Page 65 of Cajuns. Love. Curves.

I finish the paperwork and then she's back, standing in front of me. And she's still shorter than me, though not too short. Kelli always was kind of a tall girl. Even in high school, her sophomore year to my senior year. She was taller than most of the girls her age. Taller than most of the girls in my class. I always liked that about her. Tall and brave. Those chocolate brown eyes always just locked on to mine and there was never any fear. She just looked straight at me. That was until the day I was a complete and utter jackass to her. And then she never spoke to me again. Never looked at me again. And sure as fuck never smiled at me again. And here we are.

“Okay, so I'm gonna go through your assessment and we're gonna see what your goals are and where you are starting from, and then we'll come up with a treatment plan and move forward.”

She starts by just feeling the muscles in my thighs and asking me to push against her hand, or pull away from her, depending on what she’s doing. It’s as if she knows precisely where each muscles starts and ends and she’s able to individually squeeze each one.

The problem with the assessment is that I react when her hands are on me, and that's hard. Hard is precisely the problem.

Getting hard in this kind of situation is not cool. Regardless of the fact that this is clinical, my body doesn’t seem to recognize that. All it knows is that this is Kelli Foster. The girl I always wanted. The girl that was always too good for me. Who deserved a big life outside of this podunk town. Something I could never give her. So, I broke her heart before anything could ever happen between us. I went and became a SEAL and forgot all about her.

Okay, that's not true. But I did do my very best to forget all about her. Yet here we are.

I'm at my weakest. She's got all the power

chapterthirty

Wade

I’ve been summoned to my parents’ house because, “miracle of all miracles” as my mother put it, all three of her babies are in town all at once. She’s not too far off the mark calling it a miracle. It’s been years since we were all together at the same time.

I’ve seen Remy, obviously. We both lived in Coronado, California until recently. Though we served on different teams, we saw each other regularly enough. My sister and I caught up with each other periodically in airports over the years, sharing a couple of drinks and laughs while we waited for planes going in different directions. But all of us together is truly remarkable.

Now, my siblings both have people—partners, spouses, even. I’m not sure, exactly who is officially married or not. All I know is that Remy’s best friend, Nick, also a SEAL, went on a work trip with Cassie pretending to be her boyfriend and they came back engaged. Then I sent my little brother on an unofficial mission here at home that a General I know asked me to do. I was still in San Diego in the rehab hospital. So, I passed the task onto Remy.

The assignment was simple: find the runaway colonel’s daughter and bring her to Houston. Instead, he found her and promptly fell in love with her. In the meantime, they discovered her parents had totally lied about her. So she didn’t end up going to Houston and now they’re living happily ever after.

Lonely hearts club, party of one, your table is ready. I roll my eyes at myself as I step into my parents’ house. The smell of roux and spices scents the air and I can’t even pretend it’s not good to be home. Even with all the fancy chefs you can find in California, no one can cook like a home grown Cajun. And I’ve got two of them.

I stop at the Scrabble board hanging on the wall next to the keys, and make a play, as Mr. Biggles the cat, of course. Triple word score, too. Because fuck if that’s not funny. The cat has beat Nick—the guy fucking my sister—her husband, whatever, several times. Yeah, it’s me, I’m the cat.

Scrabble is like our family game. It’s our thing and anyone we welcome into the fold has to be willing to play and leave their feelings at the door.

It’s unusually quiet, but I head towards the smell. Maybe they’re outside eating by the pool. I step into the kitchen and there they all are.

We have an official dining room, but it’s rarely used. Instead, we all crowd around the kitchen table that’s beat up from card games and Christmas baking and Cassie and Mama doing crafts. I clench my jaw because I’m not going to be the sentimental motherfucker who cries.

“Your bowl is all set up in the microwave, baby,” mama says.

“Smells like hash,” I say.

“Yeah, I had some leftover roast so I made a hash and a cornbread.”

“Nah, mama, I ate all the cornbread,” Remy says.

She reaches over and smacks him on the back of his head. “Stop that.”

Then suddenly Cassie’s standing in front of me and holding her arms out. “Hey big brother.”

“Hey Cas.” I hug her right back, careful to keep my balance. That was one of the hardest things to learn to do with my prosthetic. I’d stand next to my bed in the hospital trading my weight from my good leg to my new leg, trying to master my balance. I probably looked like a newborn flamingo.

“Cassie, let your brother sit down,” our dad says.

I hate that he says it. I hate that he even thinks it. I’m not the weak one in the family. At least I never have been before. But I don’t say anything and Cassie just returns to her seat.

I find the empty spot between my parents. Good grief and now I’m across from the two happy couples.I’ll take Awkward for six hundred, Alex.

I nod at Nick, and try to offer Ava, Remy’s girl, a smile. I’ve met Nick before and video chatted with Ava and Remy after they got hitched in Lake Tahoe. Then I concentrate on eating because if I’m chewing food, I won’t have to talk.

“How was physical therapy, baby?” my mom asks.

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