His past was working against him. How he’d been raised and the fact that his mother had left weren’t secrets. They’d shaped how he viewed relationships. If she could show him she truly cared, show him that she’d never break his trust, maybe there was hope.
Though she didn’t have much to compare it to, she felt his struggle, his feelings. It was in the way he touched her face. The way his eyes lingered. The way he gave her everything when she begged, screamed, and whispered. He wanted her to feel like a complete woman. And she wanted to make him feel like a complete man.
“Have you been avoiding me?” Ryder said as she set down the guys’ food.
“Of course not.” She smiled at her big brother. “I’ve been avoiding all of you.” They turned their heads in question. “I’m kidding,” she said. “Calm down.”
“Speaking of people you may want to avoid,” Colt said, adjusting in his seat. “Here comes one now.”
There was a guilty look on Colt’s face, then she heard Jenna’s voice ring out from behind her.
“Hello,” she said happily.
She turned to find her friend in exercise clothes with a yoga mat strapped to her back and…oh shit. Finn was walking in with her.
The physical therapist was in exercise clothes too. She guessed they were coming from Jenna’s Yoga in the Park evening class.
Finn smiled. “Good to see you again, Penny.”
“How are you?”
“Great.”
“You’ll never believe this,” Jenna said, “but I was talking to Finn, and he said that he doesn’t have a date for the rehearsal, Colt.”
Penny glared at Colt, and he palmed his baseball cap. The man used to stare down bulls for a living, but he was squirming in his seat.
“Fancy that,” Colt said.
This whole thing smelled of a setup, and she was on the chopping block.
…
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.
Bass almost let the words slip out, but luckily he caught himself. Penny was getting set up, something she wasn’t taking too kindly to, and frankly, neither was he.
“Do you want to sit?” Huck asked, oblivious.
“I was going to grab a quick drink at the bar,” Finn said, eyeing Penny in a way that made Sebastian’s blood heat. He wasn’t staring down her tits or anything, but he definitely glanced at them for a much longer moment than he liked.
“Well, I was just headed back that way,” she said, and Finn followed her. Like a damn puppy. Which he was. Granted, her ass did invoke men to follow, so he couldn’t blame the guy.
But still.
“What the hell?” Bass asked Colt. “You really are playing matchmaker now, huh?”
“No,” Colt said as his soon-to-be wife slid next to him. He kissed Jenna’s cheek. “This devilish one here is.”
“Look, Penny needs to get out there. She doesn’t have a date for the rehearsal, and without one, I’m afraid she’s going to spend most of the night in the kitchen. I thought Finn would be perfect. He’s single, has a great job, and he’s cute.”
“Cute?” Colt said, frowning.
Jenna smiled and rubbed his leg under the table. At least, he hoped it was his leg. One look from her and Colt’s whole expression changed. She whispered something in his ear, and judging by the look on his buddy’s face, it put him at ease.
Those two were so lovey it gave Sebastian the dry heaves. Surely someone at this table would be on his side.
He turned his focus to Ryder. “You think this is a good idea? Whatever happened to you going ape shit on anyone who looked at your sister?”