She watched him leave and wondered what hell he’d endured as a child. One thing was for certain, they were friends again. That little chat had broken through the discomfort between them, and maybe now they could just be what they were. Friends—kinda.
Chapter 10
Jay wasn’t a big drinker. He had a few now and then, mostly in a social setting, but it wasn’t his thing. If he drank too much, he talked about stuff he never talked about, and his secrets were never to be aired to anyone. There was also the random hugging that he was prone to do, for no other reason than he could, because he’d lost all restraint.
“You sticking to your two-beer limit or want another?”
“Thanks.” He took the bottle Dan handed him.
“All good, Jay Jay?”
“Peachy,” he said with zero sincerity.
“You don’t sound peachy to me,” Sawyer said.
Jay was off-balance. It was Blue, of course, doing the unsettling. That talk they’d had—a real talk, about stuff he never discussed—had unsettled him.
Why had he discussed the DNA test and his family with her?Because it felt right.
And it had sitting there with her. Who knew Blue Jay McAllister was a good listener? Certainly not him. The girl he’d thought he’d always known wasn’t who she actually was inreality. Maybe like him, she kept private stuff stored away inside her and hid behind a facade. The one the world saw.
But then, she didn’t have a reason to hide like he did.Did she?
“Just tired,” Jay explained in answer to Sawyer’s observation.
“So work with me here, Dan,” JD said from his position leaning on the table.
“You all good there, bud?” Jay said. “Your eyes are squinty.” He was sure his eyes weren’t much better if he was honest.
Since he’d come back inside from talking with Blue, he’d spent a lot of time watching her surreptitiously. At least he hoped that was the case, and while doing that, he’d drunk beer.
Ask her out or back away. Those are your choices.
“So I think Blue and Jay would be a good match,” JD said in a really loud voice. “Apart from the obvious, they’re both?—”
“What’s obvious?” Brody said from his position holding up the wall beside Jay.
“Their names,” JD said.
He could intervene, but Jay had learned long ago that protesting wasn’t worth it. It made you look guiltier—not that he’d done anything wrong, except for a great night of sex with a woman he couldn’t stop thinking about.
Brody frowned.
“Seriously, bro, tell me you’re joking?” Ryder said, leaning in to look at his brother’s face.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Brody demanded.
“You losers okay?”
“All good thanks, Red,” Jay said quickly to move him along.
“If I said Blue Jay to you, Red, what would instantly come into your head?” Dan asked from his position beside Brody.
“Blue jay,” Red said as he collected glasses off the table, “is a highly intelligent, noisy, and crested songbird native to Eastern North America.”
“Kids doing a project on birds, Red?” Ryder asked.
“A month ago. I just have an excellent memory,” the man said. “And yes, I think they’re a good match. Names aside, that is.” He then wandered off.
