Page 96 of No Such Thing as Serendipity

“Straight ones.”

“So. Aren’t you always telling me love is love?”

“Fine. But what relevance is you reading smutty books?”

“Haven’t you ever heard of a slow burn?” Emma said, choosing to ignore my smut comment. She rubbed her chin. “I’m not sure you and Robyn qualify as a slow burn. Not after that dance. Friends to lovers?”

“We’ve only been friends for a minute.”

“Fine. We don’t need a trope. I know you, and I’ve never seen you react to someone like you do Robyn.”

“What?” I narrowed my eyes. “I’m forty-two fucking years old. I’ve had plenty of relationships. Robyn is nothing special. So what if I find her interesting?”

“Well, at least you admit that. With any of your other girlfriends, there’s this raw energy.”

“What the hell is raw energy?”

“Untamed. Edgy.” Emma shivered. “It’s uncomfortable. To be honest, unpleasant.”

“So my relationship with Marta was unpleasant to you?” Why was I just hearing this now?

“It was unpleasant for you, too.”

“Really? Do tell how you came to this conclusion.” I knew my tone was full of sarcasm, but I still wanted to hear Emma’s answer.

“You were never at peace with her.” Emma smiled. “This might come as a surprise, but you tended to be wound tight.”

I couldn’t help but smile, but I didn’t respond.

“When you were with Marta, she never balanced that. You became even more uptight—on edge.”

My stomach roiled at the thought of how true Emma’s words were.

“But with Robyn, when she’s around, you relax.” Emma touched my jaw and then ran her fingers across it. “The tension in your jaw isn’t as pronounced, and you don’t get frown lines on your forehead. She brings you peace.”

“Not anymore.” Tears welled in my eyes. “Damned airborne estrogen.” I swiped my eyes with the back of my hand.

Emma wiped a tear from my cheek. “And that’s why you need to do something about this. You’re changing, Blake. I see it. But you aren’t done yet.”

“And you think letting Robyn in will change that?”

Emma remained silent for some time as the water cascaded over the falls. “No, but it’s a start. A step in the right direction, but there’s more. And you know it.”

What did she mean by more? I considered asking her, but my emotions were stirred beyond where I wanted them to be, so I remained quiet.

“I know you’ll get there. I have faith in you.” Emma patted my knee. “But until you do, you’ll never be free. You owe it to yourself.”

I snuggled against my sister, enjoying the warmth from the rock and her body. I laid my head on her shoulder and watched the water cascade. Words were no longer necessary, so we sat enjoying the peace of the moment.

CHAPTER 27

My hair was stillwet from my shower when I fell into bed. I didn’t have the energy to blow it dry. It was only ten o’clock, but it felt like two a.m.

Today we’d had Villa Wars, at least that was what we dubbed them. It was a friendly, and sometimes not-so-friendly, competition among the four villas. Miraculously, we’d taken second.

Thinking back to the games, Annie, despite being one of the oldest participants, held her own and performed like someone a decade younger, while Dana, just like me, was a natural athlete. It was the other three who doomed our team to defeat. Normally, our loss would have irritated me, but here I was lying in bed grinning at the thought.

We’d at least been able to talk Katlynn into changing out of her flowing dress into something more appropriate for the games. Not that it helped since competition appeared to be a foreign concept to her. At least, she’d been able to supportHelena, whose frustration might have boiled over without Katlynn’s steady hand. Helena was a former athlete, so she was unaccustomed to her body failing her. Several times, I witnessed the resolve burning in her eyes, only for her body to betray her. My heart went out to her when I saw the determination turn to defeat.