Ash feigned a mortal wound, a stab right to the heart. Dude was always such a damned clown. “Oh, my poor, beautiful Shea. If you really think this is what we do best, then your boy Baz here is doing it all wrong.”
Baz smacked Ash on the back of the head. “You only wish I had it all wrong. Shea here just didn’t want to embarrass the rest of you assholes in front of your girls. You know, just being thoughtful. That’s all. Though, I’m sure my wife has a hard time not bragging to her sisters about just how good my best is.”
“Don’t worry, baby, I always let the girls know how well my man keeps me satisfied.” Shea didn’t even hesitate to shout the flirt at her husband.
His lip curved at the edges, somehow soft and hard. “That’s what I thought. My woman wouldn’t know how to tell a lie that big, anyway.”
She pressed her hand over her heart, country drawl dripping with the innuendo. “Oh, no…I could never tell a lie that big.”
Tamar cracked up and raised her glass in Shea’s direction. They clinked them in the middle. “Oh, yeah. Now that’s exactly what I like to hear. Men that look like that and satisfy. I do believe we hit the jackpot.”
“Heck yes,” Shea agreed, taking a big gulp of her wine.
Willow and Edie giggled behind their hands, both of them turning red with the way Shea and Tamar went back and forth. Two of them should be used to it by now.
But it was the expression on Alexis’s face that washed through me like a ravaging flood.
Overpowering emotion gripped tight between us. Pulling and pulling and pulling.
Something soft and tender and sweet.
Fueled by faith and conviction that all the good things in this world waited on the wings. Just waiting to be captured.
Like she saw all that good shimmering like dazzling flashes of light on the fringes of the room.
Got the feeling she was doing her best to pour that belief into me.
Urging me to see it.
To reach out and take it.
Fuck. I had no idea how to process it. The fact that I wanted to, knowing I couldn’t, and still dipping my fingers in for a taste anyway.
Knew full well this was going to lead to disaster.
Maybe it was selfish, but it felt like these stolen moments with Alexis might just be worth it.
“Think we’re gonna call it a night. Need to get Alexis home.”
Shea pouted. “So soon?”
I looked at the watch around my wrist. “It’s midnight.”
“See, it’s early,” Tamar added.
I widened my eyes at both of them. “And you’re planning on keeping Willow up all night when she needs to rest and get up her strength for having that baby?”
Okay, so maybe that was a low blow. A little on the manipulative side. Because just like I knew he would, Ash jumped into action.
“Out. Everyone out.” Ash was all spastic arms as he gave Baz and Lyrik a little nudge. “Know you all can’t stand the thought of not being in my presence since a little Ash always makes everything better, but it’s high time I carry my girl upstairs and tuck her in bed so I can rub her feet and her back and her belly. Then if she’s up for it, I might show her a little more of what I do best.”
Willow frowned at her feet. Well, in that direction at least, because I was fairly certain she couldn’t see them. “But they’re ugly and swollen.”
Ash tsked. “Not even, darlin’. Every inch of you is as gorgeous as the day I met you, and I won’t ever be able to look away.”
Swore the girl swooned, and it made me fucking happy that the two of them had found each other. Also made me want to rip at my hair and grind my teeth, and the last thing I needed was for my brothers to catch onto the vibe I was feeding.
I lifted my jaw in Alexis’s direction, wishing I didn’t have the vision of stalking across the space and taking her in my arms rolling through my head. Kissing her like I had earlier.
This time not stopping.
“You ready?”
Her nod seemed reluctant. “Sure.”
She said her goodbyes, hugging and talking with the girls like it was the most natural thing as she told them how amazing it was to meet them, how thankful she was she got to share in their night.
She whispered something quietly to Willow, her expression so soft, her hand a gentle sweep down Willow’s belly as her teeth caught on her bottom lip.
Like she might be dreaming of the day that might be her.
Did it make me a bastard that the thought of it cut me to the core?
Jealousy fisted my hands. Couldn’t even stand the idea of her with another man.
Shining all that goodness on him. Not when I felt desperate to keep all that light for myself. Like she could ever be mine to keep.
Jesus. What was wrong with me?
I huffed out a breath in an attempt to clear my head, clapped Ash and Lyrik on the back, then bumped Austin’s fist as I told them I’d see them tomorrow.
Baz slowed my steps with a hand on my forearm. “You good?” he asked.
“Of course.”
Motherfucking lie. It always was. And I think it had always been Baz who’d known it ever since the day I’d shown at his door with a pack slung on my back and agony in my heart.
Baz narrowed his eyes to study me. Finally, he gave me a reluctant nod. “See you later.”
“Yup.” I headed toward Alexis. As I approached, she turned in my direction. Like she could feel that connection tighten. Drawing us closer. A tense, keening wire.
She smiled up at me. Softly. That expression alone hit me square in the chest.
“Let’s get you out of here.”
I weaved her fingers through mine, not having any clue where we were gonna go from there. But for just a little while, I was going to embrace it, her, every fucking thing.
No fear.
Just life.
I led her back through the rambling expanse of Willow and Ash’s house.
Without saying a word, I clicked open the front door and she followed me out into the night. It was dense and dark and heavy.
Something foreign thrummed through my veins, an exhilaration and joy I hadn’t felt in a long time. So long that I wondered if it could even be real or if I was just getting caught up in a trap that was only going to ruin me in the end.
Because I had two loyalties. And this girl couldn’t be one of them.
But that didn’t stop the purpose in our footsteps as I led her down the big concrete steps. The night sky opened up like a dark, magnetic sea as we stepped out from beneath the cover of the veranda and down onto the walkway.
I could hear her gasp in a breath. Could feel the tension of her hand as it squeezed against mine.
When I turned, I found Alexis with her face upturned, basking in the beauty as she watched the faint trickle of a star burning out.
“Did you make a wish?” My question grated out.
Alexis dropped her face back down to look at me, wonder in her eyes. “Don’t you know falling stars aren’t for wishing on? They’re a wish finally falling free. Somewhere out there…someone has a wish coming true.”