When You're Back (Rosemary Beach #12)(24)

I walked over to her as she stood up and reached for her purse.

Pulling her into my arms, I held her close and inhaled her scent before covering her mouth with mine. I needed a taste before we went back to my truck for the ride home. Her hands came up and clung to my arms. I loved it when she did that. Like she needed to hold on to me.

When I had enough to get me home, I pressed one last kiss to her lips and moved my head back so that I could take her in. “I’m so proud of you.”

She beamed at me. “I’m proud of me, too.”

That. That was all I needed. Anything she wanted to do, I’d make it happen if I could hear those words from her mouth. She had a lot to be proud of. I never wanted her to doubt herself again.

“Ready to go home?” I asked.

She slipped her purse over her shoulder. “Yes.”

I put my hand on her lower back, and we walked out the door. She turned and locked it with her new set of keys, then glanced up at me. “Piper left early. She said she’d see me tomorrow, so I don’t have to let her know I’m gone.”

Good. The sooner I got her home, the better.

On the ride home, she talked about her day and all the e-mails and phone calls she’d gotten. She sounded excited, like she had enjoyed every minute of it. I let her happiness push away my own feelings about the day I’d had out of my mind. Aida had stayed gone all day. Momma said I just needed to give her some space to deal. She said it was time Aida got over this crush she had on me. Major bringing it up was the best thing that could have happened to her. She had to get over it now and move on.

That didn’t make it easier, and I was concerned about where Aida had run off to. She was young and so naive and silly about things. The fact that she had a crush on me proved that even more. I didn’t want her going out and getting hurt because of this. I’d blame myself.

When we pulled into the driveway, Aida’s truck was sitting there. Looked like I was going to face this sooner rather than later, and I didn’t want Reese hearing any of it. Aida was sitting in the driver’s seat with her head on the steering wheel like she was crying. Great.

I parked the truck and looked over at Reese, who was staring at Aida. I never wanted Reese to know that Aida had a thing for me. That was something I had to shut down now so we could get on with things. Reese’s emotions weren’t going to be messed with here. I had to protect her first.

“I need to talk to her. She’s going through something right now, and I’m the only one who can help her move on,” I explained. I wanted to go inside and eat dinner with Reese, then enjoy a long shower together before we curled up and she read to me. But that wasn’t happening tonight. I had to put this behind us.

She nodded. “OK. I’ll go fix us some dinner.”

The tone in her voice sounded off, but I was probably imagining things, since I was already worried about this shit with Aida. I leaned over and kissed her before getting out of the truck.

Reese climbed down before I could get to her. “Go do what you need to,” she said, and she walked up the stairs without looking back at me.

That wasn’t like Reese. Maybe she was just tired and ready to go inside. I wanted to go with her. Shit, this was all kinds of f*cked-up.

I walked over to the driver’s-side door of Aida’s truck and opened it. “Move over, I’m driving,” I said when she lifted her tear-streaked face to look at me.

She didn’t question me. Once she was on the other side, I climbed in. “Put on your seat belt,” I told her when she didn’t reach for it.

Once she was buckled, I pulled out of the driveway and drove to the main road. We needed to talk, but I was going to drive while we did it. I needed something to do other than look at her and face this shit.

“Talk, Aida. Stop crying, and talk to me.”

She sniffled, and I watched her wipe at her face. “What do you want me to say? Major said it all.”

Well, that clarified that. “What the hell, Aida? Seriously? How did this happen?”

She let out a shaky sigh. “You were . . . are my everything, Mase. You always have been. You’re there when I need someone. We have fun together. We laugh. We fit. I just don’t know why you can’t see that. She . . . she doesn’t fit you. I do. I know you so much better than she does.”

Motherf*cker. How had I missed this? I felt so blindsided. “You’re my cousin. Hell, Aida, I saw you a couple times a year growing up. It wasn’t like we were inseparable. The way you talk about us sounds like we did everything together. I don’t see how you cooked all this up in your head. I’ve never once given you reason to think we have something or even had something. We hardly see each other.”

Aida sighed. “You don’t see it. We’ve always had a connection. I could feel it. I know you did, too. Reese messed this all up. You think you love her. You just don’t remember what we’ve had together.”

Yes, I loved Reese. I loved Reese like a man insane. She was my world. That wasn’t ever changing. “Aida, Reese is everything I never knew I needed but I can’t live without. Telling yourself that there is, or was, something between us is pointless. You’ve always been jealous of others getting my attention. I knew that. But we were kids, and you were demanding. I overlooked it or ignored it. But this can’t be ignored. Reese is the most important person in my life.”