh.” The lean giant steps back. “Well, shit, man. She was swearing even before that reunion she was never heading back to that damn city.”
“Might be kind of tough for her to accept. If I can’t talk her into it, I don’t know what I’m going to do. Maybe fly my parents out?” I mutter to myself more than Darin.
He claps a hand down on my shoulder. “Let’s see how dinner with Angel’s family goes. If you survive that, then I’m certain you’ll be able to get her to do anything.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Since Kels only has grandparents, Angel’s family pretty much adopted her. If you think she”—he nods toward his wife, who’s
holding on to her stomach as she laughs at something Kelsey says—“is bad, wait till you get them all together. Madre Dios.” He makes the sign of the cross. “They’re all crazy as shit and have ears like a bat.” The last he says softly, but from the sudden stillness of the two women, they can hear him.
Fuck. “Do you think they heard what I said to you?”
“Nah, Angel woulda been screechin’… Hey, baby.” He offers her a winsome smile as his very pregnant wife waddles up.
“What are you two plottin’ over here?” she demands.
“Nothing,” we both answer.
Kelsey sidles up next to me and snags my beer out of my hands. She takes a pull and gives it back to me. “You know she’s honing in on her Mama Bear skills,” she warns us both.
I shudder in fear. “You’re going to make an excellent mother, Angel.” I try to charm my way out of disclosing what Darin and I were discussing.
“Uh-huh. You”—Angel points her finger in my direction—“have to deal with her. He…” The finger moves toward her husband, who pales slightly beneath his caramel-colored skin as Angel starts chastising him in Spanish.
I lean down and whisper in Kelsey’s ear, which is hard to do since her shoulders are shaking so hard. “What’s she saying,” I whisper.
“Do you want the edited version?”
It takes me half a second to decide. “Yes.”
“That she hopes he enjoyed having her this morning because if he’s helping to sell me out, it would be the last time he got any until the doctor gave her the all clear after the baby,” Kelsey starts laughing harder. She says something in Spanish back to Angel, who glares at her before giving her the middle finger.
“Thanks, Kels,” Darin says gratefully. Swooping in, he bends down and kisses his temperamental wife.
“Now, what did you say?” I’m thoroughly amused.
“That Angel liked riding his cock even more now that her hormones are out of whack with being pregnant with Lucy.” She shrugs. “Remember? I live here. The walls aren’t that thick.”
Angel giggles in her husband’s embrace. “I like them,” I declare resolutely.
Kelsey snuggles against me. “I’m glad. Outside of my grandparents, they’re the two most important people in my life.”
Even as my heart stutters over the idea of a future confrontation with her grandfather, I stroke the hair back from her face. “I hope to expand that circle soon.”
Her face shining in the early-evening sun, she asks, “Oh yeah? Who?”
Pulling her tight against me, I murmur, “Cade, who you haven’t met yet.”
She nods. “After this, it wouldn’t surprise me if you arranged for us to go out in the swamps gator watching or something.”
I laugh. “That writer’s imagination is going to get you in trouble.” But I continue. “Lisa.”
She smiles. “She’s already earning her own place, Ry. She’s a special woman.”
I take a deep breath, laying the groundwork for what’s to come. “And my parents.”
She stills in my arms, not saying a word. Her lips part, but no sound comes out.
“If it’s too soon, I’ll understand. But I need for you to appreciate…” She stops me from talking by placing her fingers over my lips.
“Give me just a moment.” My heart twists as a wrenching look of pain is chased away by one of serenity. “I thought for so long life was just wearing me down. I didn’t realize it was getting rid of all the bad parts for happiness to move in.”
“Kelsey,” I groan. I can’t stop myself from kissing her. I don’t care who’s watching. All I know is that we’re finally on the same page of the same story. And for once, it’s not a horror story.
Chapter 31
Kelsey
A little over a week later, we’re at Angel’s family’s home for Sunday dinner and forced family karaoke night. I think Ry’s rethinking our relationship if the terrified look on his face is any indicator while Angel and I sway our hips in time to belting out Destiny’s Child.
Forced family karaoke night is a tradition Angel’s family started years ago when Angel and her brothers began getting lives and disappearing all over the city to meet up with friends. Their mother, Maria, laid down the law about being home for one meal a week to spend some “maldito family time together.” When I used to come back from college with Angel to visit, we’d be breaking it down in the kitchen—much to her younger brother’s amusement—while we’d be helping Maria with dinner. It eventually led to Carlos challenging his sister to a boys versus girls sing-off.
What a mistake that was. Not once in eleven years have the boys won. I grin as I swivel my hips. Ry chokes on his beer as I belt out how I refuse to be played.
Maria’s selection comes up, and soon the three of us are harmonizing with Fleetwood Mac. By the end, I stop mimicking Christine McVie and stare at “Stevie” in concern.
“God help this child. She’s going to be on my teet learning to sing. Right out of the womb,” Angel bemoans.
“Classic rock runs through your blood, that’s for sure,” I agree, watching through narrowed eyes as Angel rubs a hand over Lucy before she collapses against Darin. “You okay over there?”
“She just gets active when…”
“When her mama is shakin’ it like she used to at college,” Darin pipes in.
Angel glares at him. “You keep scaring Ry,” she chastises her husband.
“No, sweetheart, I think you all are managing that all on your own,” he retorts. Facing Ry, he says, “The trouble I used to have to keep these two out of was ridiculous.”
“Really?” I’ve dropped down on the floor in front of Ry. As he’s talking, I feel his fingers run through my hair. “Even Kels?”
Darin snorts. I gasp. “I was a model…”
I can’t even get the rest of the sentence out before Darin jumps in. “Of how to be corrupted. Yes, you were.”
“I—”
“Resemble that remark. Don’t even try to wiggle your fine ass out of it, Kels.” Darin warns me, “You have no idea how many guys I warned off when you’d jump up next to this one”—he squeezes Angel—“on a table to dance.”
“Pshaw.” I dismiss his remark. “I think your memory is screwy.”
Carlos laughs from across the room where he’s been conspiring with Luis for the guys’ songs. “Not hardly, Kels. The first time you came home, I swore I’d figure out a way to get you to notice me.”
“You sure did that,” Luis pipes up. The shyest of the Riviera family, he often sits in the background letting the conversation flow around him. “How many times did you steal her bra and parade it through the house?” Even as shock courses through my own body, I feel Ry’s fingers clench in my hair.
“He was fourteen,” I quickly say, justifying it to the entire room. “He was likely just teasing the overweight girl.” I shrug off another memory that at the time burned a little, but since I never had siblings, I assumed was normal behavior. I’m mortified, and a little ashamed, to realize I made assumptions based on my own experiences. Not that it would have made a difference on the outcome, but I would have been more sensitive. Heart racing, I glance around at everyone with consternation. “Umm…”
Carlos’s face takes on a comical cast. “Is that what you thought?”
Luis smirks. “I told you, you don’t have as much game as you thought you did.”
His brother hits him. “Asshole,” he says before turning to me somewhat abashed. “Kels, I had a huge crush on you for years. I finally gave it up when I put it together you weren’t interested.”
Ry’s body is rigid against me. I slide my hand along his leg to reassure him, even though I never thought I’d ever be in a position where I have to defend a nonexistent past against my incredible present. “I hope I didn’t hurt your feelings in any way, Carlos,” I say.
And it’s true. Having lived my version of hell, I don’t want anyone else feeling less because of my actions. Well, maybe I wou
ld still savor jabbing my heels in the hearts of a few of my former classmates on both Ry’s and my behalf, but that’s different.
“Trust me, I’m more than content being your ‘brother.’” Carlos’s words nudge me from my reverie. His dark brown eyes crinkle at the corners when I collapse in visible relief. “Is that because you can’t handle all this?” he teases as he gestures up and down his body.
I shake my head. “No. I’m just thrilled I don’t have to feel guilty for having waited half my life for this—” I jerk my head back at Ry, who’s gone still again beneath me. “—and I don’t have to feel guilty about bringing it home with me.”
Before anyone can say a word, I’m being lifted off the floor and onto Ry’s lap. Before I can fully process the sudden change of position, his lips are devouring mine. Twining my arms around his neck, I fall into his kiss completely, forgetting where we are and who we’re with.
Moments later, when he lets me up for air, his lips gently brush against my still-closed eyes. “Waited half your life for? I’d swear, Kels, I’d wait not only this life but the next one to be right where I am right now with you.”
My heart sighs with happiness. I lean my head forward to rest it against his.
The moment is perfect until Luis declares, “Now see? Ry’s got the kind of game to get a woman like Kelsey.”
“Shut up, Luis!” is shouted from several different locations, the loudest being Maria as she smacks her youngest child upside the head.
I feel Ry shaking. Pulling back just a little, he grins before pointing a thumb at himself and saying, “I’ve got game, all right.”
It’s a measure of how far we’ve come that instead of stirring up our painful past, all I do is toss my head back and laugh—right before I slug him in the arm for his arrogance.
I couldn’t be more thrilled with the way our lives seem to be blending seamlessly.
* * *
We’re driving back to Ry’s place after delicious chili, jalapeño cornbread, and flan for dessert. Maria went all out with my favorite dishes when she found out I was bringing someone with me. “I’m stuffed,” I declare.
Easy Reunion Page 20
