Page 16 of Easy Reunion

I snort. “Not hardly. I mean, the man was staring me right in the face while he was…” A loud cough comes from behind me. Angel grins.

“Hey, baby! You’re home from work early.” Angel starts to edge herself to the end of her chair so she can greet Darin, who’s still just as sexy as he was when he was playing basketball for Pepperdine. His huge smile flashes at me, showing the dimples in his cheeks that made coeds everywhere sigh, and Angel threaten to shank a few of them more than once.

He squeezes my arm as he makes his way past me to his wife, who he greets with a long kiss. I rest my chin in my hands, watching openly with a grin. I’m so used to their open affection for each other; I have no problems with rating their kisses. “I’d give that one a five, Dare,” I tease him. He shakes his head before he answers his wife.

“Something told me to wrap up early because trouble was brewing between you two.”

“She’s the one causing all the trouble,” Angel announces. Darin raises a brow at me. I flick up my hand as if to saywhatever.

“I do believe it was your husband who called me the calm in our storm,” I remind her of the teasing words Darin said when we were still in school.

Angel gags even as Darin scoffs, “That was a long time ago, Kels. I’ve seen the disaster you’ve left in your wake as you’ve embraced your inner hurricane.”

“Me?” The idea is mind-boggling. And not completely unflattering. My smile gets wider as Angel falls back in her chair in exasperation.

“Just remember, confidence is great—when you use it in the right way,” she scolds me.

“And on that note, how about I go out back and grill up some shrimp for dinner,” Darin offers. We both agree. “Let me get changed, and then I’ll be out of the way,” He leans back down and snags another kiss from his wife before heading through the kitchen toward the back of the house.

We both watch him go. “You’re so lucky, Angel,” I tell her, not for the first time.

“I know it, sister.” I lean over, and we clink our glasses of ice coffee against one another. “I just want you to have this kind of happiness someday.” Her hand smooths over her bulging stomach.

I shake my head. It’s an argument we’ve had for years, but I know I’ve won—or lost, depending on how you look at it. There’s not a man out there who wants to deal with the tangled words running through my head day in and day out. He’d have to be crazy to take that on.

Especially when there’s always the possibility I could still erupt back into King Kong.

* * *

Later,as I’m getting ready for bed, I smooth cocoa butter all over my skin. I remember Ry’s whispered “Your skin’s so smooth” as he danced his fingers gently over my shoulder. Brutally shoving last night out of my mind, I lift my nightshirt and rub the lotion all over my stomach, paying careful attention to my scar line that’s hidden by my gerbera daisy tattoo.

Some might say I was stupid to get a tattoo when I may get pregnant someday, but since I can’t imagine a man ever remaining in my life long enough to consider having a baby, I wasn’t worried. “After all, if I ever fell hard enough for that to happen, I’d want a man who’d understand I’m not perfect.” Then I whisper bitterly, “And since perfection seems to be the only thing men want, I’m not worried about falling anytime soon.”

Slapping the cap closed, I toss the tube onto my nightstand before climbing into bed. Switching the light off, I let the gentle breeze from the ceiling fan overhead lull me to sleep.