Page 15 of Cuffed (Everyday Heroes 1)
I eye her, knowing I can’t argue since she invited him with nothing but good intentions in mind. “Your friends are my friends,” I say exasperated.
“Exactly. He’s my friend now, too. That means I was allowed to invite him.” Her smile is smug as she expertly maneuvers me into a baseless argument.
“You’re exhausting.”
“And you love me,” she says, refilling my glass of wine.
“Most days.” I take a sip but my eyes are still fixated on Grant Malone, and my mind is still on the confusion seeing him again has created.
“All days.”
I shrug and agree. “All days.”
“Okay, well, I need to get back out there. You coming?”
“In a minute.”
“No way in hell.” Grant laughs, and I hate that everything about the sound pulls on me to pay attention when I don’t want to.
“C’mon. A bunch of us jump. We could teach you,” Leo says with more slur than conviction after whatever round of drink he’s on.
“I don’t trust anyone enough, let alone myself, to jump out of an airplane and rely on them to know the parachute is for sure going to deploy.”
Chicken.
I don’t say the word aloud, but I think it, and for some reason reverting back to sounding like a kid makes me feel a smidgen better.
“Sounds like you have trust issues,” Leo says.
“Yeah, how is that, Grant?” Desi pipes in while I just keep my head down and focus on picking at my nail polish. “You can risk your life every day doing your job, but you’re scared to skydive?”
“My partner has my back,” he states.
“So, you trust your partner, but you wouldn’t trust a skilled instructor to tandem jump with you? They control the jump, pull the chute, and make sure you land safely.”
Goddamnit, Desi.
I see the maneuvering going on here, and I don’t want any part of the set up. I shift in my seat and try to find an out that won’t be so obvious.
“Tell me something, Desi,” Grant says as he leans forward and puts his elbows on his knees. “When was the last time you jumped?”
“Me?” She laughs. “You’re all out of your minds. There’s no way I would trust someone with my life.”
“And you just proved my point,” he says, and Desi just laughs harder. But that charming chuckle she has, which typically has all the men sidling up next to her, doesn’t seem to affect Grant.
Talk quiets some as we finish our dessert and Leo brings another round of drinks for those who are ready.
“I swear every time Desi invites me over, I leave having gained ten pounds,” Cassy groans as she adjusts the waistband of her pants and then points an accusing finger my way. “And, of course, you’re going to have another helping and grin the whole time you’re eating it.”
My hand stops mid-cut into another slice of cheesecake, but the guilt is only momentary. It’s too damn irresistible to pass up.
“Bitch,” Desi playfully comments.
“You always did love dessert.” It’s Grant’s quiet statement that has our friends turning their heads in his direction, the slow realization that he’s from the past I never talk about settling over them.
But he isn’t looking at any of them. When I glance up, his gaze is on me. Our eyes meet, and for a brief moment, I allow myself to wonder what it is he sees when he looks at me. His soft smile exudes warmth, but it’s his eyes that draw me into places and times and thoughts that don’t belong in this lifetime.
There’s a stirring in my belly that shouldn’t be there. The same one that has resurfaced each time the two of us have interacted in some way or another over the past few hours.
