Page 59 of Dove
Her smirk turned downright naughty, and I knew I’d just made a grave mistake.
“So, he’s adog, now, is he?Woof.” She glanced out the window in Josh’s direction, one eyebrow raised, before turning back to me. “I always pegged him as more of the ‘make love tenderly’ type, considering how boy-next-door he is.”
“You saw him—that’s notboy next door.” The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them. I pursed my lips together to stop anything else from slipping out, like how I found all the muscles he’d acquired while he was away to be incredibly distracting with how badly I wanted to lick them, or how much I burned to see what he had hidden underneath the too-tight shirts he’d been wearing.
She tilted her head, considering. “You’re right. He’s got more of acall me Daddyvibe now.”
“Rev!” I gasped incredulously. Her words echoed in my head, a hot, prickly wave of desire rushing over me. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.
Reverie cackled, delighted. “Ohhh, so that does it for you, huh? They’ve got plenty of those in LA.” She sighed wistfully. “I’m gonna miss it.”
Her eyes widened in alarm. “Not that I’m not going back—or staying here,” she amended hastily. “I mean?—”
She sighed, brows pinching tight as she squeezed her eyes shut. When she opened them, worry and indecision haunted her eyes.
I hated seeing it there.
“Let’s go back to making fun of me,” I mumbled self-sacrificingly before taking another sip of coffee, which only added to how hot my internal temperature was, thanks to her…comments.
She smiled sadly. “We’re quite the pair, aren’t we?”
I laid my hand out, palm up, and she laid hers down over mine, holding on tightly.
“Like two mismatched socks,” I teased, my chest both heavy and light at the same time, because while I was happy and thankful my best friend washome, it killed me that she was only back because she was struggling.
At least we had each other.
It took everything in me not to go check in on Josh, but Reverie held my attention, asking about Haven and what had changed since her last visit. I knew it was her subtle way of trying to gain tails on Zeke, but I wasn’t much of a gossip, considering I hardly left the farm often enough to dig up news of any kind. I’d attended community college after high school, gotten in a few of semesters before Mom had fallen sick, but it’d been abundantly clear that Gareth couldn’t run the farm and take care of mymother all by himself. So, I did what any good stepdaughter would do and picked up his slack, putting my life on hold.
It wasn’t like he would call Josh up and ask him to come back home and help. He hardly uttered his son’s name after he left.
“You’re scowling,” Reverie remarked. “Why are you scowling?”
We’d migrated to the living room, the TV playing some random movie we’d turned on for background noise as we continued to catch up, facing each other on the couch.
I shook my head, untensing my muscles to relax back into the cushions. “It’s nothing.”
“Nothin’ don’t put that look on your face, sweetie.”
I crossed my arms, keeping stubbornly silent.
Revtsked. “Don’t pout. Just admit you’re pining after Josh and be done with it.”
“I’m not”—I sputtered, indignant—“pining!”
“Totally pining,” Reverie sang. “Babe, you already admitted something is there, and I’m trying not to pry, really, I’m not, but you keep drifting off in the middle of my rather riveting LA exploits with a look that hasthinking about Joshwritten all over it.”
Now it was her turn to pout.
Guilt flooded me instantly—because she was right. Iwasdistracted with thoughts of Josh, wondering if he was secretly mad or annoyed that I was in here when I should have been out there. Thoughts of how much his help could have been useful over the years, which then had menotfeeling guilty because this was payback for him abandoning us, overdue labor. Which was then followed by thoughts of that almost-kiss earlier, filling my stomach with butterflies as I wished I was back there with his large hand clasped around neck, those thick fingers threaded in my hair.
Ugh. I was a mess.
“Sorry, Rev,” I apologized. “I’m a mess.”
“Nah.” She shook her head. “You’re not. I’m just guilt tripping you so you’ll spill the details you teased me with. I’m not mad; I’mnosey.” She studied me for a few moments before she said gently, “You’ve never acted like this before, Dove. Not even when we were younger. Back then I guess you never made it seem that serious, like you knew it would never happen.”
“Because it won’t!”
