But even pissed at her, he was still there making sure her parents had the best last-minute surprise anniversary party possible.
He was so good, so solid and sturdy.
Like her father, Brick Callan would always be there.
But he was holding himself back. And so was she. Worse, Remi didn’t know if either of them had it in them to go all in.
She went with the flow. Stayed open to opportunity. She didn’t tie herself down as a rule. That’s what a relationship with Brick would be. At least a real one. He wouldn’t exactly collar her and keep her tied to a bed. But wouldn’t she feel the obligation to be more of what he wanted, less of what she wanted?
And what about all those past rejections? Just because they’d gone farther in the past few weeks than they ever had didn’t mean there wasn’t still progress to be made. Didn’t mean he would want to take her on. She was too loud, too emotional, too chaotic. It’s what had kept him at a distance for fourteen years.
Sex couldn’t magically make things easier.
Her parents were the unicorns, she decided, watching as Darlene spun around in a short black dress that showed off her long legs. In the only impractical pair of shoes she owned, she was the same height as her husband.
They looked happy. They practically glowed with it.
And then there was Kimber and Kyle. Barely twelve years into their marriage, they’d gone from hot and heavy high school sweethearts to roommates who couldn’t communicate their most basic needs.
This was the reality of most of the relationships Remi saw. People didn’t stay happy. Hell, most times they didn’t even stay together.
What would happen when things ended with Brick? Would Mackinac still feel like home? Or would she avoid the island even more than she had after his marriage?
His marriage to her best friend. They still hadn’t talked about it. It wasn’t a topic of conversation for acquaintances or casual lovers. And she wasn’t sure she would like the answers she got.
The Audrey Remi remembered from high school was pretty, book smart, and easygoing. She’d never witnessed sparks flying between her best friend and her crush. The sparks had been reserved for Remi and Brick. Yet he’d pursued Audrey, married Audrey. The reliable one. The comfortable one. The easy to love one.
She remembered the hurt, the utter devastation. She’d been invited to their wedding, had actually come back to Mackinac with the intention of going. Of showing Brick that he didn’t have her heart anymore. But when it came time, she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t bear watching him pledge himself to another woman.
So she’d feigned the flu and then told herself that it was just the remnants of a silly teenage crush. She pretended that she was more hurt by Audrey not telling her they were even dating. Their friendship had fizzled somewhere after high school and college. Somewhere along the line, Audrey and Brick had become strangers to her with their own lives apart from hers.
She watched Brick, sleeves rolled up as he traded an empty chafing dish for one full of pulled pork, her father’s favorite.
He was a caretaker, a protector by nature. He wasn’t open to the wild tumble of life, the flow of picking up and moving on. He was a monument. Cast in stone and planted in permanence. And sooner or later, he was going to break her heart again.
Only this time, it would be worse.
How would she survive? How would she look at him across the table in her parents’ dining room and not remember the filthy promises he’d whispered in her ear as his body had taken hers to new heights?
This couldn’t work out. It was destined to end horribly. Maybe that’s why he’d fought the attraction so valiantly. Maybe Brick always understood the potential damage while she was only beginning to realize the truth.
Kyle was staring at his phone, thumbs flying across the screen, as his wife danced with Ken. Hadley and Ian were working their way through their parents’ abandoned slices of cake.
A soul could wither up and die in that kind of life, Remi realized. Even if he wanted her to stay. Even if she gave it her all, there was no guarantee they wouldn’t find themselves in a similar position. And when it ended, everything would be different.
“You look like you could use this,” Darius said, appearing at her side with a frothy orange drink.
“Me?”
“Yes, Ms. Paler Than a Snowman. What’s wrong? Is it your asthma?”
“It’s not my asthma.” It was her stupid freaking heart trying to break itself to pieces over the same man for a third time. “When are people going to stop treating me like an invalid?”
“Maybe when you stop looking so Disney princess-eyed and fragile?”
“Eww. Shut up.”
He nudged her shoulder. “What are we wasting our time bickering for when there’s a dance floor begging for us to wow it?”
Remi drained her drink and did what she did best, blocked out everything but the present moment. “Let’s show ’em what we’ve got.”
After a few energetic laps around the dance floor, Darius deposited her in her brother-in-law’s arms and headed back to the bar.
“Hey,” Remi said.
“Hey yourself.” Kyle Olson’s nickname when Kimber met him was Pretty Boy. It still fit. He had neatly coiffed blond hair, wore dark suits with skinny ties, and flashed a charming smile that disarmed juries and—at one time—her own sister.
Brick walked past them and leveled her with a heated glare that made her feel like her dress was on fire.
“How’s your friend’s novel going?”
Remi missed a beat and stepped on Kyle’s foot.
“My what? Oh! It’s good. Good.”
“You had me worried that you were in some kind of trouble.” Kyle was a trial lawyer. He had a bullshit meter that was more sensitive than most.
“Speaking of worried,” she said, dodging his unasked question, “what is going on with you and my sister?”
His jaw tightened. “I wish I knew.”
“You’re going to work this out,” she said firmly. They had been so in love once. The idea that it could all just disappear was heartbreaking.
“I would if I knew what the problem was. Every time I ask her, she shuts down.”
“Do you ask her like her super cute husband who cares about her and wants her to be happy, or do you ask her like she’s a hostile witness under cross-examination?”
His smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. “There’s a difference?”
“Ha. But seriously.”
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Kimber said into a microphone borrowed from the DJ booth. “It’s time for a walk down memory lane.”
Darlene perched on Gil’s lap, each with a glass of champagne, and gestured for Remi to sit next to them.
“Get over here, Brick,” Darlene said, waving him over. “Join the family.”
Remi’s body tingled as he took the chair behind her.
When the lights dimmed, Brick tugged her chair backward until she was caged in between his long legs. His warm, rough palm cupped the back of her neck possessively, and she relaxed. His touch was a drug that could soothe and arouse.
Prince’s song “Kiss” blared from the speakers, producing a fine mist of yellows and oranges before Remi’s eyes. The colors of happiness.