Page 20 of Erik's Redemption
Nate was only thirty-one, so he had a lot left in him. But when you were a Navy SEAL, not having your head in the game made it dangerous, not just for you but for your team.
“Maybe.”
They stepped into Andi’s backyard. The first person he saw was his mother. She was talking to Judith, a woman who worked at the grocery store, but the second her eyes fell on Erik, she excused herself, grabbed his father’s arm, and moved toward him.
Shit. He’d thought he’d have at least a couple of minutes to settle in first.
His mother pulled him into a hug. “Erik. I almost thought you weren’t coming when I saw Hannah arrive alone.” She pulled back but kept hold of his arms. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. I’m okay. Sorry I’m late.” Before she could push for an explanation, he turned to his father. “Hey, Dad.”
His father clamped a hand on his shoulder. “Hi, son. You sure everything’s all right?”
He swallowed. He hated lying to his parents, but even if he knew how to word the truth, this wasn’t the place or the time. “Yeah. I’m fine.”
The man who raised him studied him with eyes that saw too much.
“Erik!” He turned to see Andi marching toward him. “Why are you so late?”
Instead of answering her question, he pulled a small gift box from his back pocket. “Will this make you forgive me?”
Some of the anger dimmed from her eyes. Not all of it, but she still slipped the small box from his fingers. He hadn’t wrapped it, but he’d asked the shop to place a bow on top. That counted, right?
She opened the box, and her eyes widened when they fell on the sapphire solitaire pendant. It was a deep blue, her favorite color.
“Erik…” she whispered. “It’s too much.”
“For you, nothing is too much.” He leaned down and kissed her cheek. “Happy birthday, A.”
She wrapped her arms around him. The hug was tight and warm and familiar. When they separated, his gaze moved around the party, searching for Hannah.
“She’s on the dance floor,” Andi said, obviously knowing exactly what Erik was doing.
“Thanks. I’ll be back.” He squeezed his sister’s arm and moved forward. It wasn’t until people on the periphery of the floor walked away that he finally saw her dancing in the center.
A muscle ticked in his jaw, and his body went hard at the sight of a familiar guy leaning in to talk into her ear.
Leo. Why was he even here? And why was he always so goddamn close to her?
Erik was moving before he could stop himself, his eyes frozen on Leo’s lips near Hannah’s ear. Suddenly, every fucking thing that had been annoying him this last month boiled over, breathing rage through his lungs and heating his blood.
He shoved the guy hard in the chest. “What the fuck are you doing?”
Audible gasps sounded around him. Hannah touched his arm. “Erik—”
“Every time I see you, you’re too close to her.”
The guy’s brows pulled together. “I was just trying to talk to her over the music.”
“Yeah? And the other day you werejustcomforting her while she cried, and the time before that you werejusttouching her arm in the coffee shop.”
“Erik, stop it!” Hannah hissed as she tried to pull him away, but he didn’t budge.
Leo remained so fucking calm that Erik’s anger only heightened.
“I’m herfriend, Erik. Friends comfort each other when they’re sad. And they talk. That’s it.”
That wasn’t fucking it. Erik stepped forward, but she was suddenly between them. “Stop it right now, Erik,” she said in a low voice. “Walk away.”
