Page 26 of Eye of the Hurricane
“Ravyn doesn’t really do girlfriends. Just hookups,” Audi cuts in.
“Bring your random hookups if you’re worried about it, then,” Roman offers.
“No, it’s fine. I’ll just suffer.” Ravyn pauses for a moment then sticks a finger in the air. “And complain! Don’t forget that part,” she adds.
“Couldn’t if we wanted to, Ray!”
Sebastian walksin with Beck and the first thing I notice is the South Carolina Sea Dragons hoodie he’s wearing. My first thought is Katherine. God knows I’ll take any excuse I can to bring her up these days.
“Sea Dragons fan?” I ask, looking down at the logo on his top. His eyes drop to his own hoodie before laughing.
“I play for the team. I’m the goalie.”
“Sorry, not a big hockey guy, clearly,” I say with a laugh. For a moment, I was worried I offended him by not knowing who he was or that he was a player at all. He’s really chill about it, though, and laughs with me.
“Don’t worry about it, prefer not being recognized everywhere I go, anyway,” he admits. I can’t say I blame the guy.
“My… friend Katherine is actually going for the job they’re posting for the new PR manager.” He catches the hesitation before the word friend and cracks a smile.
“Well, tell your ‘friend’ Katherine I said good luck. I think women being in athletics is badass. I hope to see a new face.”
“She gets a lot of shit for being a woman in the space. From the team, mostly, but sometimes management.”
“From my guys?” he asks, eyebrows shooting up.
“No, the team she works with now. At the university.”
“I’ll be sure my guys are nice to her,” he assures me.
“Thank you.” There’s something possessive that stirs in me when I thank him for looking after her. It feels a lot like asking someone to look out for my girl, except she’s not mine to protect. I glance over to see what everyone else is up to.
Ravyn talks a good game about hating the guys and feeling outnumbered but when I look over at the living room, she’s all laughs talking to Beck.
“Ares!” Roman calls to me from the sliding doors that go out to the deck. “Come help me cook.”
“That’s my cue,” I tell Sebastian before turning and following my brother out back.
Roman puts me on chicken duty while he finishes up the steak burgers. Audra leans on the door frame, watching us with a soft smile. We make eye contact and she mouths ‘my boys’ to me. Naturally, I mouth back ‘shut up’.
I give her shit because it’s what we’ve always done. She’s had a hell of a year, though. It’s a weight off of my chest to see her so happy and at peace.
“Same time next Sunday?”I ask on my way out of the front door.
“Yep! I’m sure we’ll see you before then, though.” Audra says with a laugh. I’m sure she’s right. Until school starts back up, I’ll be spending most of my time with Audi and Ro.
As I’m pulling onto my street, I see a text message from Kat pop up.
Katherine
Do you want to stop by?
I have no idea what possessed her to ask me that. All I know is I don’t waste a single second turning around in someone’s driveway and driving to her house.
Before I know it, I’m pulling into her driveway and knocking on her door. It’s 9:00 P.M but she still answers the door fully dressed, the only thing missing is a pair of heels.
I think this is the first time I’ve seen her with no high heels on. I quickly notice the inches she’s lost in height from it.
I’m not a short guy, somewhere around six-foot-four. I’ve always known Katherine to be on the shorter side because even in heels, she’s significantly shorter than me. Now that she’s barefoot in front of me, I can see that she’s nearly a foot shorter than me.
