Page 23 of Even Ground

I catch Pania’s gaze. I’m still not sure what she thinks, but I’ve never been so anxious that someone likes me. Maybe it’s because her best friend is family now, but maybe it’s because she has these hazel eyes that don’t miss a thing.

My best friend just married the love of his life, and she’s his whole world. It’s made me rethink my priorities, and losing myself in woman after woman in an attempt to avoid any kind of commitment is rapidly losing its appeal.

“Reece, come on.” Amelia cups my face and drags it to look at her. She presses her nose to mine, and I can’t help but smile. If I ever have kids, I’d love them to be like this one. She’s a queen, just like her mom.

With large steps, I sweep her onto the dance floor, and she lets out a whoop as we spin in circles and as I dip her.

I fall a little deeper in love. Amelia’s my best friend’s kid, and she’s so much like him that I’m not surprised when she claps her hands to her cheeks and laughs.

“I think I’ll take over here.” Josh extends his arms, and Amelia abandons me for her father.

I raise the back of my hand to my forehead. “You’re leaving me?”

Amelia leans her head against Josh’s.

“I’m not going to see my girl for a week while you get to hang out with her. Of course I’m taking her for this dance.” Josh’s eyes shine with happiness. Everything’s lining up for him now in a way that they’ve never lined up for me, and I can’t resent him for it.

“You have fun with your dad. And we are going to do some fun things while he’s away.”

Amelia nods, and then Josh whisks her away to the other side of the dance floor where Delaney’s waiting. I’m sure this will be the longest she and Amelia have been apart, so I get their need to be together right now.

I’ll work with Josh’s parents and Pania to keep Amelia distracted.

Pania.

I scan behind Delaney and Josh until I find her again. I’m not afraid to admit I like her—she has the same spunk as Delaney—and the next week will be fun being around her. I also love that freckle on her upper lip that I just want to …

Stop it. You can’t think of her that way.

Even if there was a chance of something happening between Pania and I, I’d only screw it up and hurt her. And that would only complicate my friendship with Delaney. I’m not sure she’d ever forgive me.

But we could be friends.

Apart from Jessie, I’ve never really had female friends. And Jessie’s near obsession with Josh made it easy to be her friend because she never wanted anything more from me. Except maybe for those handful of times we had sex—the times Josh doesn’t know about.

I make my way to Pania, and she seems to take a deep breath as I approach. This wedding must be so weird for her, considering there’s not many people she knows. The least I can do is take care of her if Josh and Delaney take off for their honeymoon soon.

Slipping my hands in my pockets, I draw closer to her, and she looks up at me and smiles.

“Hey.”

“Hey, yourself.” Her smile widens.

“What a night, huh?”

“The whole day’s been a bit crazy.” She lifts her hand to the back of her neck and stretches. “But it was a perfect wedding. Those two really are meant to be.”

I slowly nod and reach for two champagne glasses as a waitress walks past with them. Pania accepts one when I offer it to her and takes a sip, closing her eyes. “Damn, that’s good.”

“It probably costs a ton of money. It should be good.”

She laughs, opening her eyes and meeting my gaze. “I should make the most of it and drink a lot, then.”

“You should.” I take a sip too. “The best part is whatever’s left over at the end of the night, stays here, so we can keep drinking it all week.”

Pania grins. “Sounds great to me.”

She holds up her glass, and I clink mine against hers. “To new-found friendships.”

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