Hold Me

“Nick, huh?” Larissa teased. “You have a thing?”

Consuelo rolled her eyes. “Do you even know who he is?”

“He’s the manager of The Man Cave.”

Consuelo groaned. “Have you ever met him?”

Larissa laughed. “No, and why does that matter? What if they have a romantic thing going on? Don’t you want to hear their story? How they met, and how they fell in love?”

Destiny waited for a snappy comeback. Consuelo surprised her by sighing. “You know what? I would like to hear it. Which is horrifying. I used to be so tough.”

“You still scare me,” Bailey told her.

“Really? You’re not just saying that?”

“I promise.”

“Can we get back to Madeline and Nick, please?” Patience asked. “So how long have you two been going out?”

Madeline stretched out her arms on the table and rested her head on them. “I give,” she mumbled. “Someone shoot me. Or her. I don’t care which.”

“You do care,” Larissa told her. “So what’s Nick like?”

Everyone laughed. Madeline straightened.

“Nick is one of the Mitchell brothers,” she said. “Their father is a glass-blowing artist.”

“Ceallach Mitchell,” Bailey told everyone. “He’s world famous. His pieces are exhibited everywhere.” She turned to Starr. “I work for the mayor. I have to know these things.”

“Does he live here?” the teen asked.

“He does. With his wife. Two of his sons are still in town.” Bailey frowned. “Is that right?”

“Yes,” Patience said firmly. “Del left years ago. He was in college, and there was this girl, Maya. They were totally in love and then she left and he left, but not together. I’m between them in age, so it was all very exciting. She wasn’t from around here. Then there’s Aidan. He’s in Fool’s Gold. He runs the family tour business. Nick is in the middle. He’s the one with the artistic talent, like his dad, only he doesn’t work with glass anymore. I have no idea why. Then the twins.”

Destiny’s head was spinning, and she hadn’t had any of her margarita yet. “How do you keep this all straight?”

“I live here. It’s not hard.” Patience grinned at Madeline. “Are you the reason Nick lost his ability to create? Did you wound him?”

“We had one summer,” Madeline protested. “Years ago. We were seniors in high school, and it was hot and heavy and then it ended. Nick created this big glass piece, and I remember being terrified because I thought maybe it was going to be about us or sex or him taking my virginity, but it wasn’t. It was trees. So I was fine.”

Madeline pressed her lips together then cleared her throat. She turned to Starr. “Sorry. I probably shouldn’t talk about that in front of you. We were in love, but still. Not married. Bad me.”

Starr smiled. “I know people have sex and that it’s supposed to be romantic, but it still sounds kind of gross to me.”

“It is,” Madeline said quickly. “Very gross. Not something you want to be doing.”

Jo appeared with the margaritas. As they were passed around, Destiny thought that the group of women was very welcoming. A little out there, but when it came to friendship, that was okay.

She was grateful Starr didn’t seem to be in a hurry to fall in love. Or have sex. That was a complication neither of them needed.

Honestly, she’d never understood the appeal of getting so lost in another person that you totally went crazy. What was the point? Take Kipling. Sure he was a nice guy and good-looking. While she didn’t get the whole ski-at-the-speed-of-sound thing, she respected that he’d had a dream and had worked to achieve it. Hard work made sense to her.

But throwing herself in front of him and begging to be taken? Why? Yes, she liked thinking about him, and being around him was nice, too. And she wouldn’t go so far as to think touching him would be gross. But thinking about kissing wasn’t the same as sex at all. She was very clear on that. She could enjoy Kipling’s company and admire his body and not have sex with him. She wasn’t some wild animal.

“So you’re saying no sparks with Nick,” Larissa said.

“Not anymore.”

Shelby smiled at Destiny. “I’m totally lost. You?”

“Pretty much, but in a good way. Sounds like life here is interesting.”

“It is,” Shelby assured her. “I’ve enjoyed it.”

“You have a hot brother,” Patience announced. “Not that I’m the least bit interested. I’m married to the best guy in the world, and he’s fabulous. I’m simply noting that Kipling is hot from an intellectual place. I am allowed to observe things.”

Consuelo groaned. “Even you can’t be drunk that fast. You’ve had two sips.”

“I know, but I haven’t eaten today.”

“Lightweight,” Consuelo grumbled, but her tone was affectionate.

Destiny was more interested in her conversation with Shelby. If Kipling had told anyone about who she was, it would have been his sister. But Shelby didn’t give the slightest hint that she was the least bit intrigued by Destiny’s parents.

“Kipling might be hot,” Shelby said. “But sometimes he’s annoying—he has this burning need to fix things. Not every situation needs fixing. But aside from that, he’s basically a good guy.” She brightened. “And single. Anyone want to date him?”

Everyone looked at Destiny and Madeline, which made Destiny realize they were the only single adult women at the table.

Madeline held up both hands. “I’m not interested. He and I have met, and there’s no chemistry.”

Destiny thought about her sensible plan and knew she didn’t want to get into that with anyone else. She’d discovered that most people simply didn’t understand her reasoning. Of course most people hadn’t grown up with her parents.

“I’m only in town for a couple of months.”

Patience raised her eyebrows. “You notice Destiny didn’t say anything about a lack of chemistry.”

Shelby laughed. “You can say he’s hot. It’s okay. I won’t read anything into it.”

“Thank you. He’s hot.”

Patience sipped her margarita. “There are a lot of hot guys in town. It’s interesting. And nice for us.”

“My husband is totally dreamy,” Larissa said with a sigh. “That body.” She paused as everyone looked at her. “TMI?”

Patience pointed to Starr and raised her eyebrows.

Larissa nodded. “So, um, Starr, who’s hot in your world? You’re what? Seventeen?”