Page 39 of Beauty
“Ah shit, the Bahamas must really suck if you’re calling me,” he says in greeting. He’s lying on a couch, phone held above him, shirtless.
Dammit. I hope he’s wearing pants, but this wouldn’t be the first time he picked up the phone minutes after sex, so there’s a solid chance he isn’t.
“The vacation’s awesome. Thank you very much.”
His chuckle is a low rumble. “Good. And the girl?”
I scrub a palm over my face. “She’s fucking perfect.”
“Ah shit.”
My gut clenches in agreement with the sentiment. “Exactly.”
He blows out a breath and shrugs. “If she’s cool, maybe keep in touch? I hear relationships aren’t terrible.”
I roll my eyes. That’s a ringing endorsement for monogamy if I’ve ever heard one. “It would never work,” I say, as much to myself as him.
His blue eyes narrow, like he’s studying me. Then he nods. “Nothing good ever came easy to us. You want her, you think she’s worth it, you make it work.”
“Who?” Brooks asks from somewhere off screen.
“Harry’s vacation girl. He’s inlove.” War drags the word out obnoxiously. “Your sister good?”
I frown. “Mine?”
He shakes his head. “Nah, Brooks’s baby sister has been MIA. She just called, though.”
“She’s fine. Aiden’s on the phone with her now. She needs help avoiding Beckett. Overbearing ass tried to send a plane to pick her up. She wants us to talk him out of his insanity.” He chuckles. “Like the man can be controlled.”
War huffs a laugh. “I’m trying to convince Harry he can have a girl and play hockey too. What do you think?” He looks past his phone, a glint in his eye I don’t understand.
“I wouldn’t know. Hockey is my life,” our other best friend grumbles.
The main door opens and closes, and Sienna walks in. “I gotta go. Thanks for the vote of confidence. And Brooks can’t wait to catch up in person and score some goals on you.”
He shakes his head, never one to entertain shit talk.
Just as I’m tapping theEndbutton, Sienna steps out onto the deck.
Wearing a red dress that follows every one of her curves, she looks absolutely gorgeous, though her expression is one of annoyance.
“Everything okay?” I straighten and slip my phone into my pocket.
She forces a smile. “Yeah, just my brothers being”—she lets out a breath and shakes her head—“my brothers.”
I nod once, going for supportive, though I don’t have the first clue what she means and she wouldn’t want me to ask.
She’s made her boundaries clear. We’re limited to the bubble we’ve created here. As much as I want more, I have to honor her requests.
Still, I can’t say nothing. So I hold out my arms. “Do you want to talk about it?”
To my relief, she darts for me, holding me tight and resting her head on my chest.
She melts in my hold, and fuck, I can’t explain how it feels to be the person she feels safe with. My heart simultaneously skips and settles as I cradle her against me. The warm weight of her pressed against me is like a balm to my soul.
How the fuck am I going to let her go?
She props her chin on my chest and offers me a crooked smile. “I like when you hold me.”
