Page 31 of Deep Waters
Anya took a long pull from her water bottle, eyeing me over the top. “I feel like I missed something big. Drew and I didn’t make it to the concert last weekend. But I heard there was… dancing?”
Lucy smirked. She’d spill the beans if I didn’t. Clearly, she’d already told all to Vi.
“Zach and I took the kids. Hana is quite the pied piper. She got him dancing. It was adorable.”
“Annnddd…” Lucy nudged.
“He and I danced. One time.”
Lucy snorted. “There’s ‘danced,’” she held out her arms stiffly, mimicking an awkward sway, “ and there’s ‘danced,’” she wrapped her arms around herself, making smooching noises. She dropped her arms, grinning. “You guys were adorable.”
“It was just a dance.”
“And hell is just a sauna.” Lucy shuddered. “They gross me out.”
“Other than dancing together, how has it been, living with Zach?” Vi asked, curiosity in the lilt in her voice.
For the first time, I questioned spilling my feelings to my friends. Anything I said might make it back to Zach. Vi was his sister. Anya was dating his brother. Even Lucy couldn’t be fully trusted—she’d wasted no time telling Vi exactly what I’d been up to with her brother.
I inhaled, pausing. None of them deserved my doubt. Not after everything I’d failed to tell them about me and Simon. They’d accepted my breakup with him more gracefully than my dad and brothers had, but it didn’t mean I wasn’t still rebuilding their trust.
“It’s a little weird… and wonderful,” I admitted softly.
Vi wrinkled her nose. “That does describe my brother in a nutshell.”
I chuckled. “I didn’t mean it like that. He’s the wonderful part. I just don’t know how to act around him. It’s likeone minute we’re flirting, and that’s exciting and new, but then the next, Hana has spotted a spider on her ceiling and is freaking out, and we have to deal with that.”
“Watching kids together isn’t exactly romantic,” Lucy said.
I shook my head, a soft negative. “It’s not unromantic, either. He’s so good with them. He’s always been a charmer, but I thought he reserved his energy for hooking up. Watching him with the kids is different. He listens so intently, you know? And the funny voices he does reading to Hana at night? Talk about ovaries exploding…”
Vi frowned, touching the back of her hand to my forehead. “You don’t feel feverish…”
I swatted her away. “Knock it off.”
“Honey, you are gushing,” Anya pointed out.
“Am not.”
“Puh-lease,” Lucy chided.
“It’s sign ninety-nine that you and Simon weren’t the real deal,” Vi added smugly.
“I think Zach’s good for you,” Anya said.
“I just don’t want to hear exactlyhowgood he is for you. He’s still my brother,” Vi warned.
Anya’s shoulders shook with suppressed laughter, and she exchanged a conspiratorial smile with me. “Don’t worry, Rae. If you need a safe space to talk about the Fenwick men, I’m your girl.”
Lucy’s hand shot up. “Ooh. I like smutty details. And I’m not related to or dating any of them. Put me in, Coach.”
I rolled my eyes toward the ceiling, flushing. “Guys. I don’t have any smutty details.”
“Yet,” Lucy added triumphantly.
I laughed, shaking my head. “Okay. Well, on that bright and cheery note, I’ll see you all later. I’ve got an errand to run on my way back to work.”
Chapter 15 – Rae
