Page 58 of Fragile Heart

There’s a chorus of cheers from the two girls I saw on Monday as well as Camden. They grab a set of roasting sticks from a pile on the ground and rush Melissa, giggling and jumping. Everyone else looks up as I close the distance and step onto the patio. Olivia waves, and Hudson cocks an eyebrow before kissing her temple and coming toward me.

“You want something to drink?” he asks.

I shake my head. “I’m fine.”

The back door opens, and Brielle and Faedra walk onto the patio.

My heart jumps.

Brielle holds her friend’s baby, running her hand over the baby’s fine hair. The movement feels absent, like she doesn’t realize she’s even doing it. My mind flashes back to when Camden was that little—younger, actually. Kayla never got to see him turn a year old.

Grief twists my stomach in a way it hasn’t the last month, and it takes all my strength to keep it off my face. There’s no pancakes to make tonight to tune out the thoughts. Shit, maybe I should get something to drink. It’ll keep me busy, at least. Grief waves are fuckinghard.

Brielle glances away from Faedra in that moment, her eyes lighting on me. Her cheeks flush a dark red even as a smile lights her face. Faedra looks over too, and she smirks before saying something into Brielle’s ear, twisting away so I can’t see her lips.

Hudson grunts. “You going to tell me what’s up between you two? Because it’s clearly not just casual sex like what’s been floating around the gossip mills.”

I tear my gaze away from Brielle to look at my brother with a frown. I hadn’t heard that the consensus was she was just a hookup. Had that started after I left Monday?

“I already tried to get the story from Olivia, and she won’t tell me anything. Claims it’s girl business. And Mom said she was sworn to secrecy.”

He gives me a flat look.

“Not tonight,” I hedge.

“My money’s on you guys being scent matches. Ethan’s acting like it’s pretty damn serious.” He sighs and throws back the rest of the beer in his hand. “And you haven’t risked anything more than a quick hookup since Kayla. It’d take a damn lot for you to hard launch something, not even factoring in that she’s Melissa’s best friend.”

“I’m not hard launching shit,” I grouse.

He laughs and claps me on the shoulder. “Yeah, sure. Brielle giving you ‘fuck me’ eyes from across the bonfire is definitely not you hard launching.”

I shove an elbow into his side, and he laughs harder, letting his head drop back.

“Ethan’s brought it up with you?” I can’t help but ask. Ethan hasn’t said much more to me than passing greetings since I brought Brielle home with me Friday night.

Hudson shakes his head.

“Nope. But he’s got that look he had when you guys were first matched with Kayla.” He shrugs and crushes the beer can against his leg. “He’s also acting like his world is on fire, though, so not sure how much weight to put on any of it.”

When I sigh, Hudson claps my back in that way guys always do to convey sympathy. My gaze drifts back to Brielle. Her cheeks are still flushed. And I can’t even argue with Hudson’s assessment of her gaze. It’s certainly making me want to find a quiet corner and coax an orgasm from her. Cinnamon surrounds me, and Hudson chuckles.

Camden squeals, running toward me, a marshmallow barely hanging on to the end of the roasting stick.

“Papa!” he says as he runs into my legs, wrapping his arms around me.

The roasting stick stabs into my side, and I grunt. I ease it out of his hand before it can work its way through my shirt. The marshmallow, miraculously, is still holding on.

“Papa, are you going camping, too?” he asks, his eyes wide.

When I nod, he squeals again and dances in place, his arms tightening around me.

“Cam, you ready to roast your marshmallow?” Melissa asks.

Camden’s excitement over having me home falls away just as quickly as it came as he rushes back to where Melissa stands with the girls near the fire. Hudson nudges me, and I glance up. Brielle stands just to the side of me, the baby still in her arms.

“Who is this?” I ask. I shove my hands into my pockets to keep from reaching for her.

She smiles. “This is Dahlia. She turns one at the beginning of August.”

---