Page 93 of The Shot You Missed
“Good. You deserve it.”
“Do you ever worry it’s too good to be true?” I watch as a few of the men nearby turn to watch the women laugh together.
“I used to.”
“What if she doesn’t stay?” I shift my attention to my friend and captain. He’s watching me intently.
“What if she does?”
“She hates the spotlight, man.”
“Then we shield her from it as best we can.” Madds rests a hand on my shoulder and squeezes. “But you know it’s inevitable that she’ll get some attention. Even if no one recognizes who she is in relation to her parents.”
“I know. I just… What if she hates the spotlight more than she likes me?”
Maddox scoffs. “Have you seen the way she looks at you?”
“She’s run before.” An ache blooms beneath my sternum, and no amount of rubbing it banishes the sensation.
“Then you chase her if she runs again.”
He says it like it’s so simple. To chase someone when they’re intent on hiding. I tried to find her for ten years and failed, outside of a general knowledge of what city she was likely living in. When I turn my attention back to Indie, she’s looking at me. And when our gazes meet, she gifts me with the brightest smile.
She won’t run this time. She can’t, right?
“For what it’s worth, I don’t think a woman who looks at you like that is going to run.” Maddox gives my shoulder another squeeze. “Especially if you give her a reason to stay.”
“Yeah.” I hope he’s right.
Before I can dwell more on my worries, the bartender walks up to us. “What can I get you guys?”
We tell him our orders, and my foot taps a steady beat the whole time we wait for him to pour.
“Breathe, brother. Everything’s going to work out.”
Some irrational part of me worries Maddox’s casually spoken encouragement is going to come back to bite me in the ass, but I can’t think that way, so I nod. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m sure you’re right.”
The bartender sets our drinks in front of us, and Maddox lays a twenty on the bar. “Now let’s get back to our girls.”
thirty-two
SEBASTIAN
A tipsy Indieis an adorable Indie.
“Are you sure you don’t mind if I spend the night at Bash’s house?” she asks Lola for the third time. Her cheeks are flushed, and she’s wearing a perpetual smile while also blinking sleepily.
“Girl, I’m sure. Megan’s going to come back to the bungalow with me. I won’t be alone. Go spend time with your man.”
I share a look with Megan, who’s watching Lola in much the same way I’m watching Indie. Like Lola’s the best thing Megan has ever seen.
The two of them seem to have hit it off in a big way. After the first half an hour, one of them is always touching the other. Megan has run her fingers through Lola’s hair, wrapped her arm around her waist, and pressed her palm to the small of Lola’s back any time the two of them have moved more than two steps.
They’re cute as fuck together, and I have no doubt Lola’s looking forward to a night alone with the Lightning’s center.
Indie grabs her best friend and pulls her in for a hug. They’ve both had just enough to drink to be really happy and a littlelouder than normal, but neither is inebriated. “Have fun. Be safe. And call me if you need me, okay?”
“Girl, I love you, but I won’t need you.” Lola waggles her eyebrows at Indie, who giggles into her palm. “Go get laid.” Lola turns to me. “You have a big dick, right?”
