Blacklisted (Loveless, Texas #3) - Jay Crownover Page 0,49
agree on anything? You have such different backgrounds and come from such different experiences. How did you start to find common ground?” As I asked, I couldn’t help but think about Shot, and the way I couldn’t stop thinking about him. He was different from anyone and anything I’d ever known, and I couldn’t decide if that was the reason why I couldn’t stay away from him.
Sure I liked the way he looked and the way he moved. I liked that he was confident in himself to the point of being cocky about it. I liked the way he smelled like leather and sunshine, and the way his deep voice softened just slightly when he talked to me. I really, really liked the way he kissed, and I was getting used to the playful way he teased me. I could tell he was different with me than he was around anyone else—maybe that was what drew me to him so inexplicably. I’d been treated differently because of my job and because I was smart, but Shot was the first man who treated me like I was someone special, like I was a woman he was attracted to, regardless of how impossible that attraction might seem.
“God, why would I want to spend the rest of my life with someone just like me?” Della snorted in an adorable way, her cheeks flushed. “I’m a workaholic. I have daddy issues. I can be self-absorbed and insensitive. He forces me to think outside of myself, and he makes me take care of myself. Before Crew, I only dated men who moved in the same circles as I did. They were more interested in my earning potential than my heart. It was boring and bland. When you have white and you add more white to it, nothing changes—you just get more of the same. But if someone comes in and dumps red, or blue, or green into that white base, you end up with a whole new color. Something vibrant and beautiful. Crew balances out all my bad traits, and I like to think I tamed some of his. We’re better people when we’re together, and that’s the common ground. I don’t want to change him, because I love who he is and who he influences me to be. I hope it’s the same for him.”
Aspen sighed sweetly and plopped a hand on Della’s shoulder. “I’m so glad you found each other.”
Della nodded a little sloppily and placed her palm over the back of Aspen’s hand. “You and Case, too. You’re very different. You’re so warm and caring, and Case is so cold and closed off, but you bring out the best in each other. He’s so much more approachable now that he has you, and you’re nowhere near as naive as you used to be.”
Kody made a gagging sound and rolled her eyes. “You guys are being gross right now.”
I giggled and thanked the waitress, who had appeared at my elbow with a fresh martini.
“Oh, stop.” Aspen turned her head, dark hair swinging. “You’re no different. You were living each and every day like it was your last until you admitted how you truly felt about Hill. He’s the eye of your constant storm, Kody, and you know it.”
Kody opened her mouth to argue, but before she could get any words out, she slapped a hand over her mouth and jumped to her feet. She made a panicked face and bolted toward the bathroom, practically knocking over a couple two-stepping on the dance floor in her haste.
I took a sip of my drink and asked of no one in particular, “Should I go check on her, or will it just make her mad?”
Aspen grabbed for the last jalapeño popper and told me, “Give her a minute. I’m not sure what’s going on with her, but she’ll tell us when she’s ready.”
I frowned. “What do you mean? You don’t think she’s got a stomach bug or something along those lines?”
Both Aspen and Della shook their heads, dark and light in total agreement. “No, I don’t think she’s sick.” Aspen gave a small smile that was tinted with a shadow of sadness I didn’t understand. “I’m not going to say anything until Kody figures it out, and decides she wants to share, but I’m pretty sure what’s going on with her is eventually going to be a reason to celebrate.”
I was new to all this girl talk, but it seemed like Aspen was hinting at a