Page 124 of Cross Checked
Something ugly flashed across his face for half a second before his expression smoothed over into an easy smile.
There it was, the only thing I needed to switch up.
More than enough.
I didn’t know the whole story. I didn’t know the truth of what sat between them, didn’t know how old it was, how deep it went, or why every time he entered a space, Pip’s body forgot how to breathe normally. I didn’t know why Aura looked at him like she was waiting for a legal reason to bury him alive, or why Pip tracked his moods like weather, or why his attention on her made every violent instinct in me sit up and listen.
But I knew enough. I knew she had walked into that house warm from me and walked out colder. I knew he had been in there and I knew I didn’t like him.
And for now, that was enough.
Pip was still by the cooler when Luke started moving in her direction.
Absolutely fucking not.
I crossed the yard before I thought about it, cutting through kids, cousins, folding chairs, and smoke with the kind of focus that made people move without knowing why. Pip looked up at the last second, surprise flickering across her face, then something else. Relief. Quick and quiet, gone almost immediately.
Not gone fast enough.
I reached her before Luke did and slid one arm around her waist from behind, pulling her against me like it was the most natural thing in the world. Like we did this all the time. Like every person in that yard already knew exactly where she belonged.
Her breath caught.
My mouth lowered close to her ear. “There you are.”
Her fingers tightened around the water bottle in her hand. “Cade.”
My name, breathless and anxious, and that only made the cold thing in my chest sharpen.
I kept my voice low. “Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Act like you’re fine when you’re not.”
Her body went rigid against mine for half a second, and I hated that too. Hated that she expected questions to become traps. Hated that some part of her had learned concern could turn into danger if it came from the wrong man.
I wasn’t the wrong man.
Not for her.
Not ever.
Luke slowed a few yards away, his eyes dropping to my arm around her waist.
Good.
Pip swallowed. “I am fine.”
“Bullshit.”
Her head turned slightly, just enough for me to see the flash of panic in her eyes. “We are in my dad’s backyard.”
“I know where we are.”
“Then don’t start.”
“I haven’t started anything.”
