Page 11 of Best In Class (Savannah's Best #7)

Dom

S he’s shut me out. Again.

That kiss— God, that kiss —it killed all the progress I made.

It was incredible. Bold. A statement. Everyone and their mother saw it. It was perfect.

I thought it was the start of something. I thought I was getting lucky that night.

Now, I don’t think I’m getting lucky for the next fucking calendar year.

“ She kissed me and now she’s killing me,” I confess to Gabe as I watch Luna flirt with Devon Parker, who works for Gabe as the brand lead for the Rhodes Hotel Group.

We’re sitting at the edge of Gabe’s covered patio, overlooking his ridiculously plush backyard that feels more like the grounds of a boutique resort than a family home.

The Rhodes estate stretches lazily along the Savannah River, with terraced gardens, a sprawling pool that glitters in the late afternoon light, and a breeze that carries the scent of honeysuckle and slow-burning oak from the smoker.

Fairy lights are strung between live oaks, and a low jazz playlist is drifting from the outdoor sound system. This isn’t high-society Savannah with its pearls and posture. This is just us—family and friends, barefoot kids and dripping swimsuits, BBQ rib bones and laughter.

The way it should be.

The swimming pool is party city! Sophie, Gabe’s teenage daughter, and Bianca, Nina’s girl, have recruited three younger cousins into a full-scale water war, complete with floats, goggles, and a strict ‘ no grown-ups allowed ’ rule.

Thank God, because if I had to see Luna in a bikini…well….

Gabe’s brother Raphael—academician and resident nerd—lounges nearby, shirtless in swim trunks, sipping rosé and getting schooled in quantitative economics (which he teaches at Emory) by a young woman (a cousin or a friend of a cousin), who’s apparently read half his curriculum.

He seems to be enjoying all the attention.

Anson and Noah are arguing about spice rubs: dry or wet, which one is better , while Nova and Stella are seated on the far end of the deck, ignoring their husbands. Whenever their husbands ask for their opinion, they say, “ We just want the meat ” and burst into laughter.

I think, between them, they’ve drunk a couple of bottles of champagne.

Nina is with them, pretending she’s not with Diego, even though he calls her querida and brings her drinks and plates of food.

Lia and Sebastian sit on a bench by the river, quietly tucked into each other.

Their ease in silence hits somewhere deep in my chest. Just a few months ago, they were on the brink of divorce.

Now, watching them like this, it’s clear they’ve found their way back—what they call their second marriage to each other.

The table behind me is covered in platters of grilled ribs, blackened shrimp, baked mac and cheese, sweet corn, and cornbread; all of it put together by Harrison, the Rhodes family chef.

There is a soft ice machine that’s getting a major workout.

Luna is in denim shorts and a thin white tank that hugs her like it was sewn for her. She’s barefoot, her legs long, her short hair tousled, her laugh soft and infuriating because, since we kissed, I’ve become persona non grata .

She’s sitting next to Devon, who is sprawled beside her on a pool lounger like a beach ad for bad decisions—long blond hair pulled back, a floral Hawaiian shirt half-unbuttoned, flip-flop on one foot, the other kicked off.

She’s licking ice cream from a cone.

Yeah, because why the hell should she not be licking something!

Christ, but she’s sexy.

She rests a hand on Devon’s shoulder, and then, just to finish me off, he leans over and plants a smack on her mouth .

“Down, boy.” Gabe grabs my forearm before I’m fully out of my chair.

“I’m losing out to a fuckin’ beach bum.” I sit back with force, so the chair rattles a little. “You gotta fire the asshole.”

Gabe takes a long sip of his beer. “Best brand man in the country, so hell to the no, will I fire him. And she’s doing this to mess with you.”

“Or maybe she likes Devon.” Maybe he’s her new man . Maybe ….

“Devon’s got a friends-with-benefits thing going with Rose…you know, my cousin, Rose Dixon?”

I narrow my eyes. “He better not get into a friends-with-benefits thing with Luna.”

Gabe huffs out a sharp breath. “Dom, you’ve got to get your act together, man.”

Lev walks up to us and leans against the railing that separates the porch from the swimming pool area, beer bottle in hand.

“Is he losing his shit because of Devon?” he lazily asks Gabe.

I gave him an exaggerated eye roll.

Gabe rubs his temple. “Luna and Dom need to sort their shit out. According to Aurora, the two of them could power all of Savannah with the voltage they throw off when they’re in the same room.”

“So…what did you do that she’s running scared?” Lev muses as he drinks some beer.

“Why do you think I did something?” I demand haughtily .

“’Cause the man’s always to blame.” Gabe raises his beer.

Lev clinks his bottle to Gabe’s. “Amen! And that’s why I’m single.”

“I didn’t do a damn thing. She kissed me .”

Lev glances at me, the corners of his mouth tugging up in pure contentment. “The kiss at the ball. Everyone’s been talkin’ about it.”

“I didn’t kiss her. She kissed me .” I know I sound petulant, like I’m eighteen and saying, ‘ it wasn’t my fault, Mama, she did it .’

“It’s better than her kicking you.” Lev takes a long pull of his beer.

“She is sort of kicking me. She’s pushing me away.”

Gabe releases a gasp of frustration. “Or maybe she’s trying to figure out if you’re serious enough to fight for her.”

I meet his gaze with simmering resentment. “I’m fuckin’ stalking her, Gabe, she knows I’m serious.”

“Actually, she has no idea what you’re up to,” Lev interjected.

I give him a withering look.

He raises a hand, palms out. “According to Lia, who you know I’m friends with, Luna is very confused about what the fuck you want.”

Now, I am confused.

“I want her.”

“You know there’s a term my daughter likes to use,” Gabe tells me, amused.

I wait.

“TSTL,” he says cryptically .

“Huh?” I give him a bland look.

“Too Stupid To Live.” Gabe grins. “And in case you’re too stupid to get it, that would be you. Dom, have you told the woman you love her and want her back?”

I rub a hand over the back of my neck. “I…think so.”

I’m actually not sure at all. I’ve given her every indication…. But have I actually said the words, ‘ I love you, Luna, let’s get back together? ’ No. I absolutely have not.

“Fuck me,” I mutter and then straighten. “She kissed me at a black-tie gala, in front of the entire city. I kissed her back. That was a declaration. Doesn’t she get it?”

Lev and Gabe look at each other and shake their heads.

“What?” I demand.

Luna laughs then, and I focus on her.

Devon’s showing her something on his phone.

Aurora, Gabe’s wife, smirks at me as she walks by, like she knows exactly how much I want to jump into the pool and drag Devon under.

“I should hit him,” I mutter.

Lev shrugs carelessly. “You’d only confirm her worst fear.”

“That you’re still that seventeen-year-old asshole,” Gabe agrees. “She’ll think you’re trying to own her, not love her.”

I look down at my beer. Warm now. Tasteless.

“I miss her.”

“Have you told her?” Gabe asks.

“More or less.” I groan. “Less than more. Okay, I get it, but if I tell her I love her, she’s going to kick my ass. I’m playing the long game here. ”

“Looks like you’re playing yourself out of the game, bud,” Lev remarks. “Ah, look, another Savannah Lace beauty is here.”

We turn to see Zahra Delacroix, who is a new architect working for Luna, coming into the garden with her fiancée, Lawrence “The Loser” Rockwood.

“What is she doing with him?” Gabe rises. “I can’t stand that motherfucking asshole.”

“There’s no accounting for taste.” Lev looks pissed.

Lev had been in love once, some years ago, and since there is no accounting for taste, as he says, said girlfriend (whom I could not stand) cheated on Lev with Larry. That’s the problem with living in a small town like Savanah, it’s incestuous as fuck.

Gabe leaves to welcome the new arrivals.

“He’s cheating on her.” Lev throws back his beer and sets the empty bottle on the table in front of me with a thud.

“Who is?”

“Larry the Loser. He’s fucking Anthony Reggiani’s daughter…whatshername. I saw them at the tennis club. She was giving him a blowjob. Now I can’t unsee the fucking thing.”

I lean back into my chair. “Does Zahra know?”

“I don’t think so. Don’t you think she’d have dumped his ass if she did?” Lev’s eyes are on the Persian beauty.

“I don’t know her so can’t say.”

We watch as Larry the Loser plays cool with being invited to a Rhodes family get-together, and I bet the only reason he’s here is because of Zahra .

“Maybe I should tell her.” Lev rubs his jaw, looking at the couple like this is the plot twist he’s been waiting for.

“None of your business,” I tell him.

He licks his lips as if thinking pleasant thoughts. “On the one hand, it’ll be some tribal justice for what he did with Reba.”

“Your girlfriend cheated on you with him—he didn’t do anything by himself,” I remind him.

He takes a moment, as if thinking it through. “So, back to your business.” He looks away from the Persian beauty and turns to me. “She freaked out because of the kiss.”

“Yep.”

“And?”

“Nothing. I tried talking to her yesterday after the Minton project meeting, and she said something like, ‘ Let’s keep it professional .’”

“How’s that working out for you?”

“She’s killing me,” I grind out.

Lev doesn’t respond.

He sits next to me, letting the silence settle while the party rolls on.

Kids screaming in the pool, music humming low, ribs being passed around, and the woman I love flirting with another man, while I pretend I don’t still look for her in every room I walk into.

Fuck my life!