“I need to stop sleeping with Mason. Nothing is going to come from it. I’m ready for the new me. No more sex with that man.” She dug into her beach bag and showed Sydney her current read. “I’m trying to learn to break my bad habits at least.”
Sydney had brought her own book, but it was far from a self-help one.
Mya flicked a finger at the cover. “You should read this when I’m done. This author, Joe Dispenza, has some pretty riveting ideas about manifesting and the universe. I love it.” She tucked the book back into her bag before relaxing on the lounger again.
“I’m sure he does.” Sydney smiled. “So, uh, this new you . . . is that why you dyed your hair? Went from blonde to brunette?” The color did look great on her best friend. Technically, Mya had never been a natural strawberry blonde anyway.
“It was that or cut it all off. I opted for a color change.” She casually shook her head. “All I know with one hundred percent certainty is that sleeping with Mason also screws my chance of ever finding someone to love.”
“And you don’t love him?” Honestly, Mason was another reason she believed her friend should work at Falcon Falls.
If Mya truly wanted to change the dynamics of her relationship with Mason, she needed to put a little space between them. Stop working together for a bit. It’d be a win-win for both Sydney and Mya if she joined the team.
“We love each other like friends who also have sex,” Mya said with a laugh. “But not the passionate and intense kind of love that makes your stomach hurt when you’re not together. I don’t actually know if I’ve ever experienced that before.”
“Love that hurts?” Sydney grimaced. “Shouldn’t it do the opposite?”
“I don’t know.” She dramatically tossed her arm into the air. “We haven’t had sex in months. A few close calls, but I resisted. Gave myself an orgasm instead.” Mya leaned over the side of her sunbed and combed her fingers through the sand before reaching out to snatch something from Sydney’s bag this time. “You brought a book too, huh?” She grinned. “And whaaat? You reading a romance novel? I don’t believe it.” She sat upright once again and positioned her legs on each side of the sunbed while studying the book.
Sydney didn’t bother to budge from her fixed position since she decided she really did feel lazy. Crazier things had happened. Like starting that book last night, which had sent her libido into overdrive. She hadn’t needed much of a push since it’d been so long since she’d been touched. Not even by her own hand.
“Okay, for as long as I’ve known you, the only things you’ve read are biographies and Sun Tzu’s The Art of War–type stuff. Not something with a badge-wearing cowboy on the cover.” Mya pushed her shades into her hair and brought the book closer as if needing a better look.
“The book wasn’t my idea.” It was the truth, but now Sydney was kicking herself for not reading a book like that sooner. Damn, that author could write a sex scene. Maybe it’d turn her “not good enough in the bedroom” situation into “more than enough.”
Why am I thinking about Seth? He sure as hell wasn’t who I was thinking about last night. Screw that man.
“So, it fell into your bag, huh? You brought it to the beach, so you’re not trying to hide it from me if you were planning to read it here.” Mya casually flipped through a few pages.
“I don’t get embarrassed. I couldn’t care less about who sees me reading a romance novel. The guy on the cover could be naked for all I care.” She paused, knowing that wasn’t the answer Mya wanted, then changed the subject. “You know Griffin Andrews from Falcon?”
“The hot one?” Mya smiled. “Wait, they’re all hot. The one with the Southern accent?”
“I think they’re all Southern. Well, originally, at least. The one who married Savanna.”
“Oh. Savanna’s the one who, um, lost her Navy SEAL husband years ago? Yeah, I remember him now.” Mya’s tone was soft, a gesture of respect for Savanna’s loss.
“Well, back in January, my team was working an op in France, and Savanna came along.” Sydney shook her head when Mya opened her mouth to no doubt ask why. “It’s too complicated, so don’t ask. The point is during that trip, I learned that Savanna loves to read romance novels. So, the last time Griffin and I worked an op, he gave me a stack of books. Said his wife wanted me to have them. I think she got the idea that I’m lonely and sad. Maybe she thought I needed some fictional heroes to keep me company. I don’t know.”
“Huh.” Mya continued to thumb the pages of the novel. “Wherever would she get that idea? I mean, surely, she also witnessed your badassery?”
As a matter of fact, yes. Both Savanna and Jesse’s wife, Ella, had witnessed Sydney kill a few bad guys in France. Not that Sydney was happy about it, and she wasn’t sure if she’d define her actions that night as anything other than just doing her job and protecting Savanna and Ella. Badass? Hardly.
Anyways. She didn’t want to think about that operation. It’d been a tough one, but with a happy ending since it had brought Ella and Jesse together finally. And now they were going to have a child.
“Griffin must have blushed when he gave you the books.” Mya chuckled. “And did your former college beau have anything to say about it?” She lifted the book as a reminder of what she was talking about.
“Gray knows better than to comment.” Sydney had dated Gray Chandler, who co-ran Falcon Falls, when they were both at West Point. But that was a long time ago. She was thirty-seven now, and she hadn’t even been legally allowed to drink when they’d been together.
“Do you think Gray hopes there’s still a spark there? You two were quite the scandal back at West Point from what I remember,” she teased.
“The only scandalous thing about our relationship was that he was a Firstie, and I was a Plebe. Against the rules.” Seniors, known as Firsties at West Point, weren’t allowed to date Plebes, aka freshmen. Not that I was great at following rules back then. “He thought I was Sydney Bowman. He didn’t even know that I’m an Archer until our paths crossed again last year. Not the best way to start a relationship, right? You know, with a lie. So no, there’s no spark between us anymore.” Gray had been a great guy in college, and he still was, which was why she wanted to work with him at Falcon. But he hadn’t been the one. There is no “the one” for me though. Screw it. “I’d rather talk about fictional men. Or work. Not my love life.”
“Fictional men it is,” Mya responded. “I spend most of my time reading reports on human trafficking, so I think I should switch things up. You bring any other books with you? I don’t want to take the cowboy sheriff away from you.”
“I have another,” Sydney confessed with a sly smile. And maybe she didn’t want Mya taking away the cowboy now that she had a soft spot for that fictional man.
“I happened to watch two seasons of Bridgerton last week. I think the show is based on a book series, and let me tell you, those men make me want to go back in time and be properly courted.” Mya winced a beat later. “Well, aside from losing women’s rights and all. And having my father offer a dowry to a dude to take me off his hands is grotesque and something he’d probably support even now.”