He didn't miss the way Vanessa had monopolized his time to the exclusion of everyone else. Lucky for Teo and Dylan, neither of their women were overly clingy. They both had friends of their own, lives, interests, things to do outside of sitting on a couch watching reruns.
Somewhere in the years since her death, he'd forgotten just how needy Vanessa had been. And that'd made it extra hard on him when he'd had to spend so much time away from her.
The mind was funny like that. Blurring edges, sweeping things to the corners of the brain where the cobwebs lurked.
He tried to tell himself that she’d known what she was getting into, but did anyone ever really know what the future would bring? The majority of their fights had centered around his absence, her feeling neglected, not part of a couple. Samuel’s birth had added to the strain that was already as tight as a trip wire.
He pushed the thoughts aside and ordered his burger with extra pickles. After filling his glass with sweet tea, he approached the table.
Dylan and Teo slid into a corner booth. Baby and Joe followed suit. Boomer folded himself into the tight space and scooted around.
“I've got a new scope I want to try,” Teo was saying. Soon Joe had joined the discussion and promised to join them at the gun range.
“Scoot closer,” Jill ordered, waving her hands.
The girls slid into the booth and Jill turned, lifting her phone for a group shot. “Closer,” she ordered playfully.
“I’m as close as I can be without sitting in her lap,” Reya said of Sabrina.
Jill spun around, and Boomer got a sinking feeling. Sabrina was already squeezed up against him. Her stationed on his lap was all he needed. He’d been fighting his body all evening. She was just as gorgeous as he remembered, the form fitting jeans driving him slowly out of his mind.
Part of him, the part he should absolutely ignore, wanted to pull her into his lap. And if he got lost in her eyes, so be it.
He could tell by the look in Jill’s eyes, she was about to play match-maker. There was no polite way to get out of it, especially without hurting Sabrina or causing a scene.
Did Sabrina sense the stillness in him? The turmoil?
She must have because she let out a breathy little laugh. “Hop on, Reya,” she said, patting her right thigh.
And just like that, the tension dissolved. Everyone laughed, squeezed in for the picture. Jill took several shots. Reya slid off Sabrina’s lap just as their burgers began arriving. Everyone fell into easy conversation and Boomer’s heart started beating at a regular rhythm again.
If that erratic beat kept up, he was going to have to see a doctor.
Jill oohed and ahhed as she flipped through the various shots she’d taken. Beside him, Sabrina dunked a French Fry in ketchup, listening intently to Reya telling the story of how she’d finally gotten Dylan’s attention.
When Sabrina nibbled the fry, Boomer found himself staring at her lips. He was in so much trouble. This right here was how men got themselves into situations. Fixation. Obsession.
He’d thought about her all week long. Seen her every time he looked around his rig. Couldn’t get the taste of her off his tongue.
It was a hell of his own making.
How did one dig themselves out of purgatory?
The answer probably started with ‘stop looking at her,’ but that was far easier said than done.
An elbow to the side jerked his attention away from Sabrina. His head swiveled toward Teo, grateful for the distraction.
His friend lifted a brow but didn’t ask the question obviously on his mind. “Pass the ketchup.”
Man, he needed to snap out of it.
He had good reasons to forget about her all those years ago. She’d forgotten about him.
Boomer snagged the red bottle and passed it over.
“I’m not going to give up,” she whispered a moment later.
A hunk of hamburger lodged in his throat. He reached for his water glass with one hand and pounded his chest with the other. She was right there with a soothing hand on his back.
“Not to be an asshole, but you did that really well last time,” he murmured back. He glanced around the table and found everyone involved in a conversation, not paying them the least bit of attention. Which was good.
He was trapped, and she knew it.
“I had a good reason. I’ll tell you on our date.”
Even though he didn’t want to be, he was intrigued. It’d be simpler for him to just pack up and walk away. Head for New Orleans and wherever else after that, leaving Georgia and the aqua eyed goddess behind.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Spending any more time with her would dig him deeper.
What if she had a good reason? He couldn’t think of one, but he’d never known her to be dishonest. As kids, she couldn’t keep secrets from him and when she’d tried her hand at a fib, he’d seen right through her.
But what if what she had to say changed everything? Lord help him, he already liked the new Sabrina. The light hearted, outgoing, always smiling Sabrina. He loved the way she made him feel, the way her body fit against his, the sweet little moan she made when he made her come.
The only thing keeping his heart in check was the ache he’d suffered all those years ago.
“So, you got what you wanted and that’s it?”
Her softly spoken words cut him like shards of glass. His gut clenched.
When he took in her profile, she popped a fry in her mouth as happy as you please and smiled across the table at Baby as if she hadn’t a care in the world.
“It wasn’t like that.”
A perfectly plucked brow lifted toward her hairline.
“Prove it.”
The challenge lay between
