Page 87 of Against The Tide

“Why cheese?” he teases her, taking the phone and holding it out in front of us so that we can see ourselves on the screen.

Immediately, my eyes are drawn to the happiness on Iris’s face and then Rhett’s. Their blonde hair is so similar, and although her eyes are a shade darker than his…

Maybe it’s wrong to think it in the midst of everything going on. Maybe this is the rainbow I’ve been looking for. Maybe we could be a family?

“Nora says that if you say cheese properly it gives you a perfect smile.”

“Nora?”

“Nora,” I tell him, trying to shake myself out of my overly eager thoughts.

“Well then,” Rhett hums, scooting closer and wrapping his arm around my back. His hand grasps the side of my ass with a gentle squeeze as Iris moves to sit half on mine and half on his lap. “Cheese on three, okay?”

“Ready!” she claps.

I’m so enamored by the pair of them that when he snaps the photo, I’m lost back in my daydream of them, and my cheese is nothing but a faint breath while I hold Iris tighter and press a kiss to his jaw.

CHAPTER 24

RHETT

The alarm goes off one more time. It feels too early, and the room is dark. Avery is still asleep, curled into me in yesterday’s T-shirt and a pair of my boxer shorts.

“Too early,” she mutters into my chest when I reach for my phone. “Shut it off. I can’t take it.”

Avery’s already getting up when I realize it’s not our wake-up call for her to get into her bed and for me to get up and let the horses out before heading back to my place to get ready for work. We’ve been doing this for almost two weeks. Since her ex and the feds showed up here.

Pulling her back to me as I check the alert for my house alarm, I answer the imminent call from the alarm company.

The operator tells me all about this courtesy call before she gets to the part where she actually asks whether I’m at home and if everything is okay.

Avery watches me with wide eyes, waiting for me to end the call. Although I’m trying not to worry her, I’m up and getting dressed as quickly as possible.

“What’s happening?” she asks the instant I hang up and start shooting a message off to Rowan. Something about this feels odd.

“My alarm is playing up. I need to go deal with it.”

“Can’t the security company take care of it?” she asks with worry tingeing her tone.

Of course she would know that something was up. Avery is more intuitive than she realizes.

“If it goes off again, the neighbors are going to get pissed. I’ll be back later to do the horses.”

“That’s okay, I can do it. I’ve helped you enough times now.”

“How about I meet you at the school and we can grab a coffee?”

The suggestion gets a smile out of her while we make the bed. I’m walking her back to her room when she races back to the bed we shared and returns with one of the pillows.

“If I can’t have the real thing…” Avery shrugs.

Christ, she kills me. The action is so unexpected and yet so uniquely Avery.

“What?” She bites down on her bottom lip, looking up at me bashfully.

“I—” I pause before the words spill out of my mouth. They’ve been on the tip of my tongue for so long. I keep swallowing them down and telling myself that it’s too soon. Avery needs time. “I don’t know what to say, except that I’m jealous of that pillow.”

It’s the truth, pathetic maybe, but nonetheless true. I’m jealous of anything that gets to have her and be with her when I can’t. It’s as though the feeling is built into me, and as much as I try to tamp it down and ignore it, I can’t. Avery is always at the forefront of my mind, unlike anyone else that’s ever come into my life.