“No, I didn’t fuck her. She wanted me to, but I did her one better.”
“Yeah, what’s that?” I ask, expecting him to tell me how he gave her a better orgasm than I did or some shit.
But as he turns away and moves toward the hallway where his room is, he calls back over his shoulder, “I listened.”
12
The sound of the helicopter approaching pulls my attention from my laptop. Nash is going over the budget, again, when he looks up too, and I hear him mutter a curse.
“Who is it?” I ask.
“My dad,” he mumbles, his voice taking on a thickness I haven’t heard yet.
The last few days he’s been acting almost civil toward me. I know he still blames me for what happened in Amsterdam, as if being someone he was attracted to was somehow my fault. I bore the brunt of that blame for three years. It’s nothing new to me now.
But I could also feel him peeling back a little bit of that pain and showing the real Nash underneath.
“Did you know he was coming?” I ask.
“No.”
He looks back down at his computer, ignoring the presence of his father and his new wife standing outside. I watch as Hanna approaches them, going first to Alistair to give him a quick embrace. Then, she goes to Zara, tucking herself at her side as they walk toward the main house.
Alistair turns the opposite way and comes to the office. When he pulls open the door, we both look up.
“Working on a Saturday?” he asks, eyebrows raised and gaze leveled on Nash. I toss him an easy smile as I lean back in my chair.
“I’ve tried talking him into a break, but he won’t listen to me. So good luck.”
“Well, he’s certainly not going to listen to me.” Alistair walks over to see what he is working on, and I watch as Nash stiffens in his seat, his jaw clenched as his father looks over the budget on the screen.
“Thalia prepared lunch for us. Let’s go eat and we can talk.”
“Again, don’t you guys have a new baby? Do you ever spend any time with her?”
Alistair rolls his eyes. “I have a son too, and sometimes I like to spend time with him, so put the work away and come eat with us.”
“Let’s go, Nash,” I say, standing up from the desk. He finally shuts his laptop, and stands along with me. There’s a curious flinch in Alistair’s brow as he notices the way his son listens to me, and not him, and I notice it. We all notice it.
And fuck me, I like it.
The patio is set with lunch as we approach. Hanna and Zara are already sitting across from each other with cocktails in their hands. Hanna looks up at me with a spark in her eye. For reasons I don’t understand, I wink at her, sending her a warm smile. It became clear after the talk we had the other night there is an instant chemistry between us, an easy comfort, and I find myself looking forward to the few moments each night we have to talk. Hanna is genuine, smart, and I want to know the depths of her. What I see on the surface is a woman who is at war with herself while hiding the confidence I know she has. I’d like to change that.
I met Alistair’s new wife on the day he flew me out to Del Rey, but she sends me a smile and greeting anyway. Zara is a beautiful girl, and I see how well she complements him, but I also have to bite back my judgement. I don’t blame her for what happened with Nash, but I was the one who picked up the pieces after it all went down, so it’s hard not to reserve at least a little judgement.
“I hope Nash isn’t giving you too much trouble,” she says with a bright smile as she takes a sip of her drink.
“Nothing I can’t handle,” I reply, but when I glance back at Nash, I notice a softness in his expression as he looks at her. I had a suspicion he still harbored feelings for the girl who was once his, the one who slipped out of his grasp, and I remember how he told me in Amsterdam he would have never made a good boyfriend for her then, but I can’t help but wonder what it is that exists between them now. It’s