Page 72 of Fragile Heart

“Here, kid, you’ll need to sit on a lap.” Ethan grabs Camden’s light-up wand along with a couple other small items, clearing the blanket.

“Oh, okay,” he says. And then he climbs into my lap without asking, clutching the bear to his chest as he looks toward the nearly darkened sky.

There’s a long, heavy silence.

And then Ethan sighs and fills most of the spot Camden had occupied, giving Triston just enough room to wedge between Beau and Ethan.

A small breeze picks up in the field and carries that mint I’d know in the middle of a damn crowd right into me. My thighsclench, and a flush heats my chest. I swallow the lump in my throat and keep my body relaxed.

These fireworks can’t end fast enough.

Chapter Thirty-Two

ETHAN

Emily leans around me as soon as the last firework’s light fades out, practically climbing into Beau’s lap to get close enough to Brielle. Beau eases back onto his hand, an eyebrow raised. Triston’s breath catches in his throat as he stills beside me.

“We’re going to go to the Outpost.” My sister’s voice isn’t quite a shout, but it’s a near thing. “You should come with us!”

Camden stirs on Brielle’s lap and clutches the bear closer to him, though his eyes don’t open. He made it through the first half of the fireworks before falling asleep against Brielle. Not even the overdone ending was enough to wake him up.

“Oh! Can we invite ourselves?” Olivia says from behind me, leaning into the space between Brielle and me.

A space that has been too damn small the entire night. Too damn small and yet a gaping cavern, too.

Emily grins and nods, giving up leaning over the others and moving to kneel on the blanket in front of us. She pushes away the light-up wand I’d gotten for Camden without missing a beat.

“Of course! Devynn said they have a guest dancer this entire weekend, so there’s sure to be fun dances happening.”

The girls start chatting away, and I tune them out, grabbing all of Camden’s items and shoving them into the backpack stashed behind me.

“So what do you say, Bri?” Olivia asks, pulling my attention back to them.

Brielle doesn’t say anything. My gaze travels up to her face, drawn like a damn magnet. She bites her lip, her eyebrows furrowed with her frown. She glances down at my son and then pulls out her phone.

“I think I’ll just go home,” she says after a moment. Emily and Olivia both groan. “There’s a tattoo artist that’s in Jackson this weekend. She’s doing a few sessions.”

Melissa grins. “Is it that girl you’ve been following from Los Angeles?”

Brielle nods. Melissa cheers.

“Oh, yes! Definitely want to go with you. Her work is stunning. Did you already book an appointment?”

Brielle shifts her phone so Melissa can see it. Emily and Olivia lean over, too.

“Oh, I thought you were texting Caleb this whole time,” Emily says with surprise.

Brielle ducks her head, her embarrassment written across her body. A growl boils up my throat, but I force it down.

“We should make it a girls day!” Olivia says. “I’ve been wanting to head up there and start getting things for the nursery anyway.”

I get to my feet and sling the backpack over a shoulder before I do something completely stupid and mark Brielle in the middle of this field surrounded by my family and friends. Everyone else seems to interpret it as permission to start packing up.

“Any news on when Caleb will be back?” Joan asks. She shakes out the blanket her and Mark were using and folds it away, tucking it under one arm.

“Last I heard it looked like maybe Monday, but it probably will only be long enough for his reset. Colorado’s burning bad right now.”

She nods and sighs. “Well, we’re happy to take Camden as much as needed. Beau said you’re doing second round breeding for the next week or two.”

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