Page 12 of Kaz
Before he could say anything and thoroughly embarrass himself, a man who towered over almost everyone else grabbed Jane by the hand and tugged her through the door and out onto the patio.
He felt eyes on him and turned his head to meet Emma’s gaze. He couldn’t read that look. It was rare that his sister wasn’t an open book to him.
He didn’t like it. Not one fucking bit.
“Em?”
“Come on,” she said, cutting him off and wrapping a hand around his arm to pull him out onto the patio and down the rickety stairs to the backyard. Someone was lighting the wood in the fire pit. Miles threw an uneasy glance at the twins. Those twoweren’t exactly known for being smart, and from the looks of it, they had already started drinking.
He caught sight of a woman with a black bob and instantly relaxed. Nicky was there, and she was watching the boys, her hands on her hips and a deadly look in her sharp, baby blue eyes. Her girlfriend wrapped her arms around her from behind, and that cold façade slipped, her lips twitching as she rolled her eyes. Ciara was the only one who made Nicky melt, and he loved seeing it. He wasn’t surprised Nicky had followed Ciara here.
“I’ll grab us something to drink,” Emma said, walking off before he could reply.
He breathed a sigh and turned his head, his heart skipping a beat when his gaze caught on Kaz walking out onto the patio. That man had no right to look so fucking good. He should’ve been balding with a hanging gut and droopy eyes, not looking like he was still in his twenties. His stubble was thick and black like his hair, his skin glowing from his golden tan. The tattoos down his arms only made him hotter. He’d kissed those tattoos years ago, and the thought of running his tongue along that ink again sent a spark of need through him.
He clenched his jaw, trying to will those thoughts, those memories, away.
He watched as Kaz walked up to Jane and dropped his arm around her shoulders, leaning down to press a kiss to the top of her head. She looked up at Kaz with a beautiful smile, and he said something to her, his lips moving, but they were too far away for him to hear. Jane’s smile slipped, and she frowned at him.
“They’re talking about you.”
He startled, head whipping around to find Emmett standing next to him, his brow creased in concentration.
“What?”
“He told her you’re staying and helping out.” Emmet squinted at them. “She asked him if he was out of his mind.”
His mouth dropped open, and he stared at Emmett, his words not quite registering.
Emmett’s gaze was back on Kaz and Jane, and when he winced, Miles considered whether joining a religion would be worth it just so he could pray for mercy. And forgiveness.
“Ouch,” Emmett muttered.
He wasn’t sure he wanted to know, and yet he found himself saying, “Tell me,” and then signed it when he remembered Emmett wasn’t wearing his cochlear implants.
Emmett met his gaze and said, “She called him a delusional asshole, I think, and then told him if he didn’t tell you, she would.”
“Tell me what?”
Emmett shrugged. “She didn’t say.”
“Fuck,” he muttered.
He looked back at them and did send up a desperate prayer this time because Jane was looking right at him, something dangerous burning in those bright green eyes of hers.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Kaz
FIGHTING WITH Jane over Miles was not what he wanted to be doing. He knew he’d lose that fucking fight because Jane was in the right. Milesdiddeserve to know the truth. He just couldn’t tell him. Not if he wanted… He needed to earn back Miles’s trust for real and not because he told him he never cheated. That wouldn’t earn him the real trust he fuckingcravedfrom Miles. It would feel cheap somehow.
He knew he was being a conceited asshole about it, but he needed this. Needed it because otherwise, he wasn’t sure he would ever believe anything between them was real.
Jane gave him a look that had him dropping his gaze to the ground. He nearly breathed a sigh of relief when she turned and walked away.
Someone had gotten a fire going in the fire pit, and the others were finding seats all around it. They’d gotten a few pieces of furniture with the house, but they definitely needed to buy more because a lot of the lawn chairs looked to be literally on their last leg.
He walked across the patio and down the steps to the backyard, eyes scanning the people around him. There wasn’t a single second when he wasn’t fully aware of where Miles was. He was spending a lot of time reminding himself to look away and kept failing miserably.
