Madly

Chapter Eight

He’d counted on that fight being harder; an observation not to be mistaken for complaint. Rowyn’s defenses were down; at least for this moment, this night and he planned to take full advantage of the fact that his banishment to the friend zone had been lifted. He said a silent prayer that it wasn’t temporary.

The banter, the chatter and the excitement came to a sudden halt and the only sound that registered in his ears was each inhalation and exhalation of her breath. The skin at the base of her neck was as smooth as porcelain and smelled like flowers and coconut. He traced a fingertip across her shoulder and down her arm. “Hey, Row?”

“Yeah?”

“I accept your surrender on one condition.”

She didn’t turn to look at him, instead facing straight ahead, no doubt with an impassive expression on her face. “What’s that?”

“That it isn’t temporary. Don’t wake up tomorrow and have a longer, more ridiculous list of rules I need to follow to be your friend. Friends won’t work.”

Silence.

“Rowyn?”

Silence.

“Say something,” he said.

“I accept what is. Whatever is going to happen, will happen. I haven’t even known you that long and this thing between us, it’s already so—” she paused in search of the right words.

“Hard to ignore.”

“Exactly,” she said. “When I started to purposely not think about you, it’s like my brain rebelled and wired itself to think about you every second.”

Perfect.

“Can I ask you something else?” 

“Sure.”

“What changed your mind so fast? I thought that it was going to be a long and grueling uphill battle.”

She shifted enough that he could see her profile. “You said yesterday that denying myself happiness must be exhausting. Well, you’re right. I’m tired of being tired, I guess. I don’t want to do it anymore. I want to have what other people have.” She pointed to where Copeland and Drew sat. Rather than occupy a chair, Drew was on the ground, his back resting against a tree trunk, with Copeland positioned between his outstretched legs. Her back was against his chest her head resting on his shoulder, turned in toward him. They appeared to be engaged in some kind of deep conversation. “Look at how he’s looking at her.”

He looked but before he could see whatever it was that Rowyn did, Copeland’s Grandmother blocked the view. She had a shawl draped across her shoulders and she pointed to the grill.  “The food is ready. No one leaves our barbecues hungry.”

Wes waited for her to Rowyn to move from his lap before he rose to his feet and secured a hand around her waist.

“Thank you so much for having us,” he said to Copeland’s Grandma. “This is amazing.”

“Any friend of my granddaughter’s is family to us. You two go on. Look at this one,” she gestured to Rowyn’s frame. “You should fatten up. Take two steaks.”

Wes laughed. He wasn’t sure how Drew had stumbled across this group of people but it was obviously good for him. It was impossible not to like them. An exception could be made for the stern looking woman in the corner but Copeland had said she was the aunt that everyone avoided. She stood like she thought she was royalty but the rest of the family was relaxed. The atmosphere nearly as zen as it could possibly be and Copeland definitely suited Drew.