Ties that go beyond just Daphne and me.
People that maybe, if all goes well, might accept me for all of who I am and want to spend more time with me someday.
I swallow back the instinctive answer ofand you have my sister’s love of chaosas Rhys grunts and shuts the tailgate on the truck.
“All three of you have the same eyes, dumbass,” Rhys mutters. “Hers are blue. Same as yours.”
“But they’re the same shape as Decker’s.”
“If you say so.” Rhys jerks his head toward the car. “And that’s Bandit. He’ll be your best friend if you let him.”
“He’s beautiful.” I rub the short black-and-brown-spotted fur on Bandit’s head between his two floppy ears, and he licks my hand, prompting an even bigger real smile from me. “And I’m happy to be his new best friend.”
My life doesn’t easily lend itself to having a pet, but I’ve been thinking more and more that I’m missing out. And god knows I could spoil a dog silly.
Once everything’s settled with my father and I’ve taken his position at Aurora Gardens.
“Just give him back when you’re done,” Jack says.
“Of course. Thank you for your help with the van. I can scrub a toilet until you can see your reflection in it, but I don’t know much about what goes on under the hood of a car.”
“You know a little something about rigging a home security system though. Call me next time you do it. I can help.”
“Donotcall him,” Rhys mutters.
“Of the three of us—me and my brothers, I mean—I’m the one with a degree in explosives engineering, which makes me the best for high-impact results for homemade security systems.”
“Stop talking,” Rhys says to him.
“Don’t mind Mr. Grumpy Butt,” Jack says to me while I keep loving on his dog enough that he lets Bandit down out of the truck. “Some chick painted his face with hair dye and he can’t see it for the gift that it was.”
A startled laugh rolls out of me. “That was me, and it was a gift?”
“You’ve given him the gift of seeing who likes him for his personality instead of his face.”
Rhys lifts a middle finger, which makes me like him even more.
I want to be that unfiltered all the time.
I really, really do.
And Jack has a point. Now that the streaks are fading from Rhys’s face, I can see that he’s likely one of those guys who’s regularly being hit on.
Not just for his size, but because he’s classically handsome too.
The jawline. The nose. The cheekbones. The beard.
The intense, hooded blue eyes that seem to see everything.
Stop it, I order myself.
“Can we get to work?” he says.
Jack and I share a grin, and I get a little misty-eyed again.
Daph and I might have some family who are people I’d want to hang out with when all of this is over.
Unless they no longer want to see me when they find out who I really am.
