Page 113 of Defending her Heart

A waitress comes by and takes our order. We’re easy. Three strawberry margaritas and chicken nachos to share. We sip our waters and Riley taps the table.

“Your eyes aren’t red and puffy from crying, your face isn’t tight and filled with rage, and you don’t look like death warmed over. If anything, you’re radiating happiness. What’s the deal?”

“Oh my God.” Rowan takes my hand. “Are you pregnant?”

“Pregnant? Fuck no! I ordered a margarita.”

“You’re having regular sex.Goodregular sex.” Riley taps her fork to the table. “When you’re part of the amazing orgasm club, you can spot when others have joined.”

“Nothing to see here.” Rowan waves a hand in front of her face.

How she’s still single is beyond me. She’s the prettiest, smartest, and sweetest of the three of us. But that also makes it impossible to find a guy who can live up to the standards we’ve set for Rowan.

“I take it things are good with Nash, which is why you’re freaking out.”

“I’m not freaking out.” The waitress delivers our margaritas, and I suck mine down so quickly I have a brain freeze.

“Mhm.” Riley pushes her drink in front of me. “We haven’t talked about the good stuff in two weeks. Last we heard, you were contemplating ending your friends with benefits situation. I take it you didn’t?”

There’s no point in holding it in any longer. “Nash told me he loved me.”

“Oh.” Rowan clasps her hands over her heart. “I’m so happy for you.”

Riley studies me and lets out a sigh. “What did you do?”

“I didn’tdoanything.”

“Great,” she mumbles. “How heartbroken is Nash? Tell me you didn’t chew him up and spit him out. He’s a good guy. Even if you think he’s not the right one for you, I hope you didn’t hurt his feelings.”

“Wow. Way to have confidence in me, Riles.”

“She didn’t mean it like that.” Rowan pats my arm. “We understand why you’re closed off to men, and we don’t blame you. But we also like Nash and don’t want to see him hurt either. Did you let him down easy?”

“Fuck. This conversation isn’t going the way I thought it would.” I pick up Riley’s margarita. “Way to make me out to be the bad guy.”

“Is Nash the bad guy?” Riley asks.

“No one is the bad guy.” I huff out my frustration. “I’m not a total bitch.”

Rowan and Riley clear their throats.

“Fine. I can be a bitch but only to those who deserve to be on the receiving end. Nash doesn’t deserve that.” I bite down on my bottom lip to hide my goofy smile. “He’s the sweetest man I’ve ever met.”

“Holy fuck,” Riley says.

“You’ve seen him with Paisley. They’re adorable together. His family is the most important thing in his life. More important than football. And he cares about me. He trusts me with his daughter and his—”

I won’t tell them about Paisley’s mom. He trusted me with that story, and I’ll take it to my grave. Not that I have any idea who she is. There are millions of Elizabeths in the world. I’m sure if I hired a P.I., they could track down a senator with a daughter by that name who attended Stanford seven years ago, but there’s no need to do that. Not when Nash trusted me with his secret.

“I told him about Jason. Everything. He knows about my trust issues and isn’t pressuring me. He told me he loved me this weekend and then told me not to say anything in response. He respects me and understands my issues. He wants to work to earn it and not have me reciprocate the words out of obligation.”

“But you love him. It’s obvious, Kendall.” Rowan clasps her hands together in front of her mouth as if to shield her romantic tears.

I stare at my glass and drag my finger through the condensation. “Yeah, I do,” I whisper.

“Holy fuck balls.” Riley pulls me into a hug, and as soon as she releases me, Rowan hugs my other side.

“So that’s the 911?” Rowan asks.

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