Page 67 of Unbroken

Devon

The lake wasone of my favorite places to be. We’d spent so many weekends and holidays at Reed’s lake house. It held some of my favorite memories with my favorite people.

But standing on the large wooden patio that stretched toward the water, I had never felt so on edge. The March air was warm, and I worried that if it got any hotter, I’d start sweating through my suit.

I stood at one of the high-top tables that had been placed around the deck. The normal patio furniture had been pushed to the side, and I eyed a more comfortable spot on an empty couch when James appeared next to me.

“So, what do you think this is all for?” he asked, motioning with his tumbler glass filled with whiskey toward the white decorations, the tables with little centerpieces, and the crowd of people.

That had been the question on all our minds since the three of them sent real invitations a few weeks ago. No matter how hard we tried, they wouldn’t give us any details, but most of usbelieved that they were going to announce an engagement. It felt like a step they were all ready to take.

I shrugged and shook my head, staring toward the blue water lapping against the rocky shore just beyond the edge of the deck. Just looking at it, I could almost feel the cool water against my skin. Thankfully, I’d foregone a tie, but I was already uncomfortable in my blue suit and white shirt, and watching the water made me want to strip it off and jump in.

Doing mostly woodworking and consulting work meant a suit was not part of my normal attire anymore.

“Okay, look,” James said abruptly, setting his drink down on the table and turning to face me. “Why are you being a shithead? You’re more grumpy than usual, so either tell me about it or I’m going to go back over to my gorgeous girlfriend and leave your ass to stew.”

He stared over my shoulder at Ivy, who was wearing a light orange floral dress and her signature megawatt smile.

My reflex was to tell him he might as well go back over there, because she was sure to be much better company than I was. But he glanced back at me, and I noted the real concern on his face.

With a sigh, I warred with what to tell him. Amanda had pulled the information from me a few weeks ago, but I hadn’t told anyone else since. And somehow Amanda managed not to share it with anyone else either.

She’d approached me for the exact opposite reason—I was apparently too happy and she needed to know why. And rather than getting excited by the news that Blakely and I had kissed, her face had immediately dropped.

Sadly, Amanda’s reasoning made me question everything. Maybe it was too much too fast. Blakely was trying to figure her life out, and throwing a relationship into the mix would only make things harder. Which was the last thing I wanted to do.

Now, I was more in my head than I’d ever been, and I hadn’t spoken to her almost at all in way too long. A fact I was not proud of.

I gripped my beer bottle and awkwardly readjusted on my feet. James had been the one person who had, without preamble, identified that I’d felt more for Blakely than friendship. And he wasn’t shy about it either. If the topic arose, he was eager to call me out.

Against my better judgment, I confessed, “I crossed a line with Blakely.” I stared down at my drink, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw him straighten and snap his head toward me. Likely shocked that I’d said anything at all.

When I chanced a glance up, he was nodding his head and staring off in the distance.

“Okay, and you’re scared that you’ve fucked everything up by crossing that line?”

His response surprised me. “Yeah, exactly,” I said, sipping my beer for something else to do.

“Have you talked to Blakely about it? Does she think you crossed a line?” I shook my head. “Wait, no to what? She doesn’t think you crossed a line?”

“No,” I clarified. “I haven’t talked to her.”

James gave a derisive snort and leveled a disbelieving look in my direction. “And why the hell not?”

It felt stupid, but I felt myself saying, “Because Amanda told me not to.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me. Are you?—”

“Yes,” I cut him off quickly. “I know how stupid that sounds, but Amanda found out about it. She told me that I shouldn’t…pursue it because Blakely’s got too much going on right now.”

James set his beer on the table. “How did Amanda find out about it?”

“She did her Amanda thing,” I said by way of explanation, and James nodded like he understood. I wasn’t sure how she did it, but somehow Amanda was always able to pry information from anyone and everyone.

“Although Amanda has a point,” James began, nudging my arm to get my attention. Begrudgingly, I glanced up at him. “And Blakely is going through a transition, but she’s also her own person. You have to give her the opportunity to speak for herself.”

He was right. I knew I’d made the wrong decision two weeks ago, but hearing James talk about it just confirmed I should have listened to myself.

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