Page 8 of Bad Boy Crush

Elli’s expression went from smug to serious as she touched Lou’s arm. “Not exactly, but I can imagine. I’m no stranger to feeling alone or having to start over from scratch.”

“Of course,” Lou said. Elli had had her own brush with assholery. She patted her friend’s hand. “I guess…I’m starting to have trouble holding that grudge. Holding Ant at arm’s length feels more like a habit I’ve cultivated than what I really want.”

“That’s good. That’s what healing looks like, babe. Time heals all wounds.” Elli pulled two glasses from the cabinet and filled them with ice. “If you haven’t noticed, Ant never left. You may have been pushing him away, but he doesn’t seem like a guy who is easily pushed around.”

“He’s not.” He was firm in his decisions and loyal to a fault. When Lou had learned he stopped taking Liam’s calls, she’d felt both surprised and grateful.

“Which means he willingly stepped back to give you the space you needed. He didn’t let his hurt feelings keep him from caring about you.”

“Do you think I hurt his feelings?” Ack! The guilt! Lou had been overwhelmed by her own hurt feelings at the time. She hadn’t considered she’d hurt his.

“Lou. He’s standing in your yard right now, sweating his balls off because he wants to make sure you’re okay.”

Lou was a big enough person to admit she’d been ungracious when it came to the Ant-knowing-about-the-affair situation. He had tried to explain, but she’d refused to listen. Eventually, he’d stopped trying. She didn’t know how to ask him to be in her life again.

“How the hell do you re-friend someone?”

Glasses balanced in one hand, Elli slid open the patio door. “You can start with sun tea. See how it goes from there.”

Lou set the wrapped sandwiches on the patio table while Elliott lowered into one of the cushioned chairs. “Nice scenery you have here, Lou.”

The “scenery” she’d referred to wasn’t the gorgeous view of the flat blue lake or backdrop of tall, regal evergreen pines beyond. No, her friend was unmistakably watching Ant, who had finished his sandwich and was now removing his T-shirt.

“Very nice,” Elli whispered under her breath.

He started up the steps, and Lou had to remind herself not to stare at his naked chest with her tongue lolling out of her mouth. “His tea! Dammit.”

She scurried to fill his glass with sun tea. She met him halfway down the staircase and thrust the glass toward him, her eyes snapping from one pec to the other to his shoulders to his belly button. God in Heaven, there was no safe place to rest her eyes.

He chugged the tea, standing right where he was two steps down from her, and then wordlessly handed it back to her. She flashed a smile she hoped didn’t make her appear constipated, and then turned and ran back up the steps. She filled hers and Elli’s glasses with sun tea, willing her warm cheeks to lose their pink color before she sat down.

Once Ant was out of hearing distance, Lou hissed, “Stop staring. What would Brady say if he saw you ogling his friend?”

“Brady loves me and knows I love him. He also knows you and Ant need to heal this rift between you. It’s been hard on us.”

“How has it been hard on you? When I met you, Ant and I were far from simpatico.”

“Not as far as you’d like to think.” Rather than argue further that point, Elli continued. “You can only hold up your guard for so long before your arms grow tired. You don’t have to hang out with him every day, but wouldn’t it be nice to be able to talk to him like you used to? From what you’ve shared with me, you and Ant used to be two peas in a pod.”

“And Liam made three,” Lou mumbled as she unwrapped her sandwich and took a bite. When Ant had come by the house that first time to measure the room for the dining room table, he and Liam had become fast friends. It had been easy for them. The dude-talk topics had ranged from cars to boats to tools. Lou had served sun tea and lingered, wondering if she should make herself scarce. But each time she’d reentered the room, Ant had made it a point to include her in the conversation.

She’d always appreciated that about him. He’d never once overlooked her.

“I haven’t had the chance to know Ant without Liam around. Maybe that’s what’s throwing me. No buffer. Holy God,” Lou added under her breath. Ant, shirt and hat off, was walking toward the water, his back muscles flexing and glistening in the sun. At the dock, he kicked off his shoes and then took off his low-slung shorts. “What is he doing?”

“I think he’s going to jump in the lake.” Elliott sounded amused, but Lou didn’t turn her head to check. She couldn’t seem to avert her eyes from a firm ass outlined by a pair of snug black boxer briefs. He tucked his thumbs into the waistband of those briefs, and Elli and Lou collectively stopped breathing. When he snapped the band back in place, only then did they suck in an inhalation.

“Damn. So close,” Elli whispered.

Ant dove off the end of the dock and into the water with a neat splash. Lou unstuck her tongue from the roof of her mouth and guzzled down half of her tea. When she did look over, Elliott’s expression was as amused as Lou had expected. “You’re more fun to watch than he is. You might want to pour the rest of that iced tea over your head.”

“I’m worried about him diving. He could knock himself unconscious if there is a log hiding beneath the surface.”

“Uh-huh,” Elliott mumbled around a bite of her sandwich.

Lou went back to eating, surreptitiously watching the water. Ant surfaced, swam parallel to the shore, and then dove under again. By the time she finished her sandwich, he was walking out of the water and pushing a hand through his hair.

Rarely didn’t he wear the hat, but she’d noticed longer pieces of his hair sticking out of the back. It was a good look for him. Along with the half-naked look. That was really good.

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