Why would she? She had way too much on her plate to think about calling some dude who’d never be around. They’d shared a moment in time, that’s all, two strangers whose lives briefly intersected and then diverged once again.
It won’t happen.
Even so, the kernel of hope stubbornly remained. Geo racked his brain, trying to remember how long it’d been since he’d looked forward to anyone’s call like this.
Sadly, it’d been a really long time.
Chapter Three
The knock on the door startled Lani into a yelp.
Pushing her laptop away and dragging herself up from the table, she trudged over and peered through the peephole. The large green eye staring back at her first made her jump back in alarm, then huff in annoyance. She unlocked the door and yanked it open. “God, I hate when you do that.”
Rhys Halloran grinned back at her. “I know. Why do you think I keep doing it?”
“Because you’re a mean, gross boy, that’s why.”
Stepping aside, she let Rhys inside her apartment before leaning back against the door with her arms crossed over her chest, heart pounding. Why on earth was he here?
When his gaze dropped to her midsection, she knew.
“Sarah told you?”
“Aaron did. Honey...” Rhys took a step toward her. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
She shrugged, unable to meet his eyes. After another beat of silence, he drew in a deep, shaky breath. “Jesus, Lee-Lee.” The paleness of his cheeks made his freckles stand out in sharp relief. “What’re you going to do?”
The sight of his distress brought a lump rising into her own throat. “I honestly don’t know yet. Still trying to figure some things out.” She spun around to walk into her tiny kitchen, where she grabbed up her teakettle and started to fill it.
After a moment came the sound of his footsteps behind her. “Tell me about the airfield yesterday. The truth this time, not that bullshit you spouted about wanting to fuck with me.”
“The airfield?” Shame and embarrassment made her tone sharp. God, what had she been thinking? Well, she hadn’t been thinking, not about anyone except herself. Even knowing that Rhys had fallen in love with someone else, Lani had still met his plane after his deployment, a homemade sign in hand, one that begged him to try again.
Behind her, Rhys said something, but the loud ping of the water into the kettle drowned him out, even as the memory flushed her hot with remembered humiliation. Along with the other team wives, girlfriends and families, Lani’d waited for him, the chill spring wind tugging at her skirt, her palms clammy with desperation, heart in her throat...
“Lani?” The gentle touch of Rhys’s hand on her shoulder made her jump, the now-overflowing teakettle giving a mighty slosh.
She pulled away and wiped her eyes on her sleeve, saying thickly, “It’s pretty simple, really. I’d just found out I was pregnant, and I was scared shitless, okay? Instead of trying to figure things out on my own, I ran to you.” Letting out a mirthless laugh, she went on, “Pathetic, right? I knew about Devon, knew you were in love with her, but I’d already convinced myself she didn’t matter. I thought, ‘I need him. He’s mine.’”
Slamming the kettle onto the burner, she viciously twisted the on switch. “God, Sarah was horrified when I told her what I was going to do. You should’ve heard her try to talk me out of it.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Rhys leaned his hip against the counter near her. “I about had a heart attack when I got off the plane and saw you holding that sign,” he admitted.
“Yeah, I could see it in your face when you walked toward me, like a man to his execution.”
“Shit, really?” His voice was full of genuine remorse. “I’m sorry.”
Unbelievably a chuckle welled into her throat. “Probably the way I looked during your flash-mob proposal, huh?”
Which she’d accepted, not wanting to hurt him, but then immediately regretted.
His own embarrassment flickered across his face. “Fuck, don’t remind me. Why I thought that was a good idea—”
They’d actually pretended for a while, had the engagement party, made a few plans, until their always-shaky foundation had fallen apart for good.
Lani sighed. “I guess if we need to put each other on the spot to get our way, then the universe is really trying to tell us something, isn’t it?”
A brief silence shimmered between them, the gossamer threads of the past that bound them together slowly parting and falling away, leaving the faint echoes of their childhood friendship behind.
Moving closer to him, she said, “Rhys, I’m so sorry I did that to you, and Devon. I just didn’t know where else to turn.”
He settled his hands gently on her shoulders and squeezed. “I can’t imagine how scared you are right now,” he said quietly. “If there’s anything I can do—”
Besides sacrifice all of your newfound happiness for me? When will I stop asking you to do that?
She firmed her lips. Right fucking now.
“There’s really nothing you can do,” she said, proud of how steady her voice sounded. “This is my mess to deal with, so what I want is for you to walk out of here and go back to Devon.”
The relief in his eyes made her heart ache.
“What are you—”
“Me? I have a plan,” she said flippantly. “I’ll be fine. More than fine.” She shut up before he could detect the lie in her voice; after all, he knew her better than anyone.
Sure enough, skepticism twisted his lips. “What’s your plan, Lee-Lee?”
“None of your business.” She put her palms on his chest and pushed. “Now shoo.”
“Uh-uh.” Planting his feet, he pinned her with his gaze. “I’m not leaving till you tell me your plan.”
He wouldn’t either. Lani didn’t think she’d ever met a more stubborn person in her entire life. Racking her brain for something to tell him, it hit her, the one thing that would convince him beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was serious about handling this herself.
She lifted her chin. “I’m going to use Tyler’s money.”
He flat-out gasped. “What?”
She couldn’t blame him for that. How many times had she sworn never to touch a penny of the life insurance money her parents had insisted on giving her? Even when she and Rhys had been living paycheck to paycheck and subsisting on ramen noodles and cold cereal, she’d refused to even think about using it.