He guided me up the side steps and onto the large wooden deck attached to the back of the house. Red umbrellas were open wide to guard from the waning sun, the deck a pattern of shadows and comfort. Anthony piled a heap of fat steaks on a platter Sebastian held as he pulled them off the grill.
Ash came out the French doors carrying a stack of plates just as we made it to the top.
He grinned. “Oh hell, yeah, Tam Tam is here. Day. Made.” He shot a feigned glare Lyrik’s way. “Of course, you had to go and show with this asshole.”
He looked directly at Lyrik. “Why do you always have my girl on your arm like she belongs there when we both know she belongs to me?”
Lyrik’s nostrils flared. “Watch yourself, man.”
Ash just laughed.
After the fight they’d had two weeks ago at Ash’s house, I wasn’t sure how things were going to look between them the following day. But they’d come into the bar the next night, thick as thieves, acting as if nothing had happened.
Soiled water swept under an unwavering bridge. Washed away.
But I was no fool. I knew whatever had passed between them had been overwhelmingly significant. Something beyond my boundaries, where I sat on the outskirts and looked in like a stranger.
Whatever had incited Lyrik was why he’d go dark and shut me down when I dipped my toes too deep. When I got too close. When I asked too many questions. Why he’d stiffen when I trailed my fingers over his left arm covered by the bars and notes of that unspoken song and the hidden meaning woven within.
“Ready,” Anthony called as he shut down the flames on the grill.
A huge spread of food was laid out on the outdoor kitchen. Everyone made their plates and took a seat at the round tables beneath the umbrellas, conversations light and laughter easy as we ate and watched as the day slowly faded away.
“All done!” Kallie called with a flap of her hands.
I nudged Lyrik. “I think that’s your cue.”
“I do believe it is.”
He pushed back his chair and pulled Kallie right out of hers. “You ready for that swim, Kallie Love?” he asked as he ran the knuckle of his index finger under her chin.
“Yes yes yes!”
Ovary explosion.
I’d kind of forgotten I had them.
Then Lyrik West burst into my world.
A frown pulled at Shea’s forehead. “You know what my grandma would have said…no swimming right after you eat or you’re going to get a cramp.”
Anthony laughed. “Oh come on, Shea. Just how long have you been living in the south? I’m pretty sure that’s about the oldest wives’ tale ever told.”
She feigned offense. “I’ll have you know, my grandma was brilliant.”
Sebastian’s smile was soft as he set his hand over hers on the table. Their exchange was silent, like a million words passed between them in the simple glance. “She’ll be fine, baby.”
Worry flitted through her eyes, before she looked up to her daughter where she was held protectively in Lyrik’s arms.
“Go on, sweetheart. Have fun and hold on tight.”
“Wouldn’t dream of letting this one go.”
He looked down at me. “You want to come?” he asked.
Did he realize he’d let an edge of hope slip into his tone? Did he have a single clue what he was doing to me?
The ground trembled beneath my feet.
God, what was I doing?
“I’ll be right there,” I promised.
I needed a moment.
Space.
Clarity.
Sebastian stood. “I’ll come with ya, man.”
Ash and Zee both hopped up. Ash peeled his shirt over his head. His body was a mess of thick muscles, tattoos covering the entirety of his arms and shoulders, his back and chest bare. He grinned. It had to be the dimples denting his cheeks that were his greatest weapon.
“Hey now, don’t be taking off without us. We all need some Kallie time, don’t we, Kallie?”
She giggled and clapped. “Yep…it’s Kallie time!”
There was no stopping my smile as I looked over at them. The overwhelming comfort in being part of this exclusive crowd.
Home felt closer than it had in a long, long time. The loneliness seated so deeply within me diminished with each day, with each layer I shed, with every old feeling I allowed myself to feel.
My gaze stayed locked on them as the whole mass of gorgeous guys ambled down the boardwalk to the beach.
Anthony began to gather the plates, refusing help, so Shea and I settled into the quiet. A breeze blew through, gentle, churning with the soft gusts from the approaching storm.
“It’s hardly fair, is it?” Shea mused. She had her attention trained on the guys plodding through the sand.
In question, I swung my attention toward her.
She shot me a scandalous grin.
“All of them…looking that way. The whole lot of them are kind of irresistible.”
I turned back toward the group. Lyrik took that exact moment to glance at me over his shoulder. In the distance, those dark eyes glinted. My insides quivered. “No. Not fair. Not at all.”
A soft snort left her. “He might be complicated and a giant pain in the ass, but I know he’s a good man.” She said it as if she knew I needed to hear it.
Slowly, I nodded, because I didn’t question that. “But only part of him is there.”