“What’s going on with you guys? What did Oli do now?” Zora cocked her head toward him, appearing to sense his mood. “What happened?”
He met her gaze as Everett and Olivia filed into the room, plopping down on the leather armchairs. “Is it okay if we don’t talk about it right now?”
“Yeah.” Zora searched his face for a brief moment. Her eyes were the color of whiskey imbued with light, so they appeared amber with flecks of gold. They were wide and pleading the way they were when Mike wanted nothing more than to give her the world. That was back when he knew the only way to keep her safe was to keep his distance. He’d wanted to wait until she was ready.
She gathered him into a side hug, and he did his best not to linger. “We can talk whenever you’re ready,” she whispered.
Relief flooded his body. How was he going to do this? How was he going to pretend like something hadn’t shifted between them?
Sophia tilted her head sideways reading the spines of the board games. “What should we play first?”
“I vote for Apples to Apples or Taboo,” Zora said, tucking her legs beneath her on the couch. “Do you have the Midnight version?”
“I don’t know what that is, but I say we go with a classic—either Monopoly, Scattergories, Clue, Sorry, Scrabble, or Battleship,” Everett suggested. “I’m probably going to win, anyway. You pick, Soph.”
Before she could select a game, Olivia chimed in. “I’ve got a better idea.” Mike didn’t miss the sly wink she gave him. “Since Mike and Zo are always on their phones playing games, why don’t we go with their favorite? How about we play Two Truths and a Lie?”
She slouched into the chair pressing a pillow to her chest looking rather pleased with herself.
“Fine by me,” he said, lifting his chin with a confidence he didn’t feel.
While Sophia and Olivia helped Everett hunt down pens, paper, plastic cups, and more drinks, Mike took the moment to swipe the champagne he’d brought from the table.
“This was for you, by the way.” He leaned over to hand Zora the bottle. As he did, her smelled her light floral scent with hints of coconut. Something roared to life inside him and he stifled a growl. It took every fiber of his being to ward off the flashes of her body in the blue dress as it blurred into a night so long ago when he’d crossed the line.
No.
He didn’t want to go there. He couldn’t. Those feelings had washed away, but now all at once, they threatened to come rushing back. He was caught in the undertow. He could deny a lot of things, but he couldn’t deny the temptation to be with Zora was always lying dormant.
It was never this strong, though.
Mike didn’t want to feel it. He didn’t want to want her. Zora deserved someone she could trust with her heart, someone who could protect her.
That night years ago, he’d swallowed hard over the lump in his throat as heat crawled under his skin and settled there. He could still see the hurt in her eyes, the agony, and he couldn’t have left her…even if she was his best friend’s sister.
She was his friend, too.
The memory of their night stirred in his groin and he adjusted himself, shifting closer to the armrest. “Congratulations, again. I uh…know the cookbook is going to be amazing.”
He was staring straight ahead and hating the stilted tone to his voice. Their normal banter was replaced by an awkwardness he hated even more.
“Thanks for the champagne.” She fingered the bold red script lettering on the bottle, biting down on her lip. It drove Mike crazy. He knew the sweet taste of her swollen lips. He could still feel the memory of them on his aching skin.
His cock hardened and understanding washed over him. He blew out a cleansing breath.
That’s what this is. It’s not emotional, it’s just physical—one body reacting to another. I’m driving myself crazy for nothing.
Mike almost sighed with relief.
I’m just horny.
He pressed his fist over his mouth to hide his grin. This was the same Zora in a new dress, which just so happened to highlight every curve of her tight little frame.
New. This was his body telling him it was tired of fucking the same woman. All he needed was a good lay. A new lay.
He was so happy he could almost kiss her.
“I’m going to go grab some water.” He sprang to his feet. “Want anything?”
“How about a glass for this stuff?” She held up the bottle.
His grin spanned from ear to ear as he let the words fall from his mouth. “Anything for my friend.”
Just friends.
Yes. This was just his body talking. He might not be able to undo the texts he’d sent last night, but he was only going to be thinking with one head from now on.
Mike made his way to the kitchen where he found the “three amigos” conspiring in hushed whispers. As soon as he walked in, they all scurried like roaches in the light. He had to laugh because he knew they were plotting something, but at the moment he didn’t have one fuck to give.
He wasn’t nuts, he was just horny.
The game started off just as Mike expected. Olivia’s truths, of course, were centered on photography and weddings, while her lie was predictably about how much she loathed guys with beards. Considering the last two guys she dated looked like lumberjacks, it was pretty easy to spot.
Mike had also easily spotted Everett’s lie about wanting to be a football coach back in high school and Zora’s about hating Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. At the moment, he was winning the game 3–0, when Sophia’s turn came up.
Sophia flashed him a tight smile as she scooted to the edge of the chair. “Okay, Mike. Let’s see if you can get this one.” She straightened the lines of her face and gave him a deadpan stare.
“Let me have it.”
“One. I’ve been put on light activity to avoid putting the baby at risk , so we’re going on a month-long vacation to Bali. Two. Patton Place has dry rot and termites, so we need to vacate the property for fumigation and repairs. Three. I only watch Game of Thrones for the nudity.
Mike slid his finger over his top lip as he pondered the options. They were oddly specific and some were kind of personal. It was classic Sophia to go for the jugular right off the bat.
“Let’s see. That’s pretty specific,” he said out loud.
“But you don’t even like Game of Thrones,” Zora added.
Zora and Olivia were both studying Sophia and Everett, waiting for the news hiding between the lines. They could all hear it in what Sophia wasn’t saying.
Mike felt his own body stiffen.
“Are you guys trying to tell us something?” he asked.
His heartbeat pounded in his ears. Everett had told him before he met Sophia, she gave birth to a stillborn, which was why he was so worried, particularly the first three months. He said Sophia was about nine weeks and that most miscarriages occurred in the first trimester, so that had to be true. They would never joke about something so serious. Otherwise, why would they have been so worried about going out to celebrate?
Why would they choose the middle of a game to disclose something so personal?
“So the house has termites and dry—” Mike was still working out her angle when Zora cut him off.
“Is the baby okay? What happened?”