Page 36 of Undeniable You

Reid nodded and didn’t make any comments as I walked toward a large rock and sat down on it. This wasn’t supposed to be a difficult hike, but for some reason it was still kicking my ass. I gulped down some water and looked up at the completely cloudless sky. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, and not too hot, thankfully.

Reid looked at her phone, smiling softly as she typed out a message.

“How’s Sophie?” I sang.

“Shut up,” she said, not looking up from her phone until she was done with her message.

“Oh come on, we both know you totally and completely adore her.” And vice versa.

Reid rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah.”

I snorted. Reid was so funny now that she was completely in love. She hadn’t planned on it happening which made it all the more satisfying.

“Is she with Larison?” I asked, even though I knew perfectly well that she was.

“Yup. She forced Larison to take a break and go to the beach. She’s been trying to keep Juniper busy so Larison can sit and chill out for a while.” That sounded like a perfect idea. Larison definitely wasn’t going to do that, but maybe Sophie could beg her until she did.

How’s my favorite girl?I sent to Larison.

What?She asked and then I realized how the message looked.

I meant Juniper. How’s my PJ?Oops. Larison kind of was my favorite girl, but in a different way obviously.

She’s good. Currently making a sand mansion with Sophie.The message was sent with a picture of Sophie and Juniper on the sand laughing together. Adorable.

Are you relaxing?I asked.

Her answer was a picture of an open book on her lap. I could just see a tiny peek of leg but that little sliver of skin was enough to give me heart palpitations.

I needed to get a hold of myself.

“You okay?” Reid asked and I realized I’d been staring at my phone for a while.

“Oh, yeah. Good. Uh huh.”

I got up and Reid gave me a weird look.

“Let’s keep going,” I said, taking off at a fast walk and almost immediately tripping over a tree root. Reid snorted as I caught myself and kept plowing ahead.

Reid didn’t know about all of my secret longings for Larison and I didn’t want her to. It would be great if I had anyone to talk to about it, but Reid would probably tell Sophie, and I couldn’t take the chance that any of that could get back to Larison. I would perish from mortification. It would definitely kill me. And then I’d never get to finish my degree.

“How is the job going?” Reid asked.

“It’s great,” I said, my voice too loud. “Juniper is so funny and she’s rarely in a bad mood. We’re working on her reading and she’s been doing a great job. Some days it’s hard to believe that it’s a job because we have so much fun every day.” As far as jobs went, it was a damn good one.

“That’s great. It’s important to actually enjoy your job,” she said.

“Oh, is it?” I asked, and she glared at me when I looked at her over my shoulder. “Didn’t I tell you the exact same thing for ages when you were working at Sapph?” Reid had not enjoyed that job and I’d had to see her being miserable about it until she got her head out of her ass and did something else. She was now helping out with Cade’s author assistant business and she’d also finally started seeing a therapist to deal with her family trauma. I was so damn proud of her for taking that step.

“Yeah, yeah. How long are you going to rub that in my face?” She pushed at my shoulder gently and I laughed.

“Oh, probably for the rest of our lives. You’re stuck with me, baby.”

She snorted. “Fine. I guess.”

We kept walking and then Reid asked, “and how are things with Larison?”

Hearing someone else say her name made my stomach swirl with something like jealousy, which was truly ridiculous. I wasn’t jealous that Reid had said hername.

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