Page 107 of The Brave and the Reckless

“Look, Ez, I talked to Mom this morning.” Esra groaned but Sinan carried on undeterred. “I think I got her off your back for a while. It’s not an ideal solution, but it’ll buy you some time until you’re ready to deal with her yourself.”

“What did you tell her?”

“Zuri and I set a date. So Mom will be in wedding mode for a while.”

“What? When? I thought you wanted to wait a bit longer.”

Sanny reached over to pat Esra’s head, then wiped his hand off on the sofa cushions when he realized that herhair was drenched in sweat from last night. “Consider it our apology to you for meddling.”

“Thank you. Genuinely.” She sighed and offered him a small smile. “Can you please send my wedding invitation here?”

I’d held myself back from the conversation, but my spine straightened at those words. Esra fixed her gaze on me. “If that’s okay with you.”

Those renovation to do lists in the hallway were about to grow tenfold. I didn’t care so much about running hot water or window condensation for myself, but if Esra was moving in, I’d turn this house into a palace for her. “That’s very okay with me, princess.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

BROOKS MONROE: ONE NIGHT ONLY

Brooks Monroe (41) returns to the stage for the first time in three years after his unexpected retirement from touring. The former Sexiest Man Alive, three-time Grammy and nine-time Country Music Award winner officially announced the “One Night Only” show on his social media profiles, but if you were hoping to snag tickets and see the country legend in concert, you may be out of luck.

Many fans expressed their disappointment in the choice of venue and the limited ticket availability…

ESRA

I spent four days drifting in and out of sleep. The third day was the worst, when the fever spiked again and even the joints in my fingers burned to the point where I couldn’t hold my phone anymore. Noah barely left my side throughout the whole thing. He couldn’t take the entire time off, but he had someone else handle his work with the park’s horses and check on Tornado, Cookie and Crumble, so he was really just gone for the few hours he had to play Ace.

Once I was well enough to get out of bed, he helped meinto the tub in the master bathroom and showed off his electric hot-shower contraption. It was made for camping grounds, but it worked well enough for him to wash days of sweat and grime off my skin and out of my hair. His fingers carefully combed along my scalp and through the knotted ends. I let my head fall back, every molecule in my body humming with comfort.

“The dark bronze looks great,” I mumbled as I blinked up at the shower rod he’d installed.

“Yeah? You like it?” he chuckled.

“Mm-hmm, yeah.” I let my eyes fall shut, soaking in every soothing touch. I didn’t care that much about the shower curtain fixture, but we’d chosen it lying naked in his bed while he’d tried to distract me with his tongue. In the end, I’d just picked one, so he’d finally sink his head between my legs. Lucky enough, the dark browndidlook great in the bright rooftop space.

He rinsed my hair and rubbed a towel through it before helping me up and out of the tub. I smelled like him now. I was going to use his shampoo for the rest of my life if it meant getting to smell him whenever I whipped my head around.

It took another week for my body to fully recover, but despite the bland diet and early bedtimes, that week was one of the best of my life. I wore Noah’s shirts around the house and wandered barefoot through the backyard. Noah made me tea and cradled me in his lap while I sipped it, and we watched teen horseback-riding dramas on Netflix. And we lay under that beautiful skylight, tangled in the blankets, sharing secrets and stories from our lives while we tried not to get distracted by all the kissing we could do for hours on end without interruption.

By Tuesday, I felt well enough to leave the house with Noah as he went to work. He said he’d smuggle me through the staff entrance, but I waved him off and headed to the ticket office instead. Even Stephanie at the counter tried to tell me that I could just go through, but I insisted on getting a ticket. I’d left. I was just like any other guest. Almost. I felt a bit like Clark Kent. I’d put my hair up in a high ponytail and had borrowed Noah’s big aviators just to be safe. I didn’t want to shatter some little kid’s illusion on the off-chance they knew my face.

The crowd in the park seemed denser than usual. Maybe it was just the height of summer season. Part of me couldn’t help but think it was because people preferred the new Annie Lou. I took a bite of my horseshoe pretzel to swallow the bitterness down as I stood in line for the meet and greet. His smile didn’t falter until I got to the front of the line and flipped my sunglasses up.

“Hey Lucky.”

Lucas shook his head, the smile returning slowly. “Hello gorgeous.”

I handed my phone to Clarence, who was assisting with Lucas’s crowd, and went up to get my picture taken with Kit Holliday.

“Are you coming back?” he asked when I was close enough for only me to hear him.

“If you’ll have me,” I said and meant it. I was going to talk to Renee later, but Lucas had spent so many hours on those videos with me, trying to help me find my footing here, that I wouldn’t blame him if he never wanted to see me again after the way I took off.

“Yes, please,” he said and put an arm around my shoulderfor the picture, leaning in to whisper, “you can be my wingwoman, so I can finally pull myself an Annie Lou. The new one’s kinda hot. I have dibs.”

“You’re incorrigible,” I laughed.

Clarence handed back my phone and Lucas sent me off with a big smile and an “I’ll see you later.”

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