Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
BLUE
My body hadn’t stopped buzzing since that slow dance with West.
He was right—we were only human—but the way he leaned down, lips brushing my ear, voice low and possessive had short-circuited my heart. I thought once the concert ended, I’d come back to reality. Shake it off. Reset.
But we were halfway through dinner, and I hadn’t said more than five words.
My stomach was in knots, my fork aimlessly stabbing at food I couldn’t even taste.
Somewhere between Loxley’s opening number and West’s hand gripping my waist, something inside me broke in the best, or worst, kind of way. I wasn’t sure yet.
“Blue,” Miles said, from across the table. “You’ve barely said a word since we left the amphitheater.”
I looked up from my plate, blinking myself back into the present. “Sorry,” I said, forcing a small smile. “I’ve just been enjoying myself. Being here. With your family.”
I looked to West, hoping he knew I meant it. And from the way his eyes softened just slightly, I think he did.
“Your family,” Grams corrected sweetly. “You’ve been spending time with your family. And we’re honored you’re here.”
Her tone was warm, but there was something else underneath, something I couldn’t quite read. I glanced at West again, and the slight tension in his jaw told me he’d caught it too.
“Wanna hear something funny?” Miles chimed in, pulling us all back into lighter territory.
He looked to his left, at Loxley, with a mischievous grin.
“Don’t you dare,” she warned, already blushing.
“Once upon a time,” Miles started, undeterred, “this beautiful woman—” he gestured at Loxley “—thought you were a cocker spaniel.”
I blinked. “Like… a dog?”
“Oh my God,” Loxley groaned, burying her face in her hands. “This is so embarrassing.”
“She didn’t mean it like that,” Miles said with a laugh. “Back when we were still figuring us out, I told her I had to go to ‘Blue’s rescue.’ That’s literally what I said. ‘I had to go rescue Blue.’”
West’s hand slipped below the table and rested on my thigh, fingers tightening like he was grounding himself as Miles spoke about me.
Miles looked at Loxley as though she’d invented sunlight, encouraging her to finish the story.
“So I asked him, ‘Is Blue a cocker spaniel?’” Loxley said with a laugh. “It wasn’t meant to be insulting, I promise. That was actually the moment I realized I had feelings for him. I was jealous.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “I mean, he did spend a lot of time kicking riffraff out of the bar for me.”
“I’m endeared by it now,” Loxley smiles. “He can be your hero, too.”
West’s hand flexed on my thigh, this time with unmistakable possessiveness. The only one at the table not smiling. I reached under the table and gave his hand a small squeeze, trying to loosen him up.
“The good news is,” he said, voice darker than I’d ever heard it, “she won’t need another hero.”
His fingers laced with mine, and he lifted my hand to his lips without taking his eyes off Loxley. The whole thing was for show, but the emotion wasn’t.
Miles and Easton exchanged amused looks while I tried to remind myself that he was just pretending. He’s good at this. He's done it his whole life.
Thankfully, we drifted back into easy conversation. Loxley and I chatted across the table, and West, who had started the evening being playful, grew quiet. His mind was somewhere else. And I knew, no matter how hard I tried, that I couldn’t keep my switch off any longer.
Dinner wrapped up with the table splitting in every direction. Grams and Gramps wanted to head back to the hotel. Miles and Loxley, Easton and Jesse, all planned to walk the beach.
West said he had work to do.
“Are you kidding me?” Miles groaned. “I haven’t seen you in nearly a month and you wanna hole up and work? Aren’t you a newlywed or something?”
I could tell West just needed space. The whole evening was draining. Faking a whole life took it out of a person. But Miles wasn’t wrong either. West wasn’t doing himself any favors disappearing behind that wall again.
“I think,” I said with a sly smile, slipping my hand across West’s chest as we stood on the boardwalk, “my gorgeous husband is just anxious to get out of Easton’s jeans.
” My palm dragged down his chest, stopping just shy of the belt, but leaving zero doubt about where my thoughts were.
“And he’s probably even more anxious to get me out of mine. ”
West’s hand found my waist, fingers brushing against my skin with the kind of slow, deliberate touch that made my breath catch.
He looked down at me, lips parting, eyes full of things he wasn’t saying.
He licked his lips like he might kiss me, but we both knew that would’ve been breaking too many rules.
“I can’t argue with that,” Easton said behind us. “That’s the easiest decision we make. When Max’s little ears aren’t around to hear us, I love making Jesse scream.”
That made West blink out of it. He straightened, smiled at his brother. Almost in disbelief that he had been so blunt with his words.
“He’s right, though” I said, pulling West’s attention back to me. “Let’s walk the beach with everyone now. Then we’ll spend the rest of the night with no pants.”
“Fine,” West pouted, playfully jutting out his bottom lip. He grabbed my wrist, pulled my hand to his, and laced our fingers together.
Loxley linked arms with me and tugged me forward. Jesse joined us, and the three of us kicked off our shoes, running ahead of the guys toward the dark water.
I turned back once, catching sight of the Brooks brothers laughing together. West was smiling. Not the cold, controlled smirk I’d seen him use. Not the forced, polite smile he sometimes gave. A real one, and it made my chest ache.
He caught me staring and winked, giving me a subtle nod before I turned back to Loxley and Jesse.
“This is so good for Easton,” Jesse sighed. “Something’s been off with him lately. Probably work. But this trip has helped.”
“I’m ready to go home,” Loxley said. “After this, Miles and I are crashing for a few days. Then we’re headed to Nashville to get a new condo.
One we actually pick ourselves and not given to me by the label.
We want to spend most of our time in Harmony Haven, but we will need some place to be when I’m recording. ”
It was my turn. They’d opened up. And even though I didn’t have much clarity about what came next, I could at least be honest about that.
“West and I, um, we happened fast,” I said. “It’s still an adjustment.” I laughed, trying to keep the mood light. “You probably think we’re crazy.”
“I don’t,” Loxley said. “It’s the kind of story I wanna write a song about. When you know, you know, right?”
“Well,” I said, raising a brow, “he’s in Atlanta. I’m in Harmony Haven. Technically I live in Pecan Grove, ya know, other side of the tracks so to speak. Also, I’m still working at the bar for now. We won’t see much of each other during the week until we figure it out.”
The ladies nodded, humming their agreements and understandings.
Somehow it seemed heavy, and I wanted to get back to laughing, so I added, “But one thing’s for sure.
That pool table in his library in Atlanta?
It’s gotta go. And the house at the lake?
Tammy’s ugly ass throw pillows are on borrowed time. ”
Jesse burst out laughing. “Who the hell is Tammy?”
“The girl at the fabric shop in Harmony Haven. Apparently, West let her decorate the lake house.”
“I haven’t even been in West’s house and I already hate the pillows on your behalf. Promise me you’ll send a picture before you toss them.”
“I absolutely will,” I said.
But before I could say anything else, my feet left the ground. West had scooped me up from behind, spinning me in his arms while I laughed and kicked, trying to get away.
“Did I hear you talking shit about my pillows?” West growled in my ear.
He tickled my ribs just enough to make me squeal. Then I twisted in his arms and wrapped my legs around his waist, locking my wrists around his neck. He kept walking like I weighed nothing at all.
“You look like you’re having fun,” I whispered, threading my fingers through his hair.
“I think I am,” he said, voice soft. “Thank you.”
“For what? I just tagged along.”
“For not letting me hide. For making me be here. With them. Without a crisis.”
I grinned. “That wasn’t for you. I’ve always wanted to walk down a dark beach in the middle of the night.”
He chuckled, looked around at the moonlit ocean and the glittering lights of the hotels behind us.
“This is pretty cool.”
“Did you just say cool?” I gasped, laughing. “West Brooks just used the word cool?”
“What other word is there?” he teased.
I didn’t answer. I was too focused on how his hands flexed beneath me, keeping me steady against his chest, and how every small movement made heat flare between my thighs.
Before I could tease him again, Easton shouted, “Is that a dolphin?!”
We both turned, West gently setting me back on my feet as we joined the others near the water’s edge.
I stared hard into the moonlit surf, trying to make out the shape.
“I’ve never seen a real one,” I said breathlessly.
“There,” Loxley pointed.
And then it happened. A dolphin leapt out of the water, catching the silver light as it crashed back down. My hands flew to my chest. It was such a small thing. A fleeting moment. But it felt like magic. Like something I wasn’t supposed to see, but got to anyway.
West wrapped his arms around my waist again, resting his chin on my shoulder.
“You okay?” he whispered.
“Just incredible,” I said. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”
He paused, voice quiet. Honest. “Me either. I’ve never taken the time. Feels like magic.”
That was exactly how I felt, the same words echoing in my head and humming in my chest. But when West said it, it didn’t feel like he was talking about dolphins. It felt like he meant something else entirely. Like the magic wasn’t out in the ocean, but between us.