Page 50 of Rainbow Kisses

Damn, this girl was way too jaded for twelve. It’s probably exactly what I would’ve said at her age, though, too. But damn it, that’s not what I wanted for Maddy.

“The Lawrences go all out for Christmas. They have a lot of events at their house, for the team and the town. Besides, Miss Raffi and Rain love all that stuff.”

“Yeah, they seem pretty into it. I mean, it’s really pretty, and I’m having a good time, so…yeah.”

I couldn’t be completely sure because I couldn’t see her face, but she sounded sincere. “Good. That’s…great, Maddy. So, I’ll see you at the game tonight.”

“Aren’t you coming here before the game?”

“No, I’m going to take a nap then shovel some food in my stomach so I don’t bonk at tonight’s game.”

Maddy’s laughter made me smile. “Yeah, we wouldn’t want the old man to bonk.”

“Hey, who are you calling old, little girl?”

“If the skate fits, Uncle Bri.”

We hung up after we both said see ya later, because she’d picked up on the fact that I didn’t like to say goodbye. Kid was smart. Way smarter than me and Linny combined, I swear.

I drove back to our little house and had just pulled some pasta out of the fridge to reheat when my phone rang.

Rain.

I swiped that call open so fast, the phone nearly slid out of my hands.

“Hey, everything okay? I just spoke to Maddy but?—”

“Yeah, everything’s fine here. Sorry, didn’t mean to worry you. I was just checking to make sureyou’reokay.”

With a sigh, I wondered how much to say. And exactly what to tell her. How much did she know about what had happened with Rebel? If I had to guess, exactly nothing. He wouldn’t have wanted her to know.

“I’m fine. And yeah, Reb was there, but we talked a little. That was it.”

A slight pause. “Talked about what? Did you work out all your man stuff?”

I huffed out a laugh. “Man stuff? Really?”

“Yeah, you know, the touchy-feely stuff men don’t like to talk about but that they really should. The stuff women talk about all the time.”

“We talked, Rain. Can we just leave it at that? You know your brother. If he wants to tell you something, he’ll let you know.”

A slightly longer pause this time. “Okay. I just…I’m worried about you, Brian.”

That feeling I shouldn’t be having about her flooded through me. I wanted her. And right now, even though I knew I shouldn’t say one more damn thing, my defenses were down.

“I appreciate that. More than you know.”

“Oh.” Another pause. “I, um… I care about you, Brian. I hope you know that.”

Oh hell. Every nerve ending in my body lit up like a fucking Christmas tree.

“Yeah, I do. You care about a lot of people. That makes you the person you are.”

“No, I mean, Icareaboutyou. Damn, I really don’t want to have this conversation by phone. Maybe we could have lunch tomorrow when Maddy’s in school. Talk a little.”

This is exactly what I shouldn’t do. What Rebel didn’t want me to do. Spend time with Rain. Talk to Rain.

And it’s exactly what I wanted.

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