Page 59 of Melody

He cocks his head at me. “Great.”

Sarcasm is totally lost on my cousin.

My gaze is drawn to Brianna’s long and shapely legs encased in black leggings.

On her feet are sneakers of some sort, and she’s wearing a hoodie that unfortunately covers the beautiful curve of her ass.

And still…she looks amazing. The most beautiful of all the Steels. I’ve always thought so. Some give it to Gina, the daughter of Ruby and Ryan, but I’m team Brianna all the way.

Not that I’ve ever thought of her that way—except for that one kiss.

I’m not wearing the belt buckle she gave me for Christmas, but I did bring it with me. It felt wrong to leave it at home. For some reason, I want it near me.

We make it to baggage claim, and I take a seat.

Even though my back, legs, and knees are killing me and are begging me to remain standing, my exhaustion has weighed me down so much that I have to sit.

The rest of my group is standing by the baggage claim carousel, chatting animatedly.

I mean really animatedly. Even Dragon seems excited.

Christ.

I jerk when the light flashes and buzzes, indicating our bags have arrived. I groan as I push myself up from my chair and walk toward the carousel, looking for my bag.

First to grab her bag is Maddie. She squeals in delight. “I don’t fly a lot, but I’m always a little bit nervous until I see my bag come down the carousel.”

“There’s no reason to be nervous this time.” Brianna squeezes her hand. “Oh! There’s mine.”

Donny pulls Brianna’s bag off the carousel for her, and soon after, his own and Callie’s arrive. Dragon’s is next, and then Cage’s, Rory’s, Brock’s, and Jake’s.

Leave it to me to be the last man standing.

Suitcases, bags, and duffels slide down the carousel, making their way toward me.

My bag is a hard shell and basic gray. I bought it especially for this trip with some of my bonus money. Inside are my clothes, personal grooming items, and most importantly, Brianna’s belt buckle.

“For Christ’s sake.” I rake my fingers through my hair.

“Don’t worry, Jess,” Rory says. “It’s coming. Many are still sliding down.”

Bag after bag after bag…

A hot pink hard-sided. A bright-orange duffel. But mostly black and gray hard and soft sides. I tied a bright-green tag on my bag so I’d be able to see it easily.

Bags and bags continue…and no green tag.

And then…the bags stop coming.

“Oh my God,” I groan.

“Jesse, bags get lost all the time,” Rory says. “We’ll go talk to the guy from the airline and figure it out.”

Rory accompanies me to the tiny office in the baggage area where reps from our airline sit.

“Yes, may we help you two?” one man says.

“My bag is lost.”

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