* * *
Brayden
I’ve never been so hyper-aware of somebody else as I am of Leleila tonight.
Every conversation she engages in, every person who approaches her, every time she self-consciously pushes an errant brunette hair back behind her ear, I notice.
I nurse my beer, not wanting to drink much in case she wants me to take her home. Coming to this party is a huge step for her, and I’m not going to let her down.
If she doesn’t want to spend the night here, no way will I try to persuade her. But she’s on her second beer already and may be in no position to drive herself, so I need to stay sober.
“Hey, Wild!” Jenson calls to me from where he and Cam are standing by the bonfire. “Get over here!”
When I reach them, Cam taps his beer to mine.
“She fits with you,” Jenson says to me.
I manage a nod. Fitting with a woman who’s engaged isn’t my idea of a good time.
“She seems different tonight than the last time I saw her,” Cam says, startling me out of my thoughts.
I turn toward him. “How so?”
He shrugs. “Not sure. But something in her eyes…they’re different than when we met her at the saloon.”
“We’ve gotten closer since then,” I say. “Maybe she’s less guarded now.”
“She is,” he agrees. “But it’s something else. You should ask her if something’s happened with her situation.”
“Her situation?” I say. “I can’t. It’s none of my business.”
“Maybe not,” Cam says. “But it is, all the same.”
“She’ll come clean if something’s up,” Jenson says. “She doesn’t look like she has a deceptive bone in her body.”
No, she doesn’t. Leleila’s not manipulative, one of the many things that attracted me to her. But if something’s going on with her upcoming wedding…maybe they decided to move up the date. Maybe she’s going to marry him even sooner than she planned.
My jaw tightens, and I take a swig of beer. I’ll have to continue to be patient and let her tell me when she’s ready.
* * *
Leleila
While Sophia is flirting with anyone and everyone, I chat with Olivia. When Jenson calls to her, she jumps off the truck and heads over to him. I watch him kiss her like he hasn’t seen her for a year, and the smile that lights up her face when she playfully pushes him away…it makes my heart ache.
I catch Brayden’s eye.
“Everything okay?” he asks as he hops onto the back of the truck.
I smile at him. “Yes.”
His thumb rubs my ring finger gently. “Still haven’t replaced the ring?”
I suck in a breath. “Brayden.”
His eyes zero in on mine. “What is it?”
“Phillip and I broke up.”
