Thick & Thin (Thin Love, #3)(64)
That didn’t mean anything and Ransom knew it. “Kona is also jealous, just like Keira is over him.”
“Yeah, I know that, but this is different.” A small pulse beat against his neck, reminding me that he could let himself get worked up with little effort. It was a warning signal I could pick up even though we’d been apart for more than a year.
I sat closer, touching the top of his hand and Ransom closed his eyes, releasing a long breath before he continued. “This isn’t Kona being a jealous *.” Ransom looked down at me calmer, that quick pulse in his neck slowing. “The shit landed in his lap, out of the blue, right along the time that Cass came around. I didn’t make the connection until the other day when he showed up after Mom told him she needed to work by herself that day. He ignored what she wanted and pounced, the day after all that shit went down. When he knew Dad wouldn’t be around.”
“You really think he has the connections for that?”
“I don’t know.” He shrugged, leaning back on his hands. “But I did a little digging. One of Mom’s old writing partners, Sara, is with Sony doing A&R. She’s heard Cass’s name before. They used to run a talent search about five years ago. Heavy competition. Few years back Cass made it to the final round, so did a guy called Michael Aymes. Sara said something happened then; she never knew what it was, she’d only heard rumors, but Aymes quit the competition and went back to Oklahoma and Cass got disqualified. She’s putting out feelers. I’m telling you. Something is off.” Ransom watched me, as though he didn’t know how to broach whatever he thought of saying next but shrugged to himself, exhaling before he spoke. “I think Dad needs a head’s up.”
“Before you know anything for sure?”
“He has a right. That’s why I came here. It wasn’t about…” he waved in my direction as though reminded me of what we’d gotten up to twenty minutes before. “Anyway, I came by to see if you’d go with me. If you’re there Kona might not lose his temper and fly off the handle.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Why?” He sat up, head turned as though he tried hard to read me. “Is this because of his shitty attitude he had with you when you moved back?” Ransom moved closer, grabbing my wrist when I made to stand. “That was a long time ago, makamae and he isn’t mad anymore.”
I couldn’t take the look he gave me. Ransom’s face was expressive, easy to read and just then, with the heat finally lessening and the faint smell of our skin, our sweat still perfuming around us, I understood his confusion. Of course it would. He had no idea. No one did.
Ransom dipped his head, letting me stand without saying a word, but I knew my silence had stung him. Just then, I thought it best to keep my own company. Once upon a time, I kept nothing from him.
“Aly, I don’t know what’s in your head.” He stood, leaning against the wall next to me as I fiddled with the remote to the sound system. “Maybe it’s not my place to ask anymore. Maybe you’ve got it in your head that it never will be again.” One large palm covering my wrist and Ransom forced my attention at his face. His face went tight, expression worried. “I thought maybe you could back me up but I realize now, that’s not your place anymore, is it?” That frown tensed when I shook my head. “Fair enough.” He released my wrist, staring down at the floor where just minutes before he’d touched me deeper than he had in over a year. “Ethan wants you to think about how you feel.” He looked back at me, voice even, but in his inflection I heard the anger brimming. “I want you to admit you still love me. I want you to be with me and I wish you’d tell me the real reason you won’t or why you can’t stand to be around Kona.”
“It’s…complicated,” I admitted, not able to keep my gaze on his face. There was a small scratch on the inside of my thumb. I had no idea how it got there.
“Life usually is, Aly.”
He didn’t kiss me goodbye or tell me he’d wait for me to make a decision. Ransom did nothing at all but walk away, taking the warmth from the room with him. The door sounded with a click as he left and I didn’t know what to do with myself. I wanted to cry and scream and chase after him. I wanted to find Ethan and convince him to take me to New York or to the Caribbean for an escape, tell him I was trying to be as spontaneous as he wanted me to be, like he was.
But I was a coward, scared of what lay ahead. Terrified by what lay behind.
The music clicked back to life when I dropped the remote, sliding against the wall with my knees against my chest. I buried my head with my arms.
Kona had been a little drunk, a lot happy.
Five years ago, the lake house had been full of people I only knew vaguely—coaches and their wives, Kona’s former players, former teammates from the league teams he’d played on, friends Keira had made in Nashville and the few she’d gotten friendly with in New Orleans—all there to wish Keira well. All there to celebrate her birthday.
Ransom twirled Keira around the empty living room floor, jitterbugging with his mother as she tried to keep time. Leann cheered them on, so did Mark and Johnny. Koa and Mack hid from the spectacle, too embarrassed that their big brother was treating their mother like she wasn’t old and decrepit.
I watched from the kitchen doorway, leaning against the threshold with my shoulder on the wall, laughing at how happy my man was, how complete it felt to be with him, with his family. Then Kona approached, swaying a little as he bumped against me.