Page 14 of Other Side Of Never
Recovering, I winked.“I’m good at listening, too.”
He smiled back, the tension he usually carried in his shoulders all but erased.“I just might take you up on that.”He swept the condensation off his glass with his thumb.“Aaron and Nadine are at my place looking after Isaiah.”
My eyebrows flew up.“That’s great!”
His pretty mouth tightened.“It is.For them.Aaron is head over heels for Isaiah and the feeling is mutual.Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a whole lot of time for me.”
“I’m—” I cut myself off before saying the dreaded ‘I’m sorry’ once again.“That sucks.”
He barked out a laugh, his sad eyes meeting mine.
Mesmerized, I couldn’t look away.
“It does suck,” he agreed.“It all sucks a whole fuckuva lot.But I’m blessed to have a piece of my wife with me always in Isaiah.I finally found Aaron.And he’s sitting at my house right now, bonding with his little brother.”
“It’s a start,” I murmured.
He nodded shortly, his smile small but hopeful.“That it is.”
The sounds of the plucked strings of a guitar floated across the bar.
I glanced back at my seat between Shae and Wren.
“Return to your girls,” Kian ordered gently.“This is the most fun I’ve had in a long while.I’m good here.”
I took him in, feeling that warmth in my chest expand further.Maybe both of us could use a friend.I smiled into his eyes as I settled back in my seat.“I’m good right here, too.”
The shaggy blond guitarist hopped up on stage and crossed to the drummer, slapping him on the back.The drummer tossed his head back and ran his hand through his messy black hair before twirling his sticks through his fingers.
The Viking grinned and shook his head at something they said, while the bassist ducked his head with a wide grin, his shoulders shaking.
They obviously knew each other well.
My smile was bittersweet.
They had something I desperately wanted.
A home in each other.
5
Trapped
Iappreciatedhavingajob.I did.
I just didn’t appreciate it today.
Everyone I cared about was heading over to Gabe’s parents’ house to celebrate his daughter Dylan’s 4thbirthday.Knowing how much it meant to Shae, I badly wanted to be there.
And I wasn’t dealing well with the disappointment.
In my heart, I was back in grade school, the only girl in the third grade not invited to Liz Hanley’s sleepover party.
After a lunch rush that was better described as a lunch shuffle, the afternoon dragged by interminably.Saturday afternoon with the summer sun lighting up the sky in the middle of July?It was a day made for family barbecues and the beach.
That’s where I’d be, and it was where I had every intention of heading first thing tomorrow morning.
Fifteen minutes before my shift ended, Kian walked in and headed for his regular table.
