Page 8 of Beautiful Rush
I knew I couldn’t tell them but keeping secrets from Ava and Eden wasn’t easy. We were more than friends, we were family.
Since I couldn’t tell them the truth, I opted for a diversion. “Are you nervous about next Saturday?” I asked Eden.
Eden arched a brow. “I see what you’re doing.” I did want to change the subject, but I really wanted to know if she was nervous. Not about the flowers or the caterers or the venue which would all be perfect, but about exchanging vows. Pledging to love and honor someone for the rest of your life. “But as long as you’re happy, that’s all we really care about.”
“Actually, that’s not true. We still want to know who you were with last night.”
“But we respect your privacy.” They looked at me eagerly, still hoping for information I had no intention of providing.
“Anything you tell us won’t go beyond this coffee shop,” Ava said, in a last-ditch attempt to get me talking.
Anything I told them would go straight back to my brothers. And while I trusted them, I couldn’t risk it. I knew the deal. The more people who knew, the greater the chance that someone would inadvertently leak the truth and blow Deacon’s cover. That was why my father had always kept his circle small and his life compartmentalized. He had kept his private life and his business dealings separate. But even that had blown up in his face. The person he had trusted most, the man who’d been his ‘fixer,’ had betrayed him. Anthony. He had handed me the flash drive. It still wasn’t clear why he’d done it, although I would like to think he did it for me.
After he’d handed over the information, he ghosted. Another person in my life I’d probably never see again.
Ava and Eden dropped the topic and moved on to wedding planning. The wedding was one week from today and everything was already organized, but that didn’t stop us from going over every detail again.
“In answer to your question,” Eden said, long after I thought she’d forgotten my question. “I’m not nervous about marrying Killian because I know he’s the one. And I want to spend the rest of my life with him.”
Despite the heat, I shuddered. It sounded like a prison sentence.Prison.
Eden noticed my reaction. “One day you’ll meet a guy who is perfect for you and you’ll know it’s right. Which is not to say he’ll be perfect. There’s no such thing. Just that he’ll be the right guy for you.”
“Or, in my case,” Ava said. “You’ll meet the guy who is perfect for you, it will all go epically wrong, but ten years and a million second chances later, you’ll find a way to make it right.”
I smiled. “And it was all worth it.”
“I could have done without some parts of our history, but yeah, Connor is worth it.”
“He’s the one,” Eden said with a smile.
“My one and only. Nobody else would put up with him,” Ava joked. “But I swear to God, if that personal trainer at the gym doesn’t stop drooling over him whenever he comes in to work out, I’m going to scratch her eyeballs out.”
Eden and I laughed.
“Speaking of the one…” Ava pulled up one of the many spreadsheets on her iPad that she used to organize the wedding planning. “The only person who hasn’t RSVPd is Deacon Ramsey,” she said, with a sly smile.
“It would mean a lot to Killian if he’d come,” Eden said.
“Weird how he just disappeared like that,” Ava mused.
“He’s probably gone undercover,” Eden said.
They both directed their gazes at me, fishing for information I had no intention of providing. I shrugged. “No idea. I barely knew the guy.” Which was not a total lie. Although in some ways I did know him. My cheeks flushed. Afterglow. The heat. Call it what you want.
“You guys hung out a few times,” Ava pointed out. “And there was a lot of flirting going on. I was with you in that pawn shop the first time you met.” She laughed at the memory. “That was a crazy day.”
I couldn’t disagree. I seemed to bring crazy with me wherever I went.
“Too bad he’s not around. He would have been perfect for you. Just about the only guy Killian would approve of,” Eden said. “Not that you need his approval.”
Ava snorted. “You really need to rein him in. Whenever a guy even looks at Keira, he looks like he’s about to rip them limb from limb. And let’s face it, any guy with a pulse looks at Keira.”
“That’s how he rolls. He’s protective.” She turned her focus on me. “But he adores you and he’d be happy for you if you met a guy you really liked. As long as he’s not a douchebag but you’re too smart to put up with that crap.”
“What are you looking for in a guy?” Ava asked, scoping out the guys in the coffee shop. It was a hipster haven for bearded guys in skinny jeans and ironic T-shirts. She quickly dismissed the notion of finding the perfect guy for me in here and focused her attention on me, waiting for an answer.
“I’m not looking for a guy.”
