Wild(69)

            We went to see the new Bond movie. It was just like old times. The three of us laughing and talking over popcorn and getting shushed by people sitting near us. It was the kind of behavior my mother would frown at, but considering I’d been doing a lot of things lately Mom would frown at, this, comparatively, seemed like a small offense.

            After the movie we grabbed a late dinner at Gino’s, splitting an enormous Greek pizza that we devoured with utter abandon. We talked until the staff started cleaning up, signaling us that we needed to leave.

            It was a good night. My best friends were happy. It was in their every move and gesture. In the way they smiled. And I knew why. They had found peace in their lives. In Reece and Shaw. Their futures were bright. It was hard not to let the envy creep in. I tried to remember if it had ever been like that for me with Harris. Maybe in the beginning, but we had been so young then. Just sixteen. The light that shined in Pepper’s and Emerson’s eyes . . . I doubt that light had ever been in my eyes.

            I was glad we’d gone out and spent time together even if it meant I was returning to Mulvaney’s after ten P.M. during peak hours and I happened to see Logan’s Bronco in the parking lot, so I knew he was working. The risk had been worth it. And I couldn’t hide forever. Not to mention it wasn’t very adult of me.

            So we’d had a fling. People do that. It happens. But it never happens to you. Squaring my shoulders, I stepped inside the noisy bar and sucked in a breath.

            I was going to see him again. That was a given. He was Reece’s brother. Determined to get over it, I pushed through the crowd lining up to place their orders at the counter. Still no glimpse of Logan, and there was an ache in my chest that felt a little like disappointment over that fact. I gave myself a swift mental kick, realizing that as much as I didn’t want to see him . . . I did.

            I made it into the kitchen. I was in the clear. Sighing, I rolled my shoulders, forcing myself to relax.

            That’s when I saw him.

            He rounded the counter and stopped hard. A few feet separated us. He held a tub of clean glasses, and his biceps strained in a way that made me remember his strength . . . the ease in which he held me up in the shower. I was pretty average in size, no little thing like Emerson, but he had made me feel dainty.

            “Hey,” I blurted, my voice a little too high.

            “Hey,” he returned, his reply slower, his deep baritone sliding over me. Everything in me responded, my skin tingling and reacting with a sharp shiver.

            “Congratulations. I heard you graduated.”

            He nodded. “Yeah.”

            I wet my lips, wanting to ask him more. Everything. I wanted to know everything about him and his plans for the summer and beyond. I gave myself a mental slap. Get a grip, Georgia. This wasn’t ending with happily ever after.

            “Did you do anything special?”

            Why was I still talking?

            He snorted, his sexy lips twisting into a self-effacing grin. “Yeah. Reece and Pepper took me to dinner and then I went home and peeled my old man off the floor where he had passed out.”

            He uttered it so matter-of-factly, his blue gaze flat. This was his life. He wasn’t looking for pity. In fact, I knew he would hate that, but I still couldn’t stop myself from reaching out and touching his arm.

            His forearm contracted under my fingers. “Don’t,” he warned softly, glasses clinking as he adjusted his grip on the tub. “Don’t touch me and expect me not to touch you.”

            I dropped my hand to my side, my heart beating wildly in my chest. Of course, those contrary feelings that always hit me around him resurfaced. Run, stay, run, stay.