Page 13 of Holding Out

Nate squinted at her.“Don’t get any ideas.Just because he holds Robbie doesn’t mean he’s family man material.”

She shook her head.“Believe me.I know exactly where I stand with Griff.”

He’d madethatabundantly clear.

“Becca?”

She raised her eyebrows.“Uh-huh?”

“Speaking of holding Robbie, if I hand him over to you right now, could you watch him for an hour while I, um, catch up on sleep?”

She gave him a dark look and took the proffered baby, whose diaper needed changing.

“Just keep it down up there, okay?”she said sternly, though she was secretly delighted, as always, by Nate and Alia’s happiness.“When you guys go at it, they can hear you in China.You wouldn’t want to scare the paying guests away.”

He gave her the finger and booked it upstairs.

“Looks like it’s just you and me, Robbie.But that’s okay, because you’re the only male I understand,” she told her nephew, and was rewarded with a ginormous grin.

5

“Do you think he has a chance?”

Griff, Nate, Jake, and Hunter were sitting at a table in Bottoms Up, watching CJ—a newcomer to R&R—chat up a redhead at the bar.The bar was a dive on the surface—scarred tables, neon beer signs, a menu of rubbery burgers and limp fries—but it played a great selection of country and classic rock, the beer flowed freely, and, for reasons known only to God, twenty-something women seemed to love it.

Griff shook his head.“No way.”

“Diagnosis?”Nate asked.

Griff watched CJ’s moves for a second.“He’s talking too much.I don’t even know what he’s saying, but I know whatever it is, she doesn’t give a shit.”

“Can you save his sorry ass?”

“What am I now, roving wingman?”

Nate laid his palms open.“I’m just saying, maybe take pity on the dude.He hasn’t gotten laid since he got back.”

As if on cue, CJ retreated to the table and slumped into the booth beside Hunter.

“No luck, huh?”Jake asked sympathetically.

“What were you planning to do if you scored, anyway?”Nate ribbed him.“Let her ride between us in my truck?”

As always, CJ had bummed a ride to the bar, even though he owned a lean, mean black Ford Mustang Shelby GT350 that none of them had ever seen him drive.

“Yeah, man,” Griff said, leaning in.“What’s that car for if not to get you laid?If I had a car like that, I’d drive it every chance I got.”

“Fuck you,” CJ said, and there was an unexpected bite to his voice that made Griff give him a second look.You could feel the other guys flinch back, too, like,whoa.The kid wasn’t a hothead, so what was up with that?

The truth was, Griff had a soft spot for CJ.It had started one night, two weeks ago, when CJ had frozen and then bolted from the card table during Oh Hell when the guys rapped their fists on the table to place their bets.Griff had watched him go, exchanged nods with Jake, and then chased the kid down to the lake, where CJ stood, staring bleakly at the water.

Griff had joined him, standing shoulder to shoulder.

“Hey.”

No response from CJ.

“We’ve all been there.Everyone’s jumped a foot for no reason.Everyone’s frozen in some situation where it doesn’t make sense.Everyone’s freaked out, run away, whatever.”

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