Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Wade
I slowed the car to a crawl as we approached the Kinkade homestead. The last thing I needed was to greet Lou’s entire family with my dick standing at attention.
Buried between pockets of forest and farmland, the two-story white farmhouse rested at the end of the winding drive, hugged by a wraparound porch, the sunlight glinting off the large stretches of windows.
I had the same feeling driving up to it as I did the night I’d pulled up in front of the Lamplight Inn. Welcome.
“Just park next to the truck.” She pointed to the massive Ford.
“Looks like quite a crowd,” I murmured, scanning down the line of a half-dozen cars out front. From what Lou had told me about her family, I got the sense this kind of crowd was a common occurrence here.
“My family likes to get together,” she said, folding her hands together as her eyes hopped down the line of cars. “That’s my brother Jamie’s work truck. He does carpentry and makes custom furniture out of a renovated barn deeper onto Mom’s property. You’ll meet him and his wife, Violet. Next to that is my brother Kit and his wife Aurora’s minivan. They’re expecting their first baby in October.”
“The artist?”
She nodded. “The truck with the MaineStems decal is my cousin, Max’s. Next to his, the navy sedan belongs to my mom. The VW bug on the other side of that used to belong to my sister, but she gave the car to Harper just before Logan was born.”
“The one who makes the honey?” I confirmed and pulled next to the massive black truck, putting Blaze’s sports car in park.
“Yeah.” Lou gave a small smile. “She calls it her VW bee… instead of beetle.”
“Got it,” I grunted and turned off the engine, the silence settling like a frost between us.
“The last car on the end belongs to Harp and Max’s brother, Nox, but he’s not here,” Lou went on, and I turned to her, realizing she looked almost as nervous as she had when we left the inn. “He left for Italy last month. He went to study glassmaking in Murano for the summer.”
“Lou—”
“I think he felt a little lost in the family, which I can understand. Everyone kind of has their own thing, and he would just work odd jobs for everyone. It makes you feel like you don’t have a place—” She broke off when I placed my hands over hers, her head snapping to me.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” I asked low, my eyes flicking to the rearview. “No one followed us, Lou. The plan worked… so far.”
“I know,” she said and pulled her hands free to reach for the visor, finding the mirror and starting to fuss with her braids. Always making sure every piece of her was tucked into place and out of the spotlight.
“Then why are you nervous?”
Her tongue slid along her bottom lip, my body instantly tightening, the taste of her still lingering on my tongue .
“Because…” She drew a trembling breath, her train of thought fractured as a woman appeared on the porch.
Judging by the wisps of white wisdom streaking her hair, the rosy warmth of her cheeks, and the familiar set of eyes on her face, I bet I was looking at Lou’s mother.
“Elouise?” the woman squinted.
“Crap.” I heard Lou mutter under her breath. She smiled big and waved and then quickly looked back at me, her throat working to swallow before she said quickly, “My family didn’t know about Blaze and me.”
My brows pulled together, and I felt my head tip as the thought settled unevenly into my mind. “But…”
“Frankie knew. And Harper… recently found out. But the rest of them didn’t know until… this.” She shivered at the last and then unclipped her seatbelt, opened the door, and beelined for her mother.
“Hey, Mom,” I heard her greet the older woman as she headed for the steps.
They didn’t know about her and Blaze… and they never would have if it weren’t for me. The band around my chest cinched tighter. I yanked off my cap and tossed it onto the dash, the lip hitting the window with a thud. Fuck. I got out of the car and followed to join her, hating myself with every step.
“Mom, this is Wade Stevens. Wade, this is my mom, Ailene Kinkade,” Lou made the introduction as I joined them on the porch.
“Mrs. Kinkade—” I extended my hand, but she cut me off as she took it.
“Ailene, please.” She smiled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Wade, though I’m so sorry it has to be under these circumstances.”
My eyes flicked to Lou, catching the practically imperceptible flare of her nostrils. “Me, too.”
“Please, come inside. Everyone is excited to meet you,” she said as though it were the most natural thing in the world to welcome your daughter’s (ex-)boyfriend’s brother, who you’d only found out about twenty-four hours ago, into your home.
Lou’s family was nothing like mine. Not in size or character or smiles.
I met her brothers first, the two men standing just inside the doorway and filling either side of the hall so that we were forced to walk single file through them like some kind of security check.
Lou went first, swallowed up in each of their bear hugs. They talked softly, but not soft enough for me to miss how they asked about her. If she was okay. Jamie, the auburn-haired eldest, cupped her face and tilted it side to side as he asked, his expression unreadable. But her other brother, Kit, hugged her and then held her in front of him by her shoulders. He was the one whose worry smoked from his gaze.
“I’m fine,” I heard her tell him, but he looked unconvinced. I would be, too. Fine was never fine.
For as much as I watched the way they passed Lou between them like she was an egg they were trying not to drop, I also watched the two of them. The looks they shared. The unspoken dialogue weaving an undercurrent through the silence. All things I never had with Blaze. What would it have been like if I did? Would we be like the two of them? Would Blaze be in this situation at all?
Ailene followed Lou through the greeting line, her sons reaching for her shoulders and nodding as she passed through. Their deference to their mother was as palpable as my own, though I wasn’t sure Joanna ever looked at me like Ailene looked at them.
“Jamie. Kit. This is Wade Stevens. ”
“Pleasure.”
“Nice to meet you.”
Their tones were pleasant, but when they gripped my hand, it was firm. Assessing. “Thanks for having me over,” I said, letting my chin dip.
“Come now, boys. Let the dear man inside for the rest of us,” a trembling but lively voice ordered, accompanied a second later but a tiny, elderly woman with bright purple hair and a devil-may-care smile. “Hi, I’m Gigi.” She waited for no one before introducing herself, ambling in front of me and craning her hunched form to look up at me through her thick lenses.
“Pleasure to meet you. I’m Wade.” I took her wiry hand to shake it gently and couldn’t hide my surprise when her grip tightened impressively around my hand.
“So, you’re my granddaughter’s boyfriend’s brother…” She didn’t ask it or even look like she wanted my confirmation. She said it like she wanted to hear the words out loud as she looked me up and down to decide whether they were true or not. “Are you sure you’re not a movie star?” She squinted up at me. “You sure look handsome enough?—”
“Gigi!” Lou hissed and reached for her grandmother’s shoulder, trying to pry her away. “Wade is a lawyer.”
Her purple permed head wobbled on her thin neck as she regarded me, pinched her mouth tight, and then smiled wide. “So, you’re one of those.”
I chuckled even as my brow creased. “Not many people say that with a smile.”
“What do you mean ‘one of those?’” Lou demanded and folded her arms.
Lou’s sudden defensiveness on my part intrigued her grandmother, her aged, alert eyes darting between us. The moment Lou realized, her cheeks turned bright red.
“Never mind—” Lou insisted, flustered, and then reached for my arm. “Here, let’s go in the kitchen so you can meet the rest of my family?— ”
“What I mean, Elouise, is that he’s one of those people who lives by the rules.”
“Oh—”
“And knows exactly how to break them,” Gigi finished smartly and winked at Lou before sliding her hand into my elbow and pulling me with her. “Now, come, meet the rest of the family.”
She led us into the kitchen, the large island rounded with warm faces of people I subsequently met. Jamie’s wife, Violet. Kit’s pregnant wife, Aurora. Harper and Max, I already quasi-knew. The room quickly filled as we joined them, but it didn’t feel crowded. Not like Blaze’s hospital room when it was just Mom and me and my unconscious brother. There I felt my lungs struggle to breathe and my body itch to escape. But not here.
Here, I didn’t feel like a stranger. Ironic, since this family wasn’t mine.
“We decided on a charcuterie and dip dinner,” Violet said. “We’ve got the hummus bar here to start, and then we’ll put out the charcuterie boards on the table.” She pointed over her shoulder to the dining room which stretched over to the left of the kitchen, whereas the front opened up into the living room.
As the group started to talk, I began to piece together the smaller things—things I’d noticed but not recognized. The scent of the house. It was different than the inn but warm and inviting all the same. There were candles on every end table, a sign of Frankie. The dining table was not only expertly made but made with care. Her brother, Jamie, must’ve hand-carved it. Everything was connected. Open.
I could see straight into the living room. On one wall hung a giant painting of a lighthouse beaming over calm seas. One of Kit’s, I had to assume. And on the other wall, a dozen framed photographs of everyone in this room and some who weren’t in varying configurations. In this home, family was the focus. And the difference with mine was like day and night.
We’d never had photographs in our house. Dad preferred to frame diplomas or expensive art, and Mom only kept an old photograph of Blaze and me on her nightstand. We were maybe nine and ten… it was probably the last time we’d hugged each other.
“So, Lou… you and Blaze Stevens? I can’t believe it,” Aurora gushed, her tone nothing short of pure excitement. “I absolutely loved him in Works of Love. And the one where he played the tornado wrangler, oh, what was?—”
“Swept Away,” Harper finished for her and sipped from her can of seltzer, her hip propped against the counter. She was part of the circle around the island but slightly distanced from it. I wondered why.
“Yes.” Aurora giggled. “That’s it.”
“Careful, Aurora, I think you’re making Kit jealous,” Violet teased, drawing everyone’s attention to the way Kit stared fiercely at his wife.
Only when she looked up at him did she flush and lean into his hold. “Oh, he knows he doesn’t have anything to worry about.” Her tone turned serious, husky even for a second, before she quickly added, “I don’t think Blaze is broody enough to be my type.” She winked at Kit and then looked at me. “Your brother is a phenomenal actor. And I’m just so happy for you, Lou.” Her attention finally rested on her sister-in-law. “It’s like a fairytale.”
I didn’t even realize how tightly my fist was clenched on the counter until Gigi placed her hand on top of mine, side-eyeing me in a way that felt dangerous.
“I wouldn’t say that?—”
“More like a miracle since you didn’t even know who he was when he first came to the inn,” Harper chimed in.
“He booked the room under Blaze Turner?—”
“But he didn’t show up in disguise.”
“I don’t know,” Lou stammered, tucking a wisp of hair back behind her ear. “I didn’t recognize him?—”
Harper snorted. “I had to show you three different trailers before you remembered who he was.”
Lou opened and shut her mouth, her lips pursing for a second before she replied, “I don’t watch a lot of movies.”
“Wade, can I get you something to drink?” Ailene asked. “The boys are having whiskey sours.”
“Sounds great.” I nodded, watching as Jamie took up the task so his mom wouldn’t have to.
“So, tell us everything. He came to stay at the inn, and then what happened?” Aurora propped her elbows on the counter and cradled her chin on her folded hands.
All eyes around the island went to Lou—including mine.
“What do you mean?” Lou grabbed a carrot, dunked it in the bowl of hummus and quickly shoved it in her mouth, an obvious effort to delay answering.
This was my fault. They had no idea about her and Blaze and never would have if I hadn’t asked her to do this. If I hadn’t begged for her help. Now, she was having to rip off the scab and relive a relationship that hadn’t worked out… all to protect my brother.
“What do you think she means?” Violet chimed in, resting her elbows on the counter and propping her chin on her hands. “Who made the first move?”
“Blaze, obviously,” Harper said and snuck a hand through the crowd for a piece of pita.
“You think?” Aurora asked, grabbing a piece of celery. “I don’t know. I think Lou knows how to go after something when she wants it.”
Her eyes swung to mine, meeting at the memory of the other night when what she’d wanted—who she’d wanted—was me. And now, I had to stand here and listen as they asked her to relive her relationship with my brother, the man who hadn’t deserved her.
“So, tell us how it happened, dear.” It was Gigi who spoke, her smile beaming as she reached for her granddaughter’s hand. “We’re so excited to hear.”
For some reason, the old woman looked at me then. Almost like she saw the tension crawling like a swarm of ants under my skin. I didn’t want to hear about it—didn’t want to think about it. No matter what I knew or heard or had seen, it didn’t feel right to think of Lou as anything other than mine.
“I…” Lou tried to swallow. “I don’t know.” She paused, her eyes meeting everyone else’s except mine. “I saw him a lot because he didn’t really go out. He’d try to come down before the breakfast crowd, and we… would talk.”
“So, you were friends first? How romantic. Keep going,” Aurora begged.
One by one, hands reached across the counter and dug into the spread of food, but all I could see was how they reached for information. Prying it from her when she clearly didn’t want to talk about it. But she would… because that was Lou, giving everyone else what they wanted.
Giving me what I’d asked for.
Lou hesitantly continued her story, and with each detail, it grew harder to breathe. Like being trapped in a burning building, I didn’t even need to be near or see the flame. The smoke alone—the remnants of their relationship—was enough to suffocate me.
“Wade.” I stiffened at the sound of my name, only then realizing the glass held in front of me.
Dammit, how long had Jamie been waiting for me to take it?
“Thanks.” I grabbed the tumbler like it was a lifeline, hauling it to my mouth just as Aurora lifted her drink to toast and forced me to stop.
“To Lou and Blaze.”
All the color drained from Lou’s face, but she didn’t say anything. Couldn’t. My fingers tightened around the glass so hard I swore I heard it crack.
I extended my glass toward the collection in the center, feeling like I had to break the bones in my arm in the process. Even when I finally brought the alcohol to my lips, the burn down my throat wasn’t enough to clear the smoke of her story from where it embedded into my chest .
“How come you didn’t tell us?” Jamie probed, trying his hardest not to let the edge of accusation come through his tone. It came from a good place, but that didn’t make it any better.
Lou stiffened. “I wasn’t sure… anything would come of it.”
“Still, Lou, we would’ve been happy for you,” Kit’s voice was almost identical to his brother’s, the way it was laced with betrayal.
Lou’s eyes glistened, and I wanted to reach across the counter and throttle them. A pretty poor choice for someone who was a guest in their family’s home.
“I’m sure it was my brother’s decision,” I broke in, the words clipped. “Sharing things… publicly… too soon has never really worked out for him.”
I met Jamie’s gaze, the two of us staring in silence for a second that felt longer than necessary before Lou jumped back in nervously, “He’s right. Plus, Blaze is a movie star, and I run an inn. It didn’t seem… likely.”
He was also a self-centered ass, and she was an angel.
“Fairy tales rarely are,” Violet declared again, beaming first at Lou and then up at her husband. “Just think… when he wakes up and hears everything you did to protect him.”
A clacking sound drew everyone’s attention to Harper, who’d collected one too many jars of jam in her arms to carry into the dining room.
“I’ll help her,” Lou jumped at the chance to escape and quickly fled the room.
“Is Harper okay?” I asked Max, who stood beside me. It was hard to miss his sister’s irritation.
Max sighed. “She’s just dealing with some guy—another local honey company who’s causing some backlash online. Trolling her posts. Making accusations.”
I tensed, instantly on alert. “Does she need a lawyer?”
“No. Not yet, I don’t think.” He glanced over at his sister, Harper, and Lou in a conversation among themselves. “I think it’s just at that painfully annoying stage, where every time he does or says something, it’s like her soul is stepping on a Lego.”
“Ouch.” I winced at the thought.
“It always happens when you’re starting out. When you’re joining a market that other people think they have all the rights to. I told Harp that I went through it with my business, and it all worked out. You just have to muddle through for a little.”
“Well, if something changes…” It was the least I could do for the way Lou was helping my family right now.
“I appreciate that.” Max smiled and clapped me on the back.
“Boys, why don’t you grab the meats from the fridge and put them out?” Ailene asked, and Max and her sons moved to comply. I would’ve gone to help—anything to get some of the tension to move from my body—but I didn’t get a chance. Gigi came over to me as soon as the space opened.
“How’s your brother doing? Frankie told us a little about what happened. What a shame. That poor boy.”
“He’s okay. All things considered.” I cleared my throat. “We’re thinking about moving him to a facility in Boston as soon as I’m sure the media has cleared out of town.”
“So, Lou will have to go all the way to Boston to see him?” Aurora asked, dismayed.
Shit. I wasn’t thinking when I said that.
“If it’s for the best care…” Violet suggested.
Lou returned then. “Food is ready.”
Within minutes, everyone circled the dining table, filling our plates with the charcuterie that overflowed it. There wasn’t enough room for everyone to sit in one place, so pockets of conversations started to form, coursing through a variety of topics.
I ended up with Gigi and Ailene, answering their questions about my work—my office, my family. Listening as they shared pieces of Lou’s childhood with me like the information would magically be transmuted to my brother. The entire time, only part of my focus could be dedicated to them. The majority of it stayed locked on Lou, where she sat with her sisters-in-law.
Some people—most people—change when they are around family versus when they are talking to strangers. Especially introverts. But even people like my brother, who was charismatic and carefree in public, became someone drawn and tense in private. At least, he had the last time I was alone with him, but that was a while ago… and maybe it was the company and not his character.
Lou, on the other hand, effused the exact same generous spirit and easy smile with her family as she did with the guests at the inn.
She didn’t see it. I wasn’t sure if the rest of them did either. But the way Lou drew everyone into conversation was as effortless as the way the sun shined. She talked and tugged at their lives and interests until I overheard all about the new hotel contract Violet had just secured for Jamie’s furniture business, how long it took Kit to figure out the instructions to build the crib for their nursery, and that Max worried his best friend was having second thoughts about his wedding.
I listened as Aurora shared about her latest research, a ripple of laughter running through the room every time she pronounced the Latin classification of the mollusk she was studying. And even her mother, Ailene, was pulled into the fray, excitedly outlining her ideas for the blueberry festival she hosted at Stonebar Farms at the end of the summer.
Lou hinted that she wasn’t enough. That everyone else in her family was a bigger piece of the puzzle, especially her twin. She didn’t see that she was the glue between all of them. The one that brought all their different edges together. That flowed through the rough patches and sharp corners.
She thought she wasn’t seen, but that wasn’t the same as being invisible. Air couldn’t be seen, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t formidable—didn’t mean it wasn’t elemental. It didn’t mean she didn’t have the power to shape and sway everything around her .
Even I didn’t come away untouched when the conversation returned to me. Violet shared that she, too, had come from a generational family business with a father that was particularly callous.
“I had no idea until I came here that family was what you make of it— who you make of it.” She smiled, glancing around the room before her eyes fell on her husband, who pulled her hand to his mouth and kissed it.
“Well, I think Harper would be happy to have Blaze as a part of ours,” Max chimed in, nudging his sister with his elbow.
“Max,” Harper hissed, furious.
“What? You have all of his movie posters hung in your room?—”
“Not anymore,” she huffed and punched him in the arm. “He’s dating Lou.”
I looked at Lou, our eyes locking for a long second before she pulled her gaze away and turned to her sister-in-law.
“Here, let me take your plates,” she declared, building herself an exit from the conversation.
As Lou took mine, our fingers brushed. Like paper over an open flame, my skin started to curl and my nerves started to char, the way I wanted her burning holes through me and my resolve.
Somehow, I ended up talking to Max and Harper in the doorway between the dining room and the kitchen, where Lou and her sisters-in-law were cleaning up. As much as I tried to pay attention to what Max was saying about his friend’s upcoming wedding—and the advice Harper was trying to give him—all I could hear was the hushed tones of the women a few feet behind me.
“So… tell us the details,” Aurora begged. “What’s Blaze really like? Is he as charismatic as he is on screen?”
My body stiffened. I wasn’t prepared for this. I wasn’t prepared for her family to not have known she was seeing my brother… wasn’t prepared for all the questions I’d have to listen to her answer .
I had no right—no reason to be jealous. But I was. Every moment. Every breath. It filled me with envy for my brother. I was jealous of the man who’d lost this gorgeous woman because he was lucky enough to once have had her.
“Yes… but also more reserved in private.”
My fist balled, and my vision started to blur.
“That makes sense. It had to be hard to be in the spotlight like that all the time. People always wanting to see you—photograph you.”
“Is he a good kisser?”
My head jerked, but I caught myself just in time before I gave away which conversation I was really interested in.
“Aurora,” Violet chided. “It had to have been magical.”
“W-why?”
It took everything in me not to turn and look at her.
“Because you don’t hide a kiss or a boyfriend from your family if it’s not,” Violet reasoned. “You hide something that you want to protect—to preserve. You only hide something that is too good to be true but somehow too forbidden to be yours.”
“No.”
Blood thumped in my ears. I didn’t want to hear this. I didn’t want to hear that anything Lou had with Blaze was magic. I didn’t want to hear about anything she had with Blaze.
“Where did it happen?” Aurora asked.
“In the living room at the inn.”
I stiffened. That was where we’d first kissed, too. The thought turned my stomach. The both us of…
“So, what happened?”
I didn’t have to look at her to know she was blushing—to know she was hesitating, searching for any reason to get out of answering the question, but there was none. Words bubbled in my chest—an excuse to go in there and save her from the conversation, but they died on the tip of my tongue when I heard her.
“Well, it was late one night, and I was working on wedding stuff for the inn—for Max. I’d fallen asleep on the couch, and when he walked in, he startled me, and I knocked all my papers onto the floor.”
I couldn’t breathe. At first, I thought it was a twisted coincidence when she’d first kissed us both in the same place, but now…
“He helped me gather them and we were… close. Surrounded by my inspiration for weddings and after a week of…”
“Electricity?” Aurora offered.
Lou must’ve nodded because she continued, “It was something unstoppable.”
“Did he kiss you?”
Until this moment, there was a kernel of my brain that still thought she could’ve experienced almost exactly the same situation with two different men.
“No. I kissed him,” she answered, and that kernel evaporated.
They’d asked about her first kiss with Blaze… and she’d told them about the kiss she’d shared with me instead.
“Incredible,” Aurora gushed.
“I love that for you,” Violet added.
“Wade?”
I blinked and saw Max and his sister staring at me strangely.
“Excuse me,” I murmured and walked around them. I needed space. Fresh air. A second to think.
Earlier, Max had taken a phone call on the back deck of this house. His friend, I assumed, since that sparked his frustrated conversation with me when he came back inside. Now, I headed for that deck like it was an oasis in the middle of a desert. A drink of cool rationality in the midst of the hot turmoil churning inside me.
I didn’t know how long I was out there for or how deep I was in thought until a low voice rumbled behind me.
“Did you know?”
I tensed at the low voice. Jamie had joined me on the back deck with two glasses in his hands, one of them containing another cocktail for me.
“Thanks.” I took the glass, tapped the edge to his, and immediately took a healthy sip, swirling the taste in my mouth before swallowing.
Jamie didn’t drink though. He stared off the back of the deck and raked a hand through his auburn hair, dislodging what looked like a wood shaving from between the strands.
“Did you know about them?” He repeated his question and then felt the need to clarify, “Lou and your brother.”
My teeth clenched, and I shook my head. “No.” Another sip. “My brother and I aren’t close.”
He glanced at me, grunted, and finally took a swig from his glass. “Family can be tough.”
I couldn’t stop the bitter sound that pushed through my lips. “Yours seems anything but,” I told him, taking another drink.
“Only because we’ve been through a lot,” he admitted with reserve. “There was a time when Kit and I hardly spoke. After everything that happened to him, I couldn’t break him out of his shell no matter what I did or said, and the frustration… it drove a wedge between us for a while.”
“The worst thing is wanting to help someone you love and having them hate you for it.” I swirled the liquid. “Damned if you try to help, damned if you don’t.”
“Yeah.” He nodded solemnly. “Took me awhile to learn I couldn’t be everyone’s training wheels making sure they didn’t fall. All I could be was the safety net, there for them if something happened.”
The door opened behind us and Kit joined us on the deck. “Are we talking about Lou?”
No. I went stiff.
Jamie cleared his throat. “Siblings.”
Kit came and stood between Jamie and me, his arms folded over his chest, his expression unsettled. “Does Lou seem like your brother’s type?”
I choked.
“Kit—”
“I’m serious,” Kit interrupted Jamie. “I’m sorry. If you want to tread lightly, that’s up to you, but someone has to come out and say that none of this makes sense. Tell me I’m wrong.”
Jamie didn’t respond, the muscle in his jaw pulsing.
“Exactly,” Kit rumbled and looked to me. “I just can’t believe Lou would date your brother. Nothing against him, but Lou is…soft. Shy. She doesn’t like to be the center of attention, and she hasn’t been interested in dating in…” He huffed. “I know they say not to believe the tabloids, but none of this—nothing about the two of them makes sense. Am I wrong?”
I swallowed, taking a second before I replied, “No.”
“You of all people should know that opposites attract,” Jamie countered.
“And for her not to tell us?” Kit returned, rubbing a hand along his jaw. “Why wouldn’t she tell us? When has she ever kept anything from us?”
Anger fumed under my skin. Even though I understood where they were coming from—why they said the things they did—I couldn’t stop the fury from bubbling in my veins.
I tossed back the rest of my cocktail, the alcohol clearing a path down my throat, and then my hand slammed the glass down on the railing, harder than intended.
“I think she didn’t tell you because all your sister ever does is cater to everyone else’s wants and what they want from her. And for once, maybe she wanted something unexpected… something she was afraid she shouldn’t… and she didn’t want to hear how it was wrong from the people she loves the most.”
They slowly looked at each other, Jamie’s head dipping in a sign of tentative surrender. Kit on the other hand…
“Whatever the reason, if he hurts her?—”
I stepped right into his space.
“I would never let anyone hurt her,” I swore, my promise rough and hewn as though drawn from the very marrow of my bones, and then turned and stormed inside to find Lou heading toward me.
“Frankie just texted me.” She held her phone in her hand as though I might ask to see it. “She said she’s pretty sure the coast is clear.”
My jaw clenched and released.
“Should we go?—”
“Yes,” I didn’t even wait for her to finish.
“Great.” She sounded as relieved as I felt, but for a completely different reason.
She didn’t want to answer any more questions about a relationship that no longer existed… and I needed to know why she’d described her first kiss with Blaze as ours.