“Nothing.” He smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes.
“I’m a good listener if you need to talk.”
His lip flattened with a small scowl.
Seconds passed in an awkward silence.
She shouldn’t have assumed. When he’d tried to talk to her before, she’d refused to listen.
He sighed. “The last time the guys and I were together was the day Thane left. Some hard shit had gone down. I was upset at Dalir. This last mission I went on wasn’t cleared.”
She sat beside him. “But you had a good reason for going, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, but it was in anger. West knew I was going, but I should have talked it out with the entire team, not just left. I took a risk and there could have been consequences.” He wrapped an arm around her. “If I hadn’t made it to you, I wouldn’t have found Thane. This whole situation could have turned out differently.”
They wouldn’t have discovered each other again, but that’s not what he meant. It was selfish of her to see it that way. “Do you think they’re angry?”
“No, but they have a right to be. They’re my brothers, my family, and I feel like I let them down.”
“But doesn’t family forgive?”
Her father’s face flashed in. Pot meet kettle. She’d gone to the cabin looking for reasons, answers, but had found frustration. Was forgiveness what she should have searched for instead?
“Yeah. Kell sure as hell didn’t see it that way.”
Without the bruises and broken bones, it was easy to forget Reid had experienced pain at her expense. Good sex didn’t equal clearing the air. They needed to talk about it.
He kissed her temple. “We should get up.”
She snuggled closer to his chest. “One more minute.” Solid, strong, and back with her in the here and now. She wasn’t ready to share him yet. If only she could just lie here with him. Make love with him. Let his heartbeat lull her to sleep.
He held her tighter as if he could read her thoughts.
A dampening mood settled in with the dusk-laden shadows. She wanted to keep talking. Sort out their future, but he needed to see his friends and Dalir. They came first.
He tipped up her chin. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Listening. Caring. Out of all the things that went wrong, finding you is the only part that was right.”
His bone-melting kiss brought back the past twenty-four hours. Not about the ugliness, but when all that was good fell into place.
They got dressed.
He intertwined their fingers as they emerged from seclusion and entered the living room. Reid’s team members embraced her as they introduced themselves and swarmed Reid.
Colby wacked him teasingly on the head. “I knew we couldn’t get rid of you that easily.”
“Welcome back, brother.” West and Mace thumped his back.
Reid exchanged grins and bro nods with Thane.
Celine scooted between the guys and gave Lauren a hug. “Hey, you.” She took her hand. “I thought you were never coming out. Not that I blame you. Come on.”
Lauren followed her to the kitchen. The aromas of tomato sauce, oregano, and garlic made her mouth water. “It smells amazing in here.”
“The guys cooked Reid’s favorite meal and set up a table on the front lawn. They wouldn’t let me do anything. The food will be ready soon. This should tide you over.”
Lauren took a roll from a basket Celine nudged her way and tore off a piece. The warm, fluffy bite practically melted in her mouth. “Hmm. Who made these?”
“Colby did. From scratch.”
Lauren accepted butter and slathered it on. “Wow.”
“I know. My thoughts exactly.” Celine toyed with the checkered cloth napkin covering the basket. “I’m glad you helped Reid. I have to admit, when Thane told me what you’d gone to do, I was worried.”
“I’m sorry. I should have woke you up, but all I could think about was getting to him.”
“You don’t have to apologize. You had to help Reid. How is he?”
“Honestly, I don’t know.” Lauren tore the rest of the roll in half and handed one of the pieces to Celine. “He’s very good at distraction, if you know what I mean.”
“I do.” Celine gave her a rueful smile. “Thane is like that, too, and I fall for it every time. You know how guys are about sharing their feelings or admitting weakness. Now that Reid’s with his friends, maybe he’ll open up to them.”
But shouldn’t she and Reid explore their feelings about the kidnapping? Was she the only one wrestling with how it has affected their relationship? “I hope so.”
West clomped in and went to the oven. “Excuse me, ladies.”
She could see her thought reflected in Celine’s eyes. Sure, they were taken, but they weren’t blind. Who knew oven mitts could amp up the sexy factor on a guy times ten?
He pulled a bubbling, golden-brown lasagna out of the oven. “Grab the rest of the food. We’re ready to eat.”
Out front, seven place settings with china, glasses, and silverware gleamed on the table in the torchlight.