Page 54 of Deep Waters
Rae’s gaze held mine, the weight of something between awe and humor there. “Super good,” she whispered.
Exhausted, we collapsed in a mess of limbs. When I’d caught my breath and taken care of our condom, I slid back into bed, gathering Rae in my arms. Wrapping and unwrapping her curls from around my finger, tugging at each one gently before I released it kept me from blurting out my feelings. If there’d been any doubt before, it was all gone now. Lost in the wake of how good we were together.
She may not be ready to admit it yet, but we were meant to be together. Partners in all the ways. But I held my tongue. Rae wascomfortable with how things were. We didn’t need to put a label on it. Just talking vaguely about the future was enough. For now.
My arms clenched around her possessively, drawing her closer. Like my muscles knew instinctively that it was all a lie. I needed her. But I couldn’t rush her.
Chapter 25 – Rae
Gran’s smug smile as I joined her on the couch with my coffee in the morning made me think we hadn’t been as quiet last night as I thought.
“Did you sleep well?” I asked innocently.
She flipped a hand in the air. “I barely sleep at all these days.”
“Too busy plotting world domination?”
“Something like that.” She watched me as she sipped from her mug. “You look like you got pulled backward through a hedge. If I look too close, I might find twigs. Or condoms.”
I choked, coughing as my coffee went down wrong. Combing out my curls was a losing battle on a regular day. I had no chance of smoothing them after the workout I’d put them through last night. Threading my fingers through the strands to rearrange them in some semblance of order only made Gran grin.
“Own it, Rae. Consider that bedhead your crown of glory.” Gran shook her head, brows arched. “Can you believe my daughter has four kids, most in their thirties, and yet I have no great-grandbabies?” She tutted. “It’s a crying shame.” She dropped a hand on my knee. “You and Zach are good together. I’ve been waiting for that boy to wake up and smell the gorgeous neighbor literally floating next to him for years.” She rolled her eyes. “How he didn’t spot Simon as a bogusboyfriend, I’ll never know. That boy always had a thing for well… boys. I thought it was obvious.”
“Not everyone has your eye, Gran.” Maybe complimenting her would keep her from turning on me.
“Andyou.”
Nope.
“You need more than a cardboard cutout. I know modern women can stand on their own, blah, blah, but you deserve a man who will stand by you.”
“And you think Zach’s that man?” Until recently, I wouldn’t have called Zach the reliable type. At least not when it came to long-term relationships. Gran was tough on her family. Oddly enough, I trusted her judgment.
“I think he’s proven it already. You’re the one who’s just now noticing. A bit slow, aren’t you?”
Ouch. Apparently, Gran had no qualms about being tough on me either. But I’d willingly played my part in the farce with Simon. I shifted guiltily. All for my own gain.
She dusted her hands together, as if wiping away our pasts. “That’s okay. If there’s one positive thing I can say about relationships on an island, it’s that the odds are good … but the goods are odd.” The corner of her mouth twitched, amusement lighting her face. “It takes a special kind of person to choose this isolation. A willingness to take risks. I think facing those risks together makes for strong partnerships, no?”
She’d packed so much into her last few sentences, it was hard to keep up. Was the right answer Yes? No? Unsure, I nodded.
“Now, what’s this I hear about a safe? You want to leave that bad boy with me today? I can take a crack at it.”
The gleeful way she offered made me wonder if I should hide the blowtorch. But we did need into the safe.
“Let me bring it down for you.”
I carted it downstairs, leaving it on the coffee table.
Gran rubbed her hands together, seeming eager to get started.
“Are you sure you’re up for this?”
She nodded, not taking her eyes off the small safe. “Yes. This kind of shit is what I live for.”
“Okay then.”
Gran focused on the safe with a single-minded determination as I roused Tae and Hana and got them ready for camp. Gran gave us an absent-minded wave as we left, and I tried not to feel guilty for leaving her on her own at Jia’s. Unprotected. I shook my head. What was I thinking? Gran had Thumper in her corner.
