Page 67 of Nash
"You're literally leaning against a wall with your arms crossed."
He unfolds his arms. Steps inside. Sits on the floor next to Sloane's legs. She drops her hand to his shoulder without looking down.
James and Maggie are already in the hall. James has a mug of tea. Maggie has the rest of the cake. They settle into the corner asif they've always been there. Maggie leans against James' chest with his arm around her, both of them watching the room fill.
Rider appears with a guitar nobody knew he played. He sits on the floor by the window and picks something quiet while the conversations layer.
Malachi is last. He rounds the half wall the way Malachi enters every space, filling it. Candace looks up at him. He looks at her. The whole conversation happens in the space of two seconds, then he sits on the arm of the couch beside her and pulls her into his side. She settles against his chest like she's been waiting for him to show up.
Nash is at the wall on our side, where he's been all night.
Knox is on the floor with Sloane's hand on his shoulder. East is beside Darla, her fingers in his hair. Malachi has Candace tucked against his chest. James and Maggie are in the corner, her head against his shoulder.
Every man in this room crossed to their woman. Sat down beside her. Closed the distance.
Nash stays at the wall.
My eyes find him. His eyes are already on me. The room is warm, full, every couple paired. The space between his wall and my couch is ten feet and a week of silence.
I want him to cross it. To sit beside me, put his hand on my knee, and pull me into his side the way Malachi pulled Candace. I want it so badly my chest aches with it.
He holds my gaze. The look on his face is open, warm. The version of him that surfaces when the control slips. For a second, the distance collapses.
I look away first.
Candace's voice echoes in my head.Talk to East. Before you close the file.
Chapter 17
Nash
Everyoneisstillasleep.The main room is a landscape of blankets and bodies. Malachi and Candace are on the floor, Candace curled into his side, his hand in her hair. Knox is on the far couch with Sloane tucked against him. East and Darla are on the other couch, his arm around her belly, her head on his shoulder. Rider is in the recliner with his guitar across his lap. Kyle fell asleep against the half wall, head tipped back, mouth open, and Amelia is on the loveseat three feet from him with a blanket stretched across both of them that neither will admit to pulling.
Frankie rode home to the loft above Amaranth around midnight. James and Maggie took the spare room upstairs.
Ruby is on the couch closest to my wall. She's curled on her side, copper hair fanned across the cushion, one hand tucked under her chin. She fell asleep during Rider's last song. Her shoulders dropped first. Then her jaw softened. Then her breathing slowed and her body sank into the cushions. I stood there watching it happen the way I watch everything about her. Still. Eyes on her the whole time.
I didn't sleep. I stood at the wall and watched her breathe. Her eyes had found mine across the room before she went under. She wanted me to cross to her. I stayed at the wall.
The coffee maker hisses. I pour two mugs, set one on the counter, and lean against the sink. The predawn light through the window is gray-blue. East's snoring carries from the main room, louder than Darla would ever believe.
James rounds the corner in his pressed shirt, untucked now, sleeves rolled to his forearms. The steady, unhurried steps I've known for years. He sees the second mug, takes it, wraps both hands around it, and holds it against his chest before he drinks.
"You stood at that wall all night," he says.
"Yes."
He drinks. Sets the mug down carefully.
"She pulled back," I say. My jaw tightens. I didn't plan on saying any of this out loud.
"I know."
"She's still Ruby. Still loud, still funny, still filling every room she walks into. But she stopped aiming any of it at me. The jokes, the teasing, the way she used to try to pull a smile out of me." My jaw works. "The other night she almost did. She made me laugh and her whole face lit up, then she just... shut it down. Walked away. That was worse than anything."
James is quiet for a long moment. "You love that girl?"
The question hits like a fist. I grip my mug.
