It took a full minute as she kicked sand, inching closer to the water.
“Are you ever going to tell me what your agenda is?” She paused to test the temperature of the water as it washed up near her toes. She took a few steps closer to the water, letting it slide over her feet completely. She shivered, clearly cold, but she pretended as though it didn’t bother her, so I did, too.
When she started walking again, I fell into step. “What agenda might that be?”
“The reason we had to get married. And don’t tell me it had to do with payment for services rendered. I won’t believe you anymore now than I would’ve in the beginning.”
Honestly, I’d been waiting for her to bring this up again. I knew she was curious the same way I knew she hadn’t believed this was ever about paying a debt.
I came to a stop just under the pier. “Would you accept that it’s not something I can tell you right now?”
She peered up at me, her eyes sliding over my face. “Is that what you want me to accept?”
“Yes.”
“Then I might be convinced.” She leaned back against the large wooden post. “Under one condition.”
“What’s that?”
There were times when Laikyn was impossible to read. Then there were times like this when I knew she was about to proposition me. She was damn good at it, and I could admit I’d come to enjoy it.
“You have to make me come.” Laikyn grinned. “Right here.”
I shoved my hands in my pockets to keep from reaching for her. “I think there’s something else we need to talk about first.”
Her eyes were wide, and there was possibly a hint of concern glittering in them.
I kept my tone flat, purposely without accusation. “I saw you and Jinx in bed together.”
Laikyn’s expression sobered. “I didn’t realize.” She looked down, dragging her toe through the sand. “I had a nightmare, and he came in. One thing led to another.”
I appreciated that she didn’t deny it.
Her head lifted, her pretty green eyes meeting my face. “Actually, that’s not true. I mean, I did have a nightmare, and he did come in to wake me up out of it, but saying the rest makes it sound … too simple.”
“It’s complicated?”
She swallowed but never looked away. “My feelings for him are becoming that way, yeah.”
I nodded. That didn’t surprise me. I’d known Jinx long enough that I had a good read on him. Something had changed between him and Laikyn in the past few days. Now I knew it wasn’t one-sided.
“Does it bother you?” Laikyn’s tone held an edge, concern causing a crease on her forehead.
“No,” I lied. It bothered me, but not the way she would think if I told her the truth. The part that bothered me was my insecurity over where that put me in all this. I was the one married to her. I was the one who’d spent the past two decades with Jinx. Before Laikyn, I could pretend what I had with Jinx was merely a friends-with-benefits scenario. It was more than that, and while I’d never considered what my life would be like without him, now that I’d seen them together, the fear of losing that was real.
But I was the one who didn’t want the complexity of a relationship, so I couldn’t very well blame either of them. Nor could I prompt some heartfelt conversation that would result in me being overwhelmed by shit I never wanted in the first fucking place.
Feeling my frustration rise, I took a slow, deep breath and exhaled.
“It doesn’t bother you at all?” she asked, her words tinged with skepticism.
“No.”
She canted her head to the side. “Then I’ve got something to confess.”
Every bone, every muscle, every cell in my body went still.
“I saw you, too.”
