Page 23 of Keep Me Close
Kia moves from behind him as her gaze settles on the woman at my side. Her smile brightens. “Hi, I’m Kia.”
Chey steps forward. “Cheyenne. It’s nice to meet you.” She glances at me. “Sorry to just barge in like this.”
“No worries. I’m glad Knox brought you over. Come in,” Kia says, waving us inside.
Elody continues clinging to me like a baby rhesus monkey.
“Is that your friend?” she whisper-yells, studying Chey like she’s trying to solve a puzzle.
“Yeah, you could say that.”
Although, have I ever considered us friends?
Not really. That word doesn’t fit. It’s much too simple to describe whatever this is.
I glance at Kia. “Chey’s coming with me to the Railers charity event this weekend and needs a dress.”
Color floods Cheyenne’s cheeks. “I can shop on my own.”
“Oh, I need one too,” Kia says. “We should go together.”
Chey blinks, clearly thrown by the unexpected offer. “Really?”
“Of course,” Kia says. “It’ll be fun.”
Laiken gives me a penetrating look. It’s the kind that says he’s filing this situation away for later.
I shrug, knowing there’ll be questions.
Elody tugs on my shirt. “Do you want to play Go Fish?”
“Sure. Go set up the game.”
When Chey arches a brow, I admit, “The kid’s a bit of a card shark and usually ends up wiping the floor with me.”
Her lips tremble with a smile.
Not because this is new. She’s seen me on the floor with Avery and Maddox building LEGO towers, all the while getting bossed around by tiny dictators with sticky fingers.
“Now this I’ve got to see,” she says.
“It’s the only game I lose, Hollywood.”
A laugh slips out of her. “We’ll see about that.”
It doesn’t take long for my muscles to loosen. Having Chey here, in my teammate’s home, is a hell of a lot easier than sitting on my couch, one accidental touch away from losing my mind.
Getting us out of my penthouse was supposed to fix the issue.
Instead, all it’s done is show me how easily this woman fits into my world.
9
Cheyenne
Kia couldn’t be any sweeter. There’s something about her that’s warm and easy. She’s the kind of person who makes you feel included without any effort. As much as I’m trying to focus on our conversation, my attention keeps getting snagged by Knox stretched out on the floor with Elody.
They played a few rounds of Go Fish, and now he’s helping her build something out of brightly colored blocks while she talks a mile a minute about preschool, dragons, and how she’s going to be a big sister. He listens intently, like every word matters, and even though I try to stop it from happening, my insides melt.
