I took in his heat and the long length of his torso pressed to mine so solidly for a moment. Then I released him from one breath to the next, taking a step back so quickly it forced him to drop his arms. I watched him take a breath, watched a determined little notch appear between his eyebrows, and then saw him watching me like…
Like he’d made some kind of decision and he was preparing himself for the consequences.
Those powerful, fit lungs of his filled before he spoke up. “I came to talk to Boogie too,” he said tightly, his hand going back to lay right smack in the middle of his chest.
I took another small step back. “What do you need to talk to him about that you couldn’t just do on the phone or tomorrow?” I asked, way too confused by the fact he was here, by him changing his number, and mostly by the way he was looking at me right then. “Are you okay? Did something happen?”
What was going on? He’d finally lost it. He’d gotten sacked really hard last week, and I’d stood up in front of the television—
That regal chin lifted. “I’m good.”
He was good, but none of this made sense.
“I should’ve talked to him months ago, but I can’t put it off anymore,” he said carefully, still watching me closely.
I wanted to think it was my sister who kicked me in the calf, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it had been my brother-in-law.
I went up to the balls of my feet, swallowing up the face I hadn’t seen in weeks like a starving person who knew she should take it easy. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but are you trying to piss off Trevor and your agent?”
A partial smile lifted the corner of his mouth. “I’m not worried about Trev or anybody else, and you said you’d talk to me on the phone, but it’s been weeks and you still haven’t called.”
Well, he had me there, damn it. I swallowed hard. “Zac….”
His eyes roamed my face long enough that I raised my eyebrows, and it was then that he sighed and flicked his gaze to the side. “I’m bein’ rude. Connie, Richard, hope y’all are doin’ well. Can I have Bianca now?”
“Yes, if you get us tickets to another game in the future, please,” Richard answered.
I stared at both of these vultures who were supposed to love me… but who were giving me up for possible football tickets.
And had Zac worded that weird or was it my imagination?
He nodded at them. “You got it.” Then he glanced back toward me, and my heart gave two hard whacks. “You got time to talk to me now?”
I still couldn’t believe he was here in the first place. “Zac, I’d talk to you on the phone if I knew you were coming. What the hell, man? And why did you change your number? You got a stalker now?”
“Come with me to talk to Boogie real quick, and then I’ll tell you whatever you wanna hear,” he said, watching me with those blue eyes I loved.
I was pretty sure my sister smacked her husband again.
“You’re scaring me,” I told him, going through about a dozen different scenarios in my head. They were all terrible.
The corners of his mouth went up again in that smile that made me feel funny. His eyebrows too. “You trust me?”
I sighed and made a face. “Yes. But I already told him… what I told you.” That I was in love with you. “He knows you didn’t do anything, that nothing happened. Boog knows you love him too much to ruin your friendship.”
His mouth went flat and white at the edges, and his nostrils flared for a moment before those light blue eyes moved over my face again, and he said in a steady voice, “Don’t worry about that. Just trust me, would ya?”
He held a hand out toward me.
And I took it, pretty sure that yet again, my sister whacked Richard.
Just trust him, he asked.
Well… it wasn’t like I had another choice. So I took it.
“I’ll be back,” I told them, meeting my sister’s beady, smug gaze over my shoulder.
She snorted. “Yeah, sure you will.”
Zac squeezed my fingers, and I forgot about her cryptic comment before following after him, asking, “Zac, seriously, what are you doing here?” as we headed toward the lane where Boogie was standing, watching a friend of Richard’s go up for his turn.
I tried to slip my fingers out from his, but all he did was knit his longer ones through mine instead.
He smiled down at me too. “I told you, darlin’. I came to talk to you and your cousin.”
But about what? “I know Trevor is going to be on your ass for leaving. You should be home.”
He tugged on my hand playfully. “I can’t stay all night, kiddo. Just a little while.” He gave me another one of those sugar-sweet smiles. “And he knows where I am.”
I eyed him.
He kept on smiling. “Come on. The faster we do this, the faster we can talk.”
“I could’ve talked to you on the phone. I don’t want you to mess anything up, not when you have a game tomorrow.”
“I’m not messin’ a thing up. You can ask Trev. He gave me his blessin’ to come so I could put him out of his misery.”
Trevor’s blessing? “Were you being a pain in the ass?”
He shot me a little side look that made me snort.
“You’re always being a pain in the ass, my apologies.”
He chuckled at the same time that my cousin happened to turn around, in the middle of smiling when he caught sight of Zac first. Then me holding his hand.
And he didn’t stop smiling, but his face got a little weird. A little tight. Maybe even a little uncomfortable, just like earlier. Basically, it was all three.
I didn’t know what to think of it.
I had told him the truth, and I knew he’d believed me about there not being anything going on between us.
What I was though, was glad that I’d told Boogie how I’d felt. I hated keeping secrets from him, but I knew he understood why I’d done it.
I glanced at Zac to see if he was tense or awkward, but he only looked determined. I’d seen him make the same facial expressions before on game days.
Boogie said something to the friend beside him before coming over, his mouth forming a flat line. He stopped directly in front of us, expression calm but careful and totally like my cousin.
Only then did Zac let go of my hand and go straight into giving him a hug that my cousin returned. A normal one. Easy. Slapped him on the back and everything. It relieved me.
But as he pulled away, my old friend set both hands on my cousin’s shoulders. “You know I love you,” Zac said steadily.
And my cousin nodded seriously, his face grave. “I know. You know I love you too.”
Only these two could tell each other they loved each other like it was the most natural thing in the world. I’d always loved it. And I understood why Zac wouldn’t put anything between them. I really did. Who was I to mess this up?
I really was doing the right thing. I just needed time to get over it—time and maybe a distraction. Maybe I could reschedule my trip to Orlando and make an extended vacation out of it.
“You’re the brother I never had and never wanted,” Zac kept going, bringing my focus back to him and the way he was looking down at my cousin.