“I bet his ass looks amazing in those tight pants.” The way she said those words made me grip the spoon tighter in my hand as I dipped it into the coffee grinds. Thankfully, she couldn’t see my face, but my God, could she be any shallower? She was supposed to be an adult, but she was acting like a lovesick teenager over a guy she hadn’t even touched. “You need to snap a picture for me and send it to my phone. I’d do it myself, but I don’t want to seem like a creeper.”
“So, instead, you want me to come off as some pervert?”
“He’s your cousin.” My heart sank. “You can get away with it.”
I’d always thought Mike was an attractive guy. When we were younger, I may have even had a little crush on him, though I never told anyone. It was always my little secret. He was a little older than all of us kids and protected us with vengeance, especially the girls in the family. He got territorial whenever the need arose. How could a young girl not be awed by that?
Then, he went away, we all grew up, and so many years passed.
The moment he stepped out of Gavin’s truck and began walking up the driveway the day he returned from the army, I’d swear to it, I felt like I’d been kicked in the stomach—hard. He was a man, a strong, fit, powerful man, and I felt slightly guilty for the feelings that began to course through me the second he pulled me in close for a hug. Feelings a girl should never have about a boy who was raised like my cousin.
Only he wasn’t truly my cousin, not by blood, anyway.
“First, Mike is not my blood cousin.” I leaned back against the counter and crossed my arms over my chest, feeling pissed off for various reasons, some I didn’t even understand myself.
“Semantics.” Raven waved her hand before her and smiled wider.
“Second,” I ignored her nonchalant attitude over my statement, “I will not be perving on him and stealing shots of his ass or any other body part so I can send them to you.”
“Okay, then, at least help me ensure that he gets his ass to Lucky’s this weekend and that I get that date I’ve been pushing for. Then, I can get the shots myself.” Again, irritation hit me hard. “Who knows? Maybe I can get a few other types of images as well.”
“Is that all you ever think about?” I angrily turned around and grabbed a clean coffee cup from the cabinet, again, only to have something to do with my hands since my previously used cup was sitting near the sink.
“Don’t you even pretend you haven’t wondered what he looks like without all those clothes covering him up.” I closed my eyes tightly. “Anyone can tell he’s hiding something really good underneath.”
I counted in my head, doing my best to tame the unfamiliar feelings running through me.
“I bet he’s—”
“Okay, enough.” Unable to stop myself any longer, I turned around to face Raven. “He’s a good guy, Raven, a really good guy. He’s not just there to satisfy your itch. He’s kind and sweet. He may be broody at times, but that’s just Mike. He deserves a little more than being treated like a piece of meat.” The moment the words left my mouth, I regretted them. I saw the way she wrinkled her brow, and I knew I’d only managed to throw up some red flags I didn’t want to.
“He’s family.” I tried to backtrack, feeling the words sour in my mouth as I said them. “It’s just hard for me to think of him as a sex symbol. He deserves more.”
If I was being honest, he deserved better than Raven, and that too made me feel like shit for admitting it to myself. She was my best friend; she’d been there for me on so many different occasions. She’d kept my secrets, lent me a shoulder when I felt the need to cry on one. But even through all that, in my mind, she still wasn’t good enough for Mike.
I wasn’t sure there was anyone who was. Another thing that made me question myself and everything about him. My friend being interested in him should not have been affecting me the way it was. I should have wanted to see them happy, and, in reality, I did. Just not happy together.
***
“Let me see that sweet baby.” I didn’t even wait before I reached out and took Blake away from Rhett. “He’s got to be the most gorgeous baby ever.”
Rhett beamed with such pride as I snuggled his son close. He was the perfect little guy to give me my baby fix.
“He gets his good looks from his mommy,” I added, and Rhett chuckled.
“True.” He was such a good man. AJ and his son were his world. It was strange seeing Rhett as a father. We all thought at one time it would be him and Harley married with kids. Yet, seeing him with AJ, I knew, without a doubt, it was her he was meant to be with. They were perfect together, and they made the sweetest babies too.
“Where is AJ anyway?” I sat down on the couch next to him and smiled when Blake laid his head on my shoulder and his eyes began to droop.
“With Raven.” Suddenly, my happiness was depleted. “They went shopping.”
I nodded but used the baby to shield my true reaction, pressing my lips to his head and offering him a sweet kiss. Breathing Blake’s baby scent in, I tried to
