All around them, people were chatting, celebrating, catching up and being noisy. But here, in this little triangle Teague was caught up in, there was none of that joy. A few awkward moments passed and then Sabrina attempted a smile and thanked Cooper for bringing her a glass of water. She arched her brow at Teague and headed for the stairs without a word.
“That’s gonna be a tough nut to crack, my friend.” Cooper shrugged. “Good luck.”
“No shit,” Teague muttered.
He followed Sabrina, weaving his way through the crowd—shaking an uncle’s hand, and leaning in for a kiss from his Auntie Beatrice. His sister Grace caught his eye, but he shook his head and kept moving. No way was he letting Sabrina out of his sight.
She was heading to her boathouse and a cool breeze lifted the hem of her skirt, showing him a tantalizing bit of leg. That little bit of skin had him hungry for more, and his eyes raked over Sabrina, taking in every detail.
Her hair was longer than when he’d last seen her, falling several inches past her shoulders, while the kiss of summer was starting to fade from her skin. She was so damn beautiful and every cell in his body screamed for a touch. This hunger, it wasn’t going to fade and it hit him in that moment just how much he needed her.
She paused at the end of the dock, her hair blowing behind her like a dark chocolate cascade.
“What do you want to talk about?” she asked in that no nonsense voice she usually reserved for the twins when they were being naughty.
Teague paused a few feet from her. He shoved his hands into his pockets because he didn’t know what the hell to do with them.
“Can you turn around? I sure as hell don’t want to talk to your back.”
She slowly turned to face him and tucked a large chunk of hair behind her ear. A delicate pearl shimmered there from the late evening sun, and he dragged his gaze up to her eyes.
Damn.
It was still there. That physical connection. That need and want. And he could tell by the expression in her eyes that she felt the same.
“I called.” Lame start to the conversation.
Sabrina’s eyebrow arched. “Did you?” There was frost in her voice and he didn’t like it.
“I left a message on your phone last night.”
“Sorry. Didn’t get it.” Her voice was clipped and he swore under his breath. “My battery was dead.”
“Look, Sabrina. I… shit, have I screwed things up this badly? We can’t even talk?”
“Teague, there is no us to screw up. There never was an us. You left over two months ago and ended whatever it was that we had. And don’t get me wrong, I understood your need to go to Syria. I understood that you needed to close that chapter of your life and that finding out what happened to your friend Dallas was the only way that you could achieve that. I get that. I really do. But then you never came back. You never even tried to come back and I knew…”
He took a step closer, and she took one back.
“What did you know?” Hell if he wanted to hear this but what other choice did he have? As much as her words made him feel like shit, they were the truth.
“I knew that you were never coming back.”
“I’m here right now, Sabrina. In the flesh. Standing less than two feet from you.” His voice was loud, but he didn’t give a goddamn.
“I see you, Teague. All of you. And trust me, you’ll leave again.”
“Not going to happen. I’m not going anywhere.”
She made a strangled noise and shook her head, silent for a few moments. When she spoke again, her voice was subdued. “Can I ask you something Teague?”
He nodded.
“What if evidence came up to dispute what you found out over there? Would you go back to Syria again?”
Okay, she was twisting things and he was starting to get pissed off.
“That’s not going to happen.”