"Not happening," I chime in, quickly shutting that down.
"Britt already told him no. Said it wasn't for her," Maverick adds.
I can't help but grin. Britt's the easiest teenager in the world. It's hard to believe no one ever took the time to love her. It's everyone else's loss.
"You want to meet some of Dane's friends?" Rain asks Tria.
"Actually, I'm about to go. I've got some work to do on my new line. I just came by to see you. I'll call you later, though."
Rain frowns, but she lets her sister walk away. Tria offers a few weak smiles on her way out the door, and I feel bad that she's so uncomfortable around my family.
"You guys have to start trying harder," Rain scolds as soon as Corbin walks in, his mouth full of cheese and crackers.
"What'd I do?" he asks, his voice muffled by the food, and he raises his arms.
"Tria is scared to damn death of all of you. I want us all to be close."
"Hey, I've invited her out with us, and she turned me down," Maverick says, pouting a little as though his oversized ego is wounded.
"Of course she said no. She's terrified of you. You have to show her the sweet Maverick that tried taping Mr. Harrison's cat's tail back on, even though the crazed thing tried to claw you to pieces."
"He did cut its tail off, so it had a reason to be clawing him up," Corbin chirps, prompting a few laughs.
Maverick turns his glare on him. "I didn't do that. It was you."
From there, the cat-tail bobbing goes into a heated dispute of it was you, no it was you. Rain rolls her eyes and sits down when she sees it's a lost cause.
She resumes her place on my lap, and I sigh happily as chatter erupts everywhere. It's easy to ignore the rest of the world when I've got exactly who I want in my arms. It's even easier when she's looking at me the way I only ever thought I'd get to dream about.
I used to wake up thinking I was happy enough. Now I could rewrite the Webster Dictionary's definition to the word happy.
Thunder crackles outside, and everyone stops talking.
"Ah, hell. Is it really going to rain today?" Maverick groans.
I can't help but grin when Rain gets giddy in my lap. Nothing better than a rainy day.
The End.
Coming Next in The Sterling Shore Series, Loving War. Sneak peek available.
Chapter One
Kode
Maverick and Corbin are completely wasted, and while I'm entertained, I'm also incredibly annoyed. They'll end up in jail tonight. No doubt about it.
I laugh as one of the girls rolls her eyes and walks away from Maverick after whatever he whispered in her ear. He holds his hands up, confused by her walk-off response.
He recovers quickly and finds a new girl to stalk, so I return to sipping my beer and scanning the scene. I came out tonight to have fun, and all I've done is think about Rain being with Dane. I know he's the one she wants, but it doesn't make it any easier to fucking swallow.
We drove all the way to come to a bar where the women didn't know the two idiots I call cousins. They've really ruined their chances of picking up women in Sterling Shore. Not even Rain can save them anymore.
Rain. Fuck. I have to stop thinking about her, and everything I think about is somehow tied to her. There's nothing I can say, do, or even think that doesn't trigger some sort of connection to the girl I chased for too many years. I need to get drunk. And I need a distraction... a female distraction. Someone who doesn't look the least little bit like the girl who refuses to leave my dreams.
As the beers keep coming, I get a little drunker. The drunker, the better. It'll numb my mind.
My distraction serves itself up on a mouthwatering platter. Dark hair that touches a small waist, crossed tan legs that are beautifully exposed, and a tight little short dress catches my eyes. That'll fucking do.