He’s the first to notice me. The faint smile on his lips grows as he does, which in turn makes my heart beat a little faster. He’s relieving me of the few grocery bags I carry before I can blink. “Hi,” he says gently, and kisses me. I blush, aware of our audience.
When he pulls back, he looks to his friends. “Nik, Jane, this is Aspen.”
Jane’s eyes light with something I can’t quite put my finger on, while Nikolai gives me a knowing grin. “Ah, so this is the one who’s stolen all his attention lately.”
Reid shoots him a dull look. “Like you’ve even noticed.”
Jane pulls out of Nikolai’s arms, crossing the room in a few strides, her heels clicking on the floor. “It’s nice to meet you, Aspen. Anyone who can put up with that one,” she says with a nod toward Reid, “is someone I’m interested to meet.”
I glance at Reid to see how he feels about her words, but he brushes her off the same way he does with Nikolai’s teasing. There’s a familiarity between them all that instantly makes me feel slightly on an island of my own.
As if sensing my hesitation, Reid makes quick work of setting the bags down and tucking me under his arm. His body is warm, familiar,safe. I lean into him.
“They stopped by to grab some stuff for the retreat,” he explains. “And then we just got talking.”
“About nothing interesting, of course with this one,” Nikolai drawls and kicks a foot up on the counter to rest his elbow on. “But now that we finally get to meet, this has gotten a lot more exciting.”
Jane shushes him as she walks back over. His eyes track her the entire way, watching her in a way that makes me feel like I’m intruding on them.
Reid mock whispers to me, “You can ignore him. I do it all the time.”
Nikolai looks wounded, feigning a hand over his heart.
“It’s nice to meet you guys,” I tell them. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
They both shoot their eyes over to Reid, the three of them having some sort of silent conversation. Reid stiffens but quickly recovers. “All bad things, of course.”
Jane plays with her necklace. “Please. Aspen, how long do you have? I have some stories about this one.”
“I’m sure,” I chuckle.
“I’m more interested in how you two met,” Nikolai says. “Or reconnected, I guess I should say. I remember hearing about you all those years ago. Reid’s sister.”
“Foster sister,” Reid and I both say at the same time. His hand pinches my waist.
“Apologies.” Nikolai grins, and I bet this guy never has a problem getting exactly what he wants. “How did you two meet again?”
I glance up at Reid, who nods at me to go ahead. “He came into my work. It’s this small coffee shop and bar place over by his boxing gym, and one day after his workout he stopped in for a drink.”
“Which she refused to give me,” he butts in.
“Because it wasn’t time to switch over yet,” I argue back. “But when it was, I gave you your drink, didn’t I?”
“I’m surprised there wasn’t spit in it.”
“How do you know there wasn’t?”
He shakes my shoulders playfully, and I tuck my hand into the back pocket of his jeans.
“Anyways, he didn’t recognize me, but I knew exactly who he was. And…” I trail off. Me singing that song he used to always sing, him recognizing his guitar, the moment of clarity…those details feel too personal. Like they’re just for us. “And he hasn’t left me alone since.”
Jane laughs, the sound bright and full, while Nikolai snickers behind her.
“Something like that,” Reid mutters, but there’s no sense of irritation on his face. “We lost touch when we moved out here,” he says to Nikolai.
“When did you move here, Aspen?” Jane asks.
“Three years ago. As soon as I turned eighteen.”
