Fly With Me (Wild Aces #1)(52)

My gaze followed his across the room, trying to figure out what the hell would make a look like that come into his eyes.

Dani stood across the room, her body tucked against Joker’s side, a blinding smile on her face. She pressed her lips to her husband’s, and my attention jerked back to Easy.

He looked like someone had punched him in the face. No, worse. Physical pain would be tame compared to the look in Easy’s eyes now. No, he looked like a man who’d had his insides scraped out with a grapefruit spoon, leaving a mess of entrails and emotions. And then as quickly as it had come, it was gone, his usual mask in place.

It hit me—how he acted differently around Dani, the change in his voice when he spoke to her, the look in his eyes. It had been there all along.

Easy turned away, setting his beer bottle on the table, and headed toward the door, leaving me staring after him, the desire to do something to make it better, even when I didn’t know what, an urge I nearly couldn’t resist. I’d never imagined that I’d feel sorry for Easy, and yet I did.

There wasn’t anything much worse than wanting someone you couldn’t have.



NOAH

I walked away from the group, not in the f*cking mood to discuss flying right now. I’d seen the look on Easy’s face, like someone had put his dick in a vise at the sight of Dani and Joker together. And I’d seen Jordan see it. And if Easy wasn’t f*cking careful, everyone would see it.

I knew Easy. He wasn’t the kind of guy who would ever make a move on Dani. For all that he could be a player, he was loyal to his friends. And even if he were the kind of guy who would make a move on a bro’s wife, Dani wasn’t like that at all. Still, this was not good for the squadron. Not to mention, my best friend looked more torn up with each day that passed. I kept thinking that this would go away; it wasn’t like he was known for sticking with a girl for longer than a few days anyway. But it wasn’t going away. And that made it so much worse.

Jordan walked over to me. I reached out and gripped her hand, linking our fingers. We didn’t speak; we just stood there, holding on to each other, as though we both realized how lucky we were to be together. Seeing the naked pain on Easy’s face made me hope that I never had to go through the experience of loving someone I couldn’t have.

Jordan squeezed my hand. “You should go talk to him.”

She was right, of course, but the truth was, I had no idea how to talk to him.

“I don’t know what to say,” I muttered, more than a little embarrassed to admit that I was helpless when it came to my best friend.

“You’ll figure it out.”

“I’m a guy. Relationship advice isn’t exactly my forte.”

Her lips twitched. “That has not escaped my notice. But it also hasn’t escaped my notice that you guys have a bit of a bromance going on. If he’s going to talk to anyone about this, it’ll be you.”

She was right, and still, I had no clue how to broach a conversation that would basically go along the lines of, You need to stop fantasizing about our boss’s wife.

“I’ll go talk to him.”

Jordan’s lips pressed to my cheek, her soft curves colliding with my body.

The words hovered between us, unspoken.

I love you.

It was fast. Really, really fast. And despite numerous relationships and the fact that I was thirty-three, I’d never actually said the words before. Never told a woman I wasn’t related to that I loved her.

I loved Jordan.

I loved her kindness, her enormous heart. Loved her smile, and her sexiness, and the attitude that perfectly complemented the over-the-top body. She was fun. She made me smile, made me feel things I’d never felt before. And more than anything, I wanted to make this work.

My arms tightened around her as I pulled the words back inside me. A squadron barbecue wasn’t exactly the best time or place to tell her how I felt.

She nudged my hip. “Go.”

I grabbed my beer and headed off in search of Easy, slipping out of the party and into Joker’s enormous backyard.

Easy leaned against the deck railing, beer in hand, looking up at the stars. He didn’t turn as I walked toward him, but we’d had enough nights like this that we both slid into the roles of over a decade of friendship with ease.

I stood next to him, following his gaze up to the sky. It would be a gorgeous night to fly. We drank our beers in silence, the unspoken words between us an elephant in the room.

“I’ll get it under control.”

My hand froze in midair, the bottle partway to my mouth.

He sounded bad. Really bad.

I turned to face him. “Are you sure you can do that?”

His jaw clenched as he threw back the beer again.

“I don’t know.”

I lifted my beer to my lips.

“I’m not going to do anything.”

“I know.”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it?”

I didn’t know what to tell him. It kind of was; I’d figured it out months ago. Of course, I knew Easy better than anyone. And Dani was so far from the girl you expected Easy to be attracted to, that I figured most people hadn’t picked up on it. But it was only a matter of time. Especially if he kept looking at her the way he did.

I didn’t say anything, but I figured my nonanswer was answer enough.