Page 71 of Never Left You

“Who wants to bet he leaves with…” Rhett leaned forward, his eyes searching around The Steel. “Her.” He pointed to a blonde that was currently giving Wyattthelook.

Furrowing my brow, I turned to Abi. “Didn’t know The Steel was a tourist spot.”

“It’s not,” she replied. “People from the city come here for the experience.”

I rolled my eyes and turned back to the table. Lachlan’s shot glass was empty, and he was now sipping the Coke Kyla had brought him. Kyla had water with lemon, and Abi was already half done with her Arnold Palmer. Then there was me with my beer still full, only the one sip missing, when I normally would have chugged down the first half in five minutes.

“So,” Abi began, leaning across the table to Kyla. “Names. Tell me names.”

“Well, if it’s a boy…” Rhett began.

“Nope.” Kyla put her hand over his mouth. “We’re not telling until they are born.”

“What! Everyone had a say in Stetson’s name,” Abi protested.

“You named him after your favorite hat,” Lachlan piped up.

“I did not. Besides, a Stetson was Sylas’s favorite hat. I wanted to name him something different, something Sylas’s Latina mom would approve of, but no. He wanted to gocountrylike his dad did while naming him. Sylas isn’t exactly a traditional Hispanic name.” Abi chuckled, most likely enjoying the memory of her husband. “So we compromised. Stetson Alejandro Acosta. Martina protested once we told her the name, she wanted us to flip it. Alejandro was her father's name.”

“See.” Kyla pointed at Abi. “The way you said his mom protested. I don’t want anyone judging our names before they are born, and yes, we’ve picked them already.” With the same hand she had pointed at her sister-in-law, Kyla rested her chin on her fist, narrowing her eyes at Abi.

“Once Rhett’s tongue gets a little looser, he’ll let us know,” Lachlan said smoothly.

“In that case, come on Mr. Hartwell. Let’s go play pool.” Kyla grabbed her husband’s forearm and dragged him from the booth.

“She’s going to beat his ass.” Abi moved to the other side of the table, her gaze meeting mine in an instant.

I felt my knees shake again. I couldn’t get over how stunning she looked, how absolutely perfect. If I thought there was something going on before—those times when I almost kissed her, those times when I did touch my lips to her skin—looking at her now there was one hundred percent something going on with me and this woman. Saying it out loud to Sylas’s grave this morning just made it more solid, more true. I wanted to push Lachlan out of the booth, wrap her in my arms and kiss hersenseless. I wanted to taste the lemonade on her tongue and feel her skin under my fingertips.

Yeah…everyone most definitely caught on to the looks I was giving her. There was no hiding them now as we held each other’s gazes.

Lachlan elbowed me slightly. “This is awkward as fuck. I’m going to go play darts.” His elbow hit deeper in my side, forcing me out of the booth. I stood and watched as Lachlan left. And now, Abi and I were alone.

Did the air with us get that thick that fast, or was Lachlan just being polite and letting me have a moment with her?

Abi lifted her half empty glass to me. “To Sylas?”

I clinked her glass. “To Sylas.”

“Do you think he would be happy Kyla shared the news today?” Abi asked, a slight tilt to her. “You know he loved having the attention on him.”

I nodded, “One hundred percent. I think as long as we are celebrating something, he’d be happy. He knows we love and miss him. He would be thrilled to know that we were drinking to a pregnant lady. He’d drink more just for her.” I leaned my head back, hoping to pull off the same kind of enthusiasm Sylas would have had.

She smiled. “He would have been. You’re right—that man just wanted to party for everything.”

“Stet got his enthusiasm. After helping me with Quinn’s practice, he was jumping, asking me when I could get him on the back of a bucking horse.”

“Oh God,” Abi grumbled. “He loves the rodeo. He wants to do it all.”

“Kid asked if we could watch my old rodeo videos.”

“I think seeing you in the arena the other day gave him that idea. He’s absolutely enamored with you.”

“Enamored?”

“Extremely. When you leave, the kid will lose it.”

“Enamored,” I parroted once more, the word ingraining itself in my mind. Then—stupidly, I didn’t think before I spoke. “Wanna know who I’m finding myself enamored with?”

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