Come to Me Softly (Closer to You #2)(58)
Author: A.L. Jackson

I twisted the cap, flicked it into the garbage, and took a deep, satisfying pull. Ice-cold liquid took a freezing path down my overheated insides. I smacked my lips as I pulled the bottle away. “Fifteen,” I corrected, cocking my head.

Incredulous, she laughed and shook her head, busying herself by grabbing a bottle of water. “Fine,” she mouthed, passing by me with a wink. At the fringe of the crowd, she spun on her heel. She walked backward to keep an eye on me. “I’m going to find Calista before we go. I haven’t seen her in forever. Can you stay out of trouble for that long?” she challenged, all playful like the tease she was.

She knew I loved it, too, how she got me all hot and bothered by that body. She also knew if I trailed her around this house I’d be pestering her until the moment I talked her out the door.

“I think I can manage.”

Okay, probably not. But Aly wanted to be here, so I’d make do.

Leaning up against the wall, I kept a keen eye on her as she moved about the room, never far enough that she stole her presence from me.

I relaxed into it, into the atmosphere and the beat of the music and the smile on my girl. I nursed my beer. Contentment glided through my veins.

Christopher eventually made his way over. He bumped my fist. “Hey, man, how’s it going?” He’d exchanged his bottle of death for a bottle of beer. “Figured you were standing over here suffering through some sort of mortal pain. You know, having to come out into the real world, and all.”

I sipped at my own. “Nah, I’m good. Think Aly really needed this.”

She stood across the room, talking to a girl I’d never seen before who was about a foot shorter than her with a crop of short brown hair. Aly was showing off her ring. Again.

“Just because my sister’s probably the coolest chick in the world doesn’t mean she doesn’t get off on all this girly shit.”

My gaze locked on her. Like she felt me, Aly turned a fraction, catching my eye. Affection swelled on her face and swam in her eyes, something lush and whole and sweet emanating from her skin.

I rubbed at my chest.

God, this girl made me insane.

A small frown pulled at Christopher’s mouth. “So why didn’t you tell me you had this planned? You could’ve let me know so I didn’t go through all that shit trying to convince you to come tonight.”

I shrugged. “Wanted Aly to be the first to know.”

“I get that, I guess.”

Standing there, Christopher let his gaze wander, appearing all easy and nonchalant. But I felt him twitch. A loose thread of strain trickled from him, and the muscles flexed on his exposed forearms.

“So what’s up with all of this?” he asked out into the room, although he was talking directly to me.

Lines creased my brow, and I looked across at him with a scowl gaining in intensity. “What do you mean?”

He shook his head a little. He blinked, calculating, adding it up. “The house . . . and now that flashy ring . . . seems to me like someone is trying to prove something.”

A blink of agitation lifted in me. There was nothing I could do to stop it. I fisted my hand, doing my best not to lose my shit with my best friend. What the f**k was his problem? Little more than a month ago he was demanding my loyalty, telling me to get my stuff and go if coming back wasn’t permanent, and now I was taking things too far?

“All I’m doing is trying to take care of my girl . . . to take care of your sister,” I punctuated with a hard emphasis. “Now all of a sudden I’m doing it wrong?”

“Didn’t say that.”

“Then what the f**k are you trying to say?”

His gaze shifted to the statement scored across the knuckles of my left hand.

2006.

He pinned me with sharp, green eyes. “Seems like a hell of a lot of demons chasing you, Jared. You sure you left all of them behind in Vegas?”

Goddamn it. I rubbed my jaw, doing my best not to lose my cool. Aly was always trying to drag this shit out into the open. Couldn’t deal with Christopher doing it, too. “I’m fine.” It grated from my throat.

“You sure?” It wasn’t a question, but an accusation.

A heavy breath shot from my nose. “I’m not trying to prove anything to anyone. I just want to make her happy.”

From across the room, I watched Aly. Her voice was completely washed out by the throb of music and the clamor of the crowd. But on her lips was ease and joy. She stole a furtive glance my way. Her gaze caressed over me. Gentleness danced at one side of that sweet mouth. Peace and a cleansing calm. Like she’d finally caught the breath she’d been dying for when she looked over at me.

I covered all my displeasure with a tender smile.

Christopher scoffed and took a swig of his beer. “Pretty damn obvious you’ve already accomplished that. But what about you? Are you happy?”

“Of course I am.” I said it without hesitation.

“I’m not talking about being happy with Aly. Not talking about the way she makes you feel. I’m talking about my friend who disappeared when he was sixteen because he had his world shattered around him. What about him? You think I don’t know he’s still in there?”

Silence fell between us, amplifying the tension stretching us tight. Suffocating. I swallowed around it and forced the words from my gravelly throat. “You’ve got a lot of f**king nerve to talk, man. Don’t think for a second I don’t know there’s something not right in that warped heart of yours.”

“Yeah.” He didn’t even stop to deny it. “But I’ve got absolutely no one relying on me.” He drained his beer. “Don’t you get it? The way Aly looks at you? That’s a f**king gift, man. No one has looked at me that way in a very long time. That’s what you have to protect. But what scares me is the way you look at her . . . like you don’t deserve to be in her life but would still do absolutely anything it takes to stay a part of it. That is dangerous.”

Christopher pressed on, plowing right through the dread that built up in the center of my chest. “The house and that ring? All of it is good, Jared. I’m not implying it’s wrong. Not for a second.” He shook his head. “Marriage and a white picket fence . . . you two should have that. But I’ve known you a long, long time and building up the perfect exterior isn’t going to be enough.”

“Aly will always be enough,” shot from my mouth as my only defense.