Series: Like Us Series by Krista Ritchie
Total pages in book: 241
Estimated words: 236417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1182(@200wpm)___ 946(@250wpm)___ 788(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 236417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1182(@200wpm)___ 946(@250wpm)___ 788(@300wpm)
I nod a few times. “I’m proud of you.” I feel it in my chest. Pride for my friend.
He tries to smile. “I don’t think I deserve it.”
“You know, for a dancer, you’re pretty fucking terrible at giving yourself grace.”
Beckett laughs, the sound deeper, and I grin at him, laughing a little too. And I nod to him. “Don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re too limber to wear shackles, you know. No one should be chained down like that.” I can’t help but glance at the door. Where I left my ball and chain.
“Epsilon and Omega hate each other,” Beckett states.
“That obvious?”
“Since Scotland, yeah.” Beckett zeroes in on the door. “But I didn’t realize how deep it was between you and O’Malley. I thought it was a group hatred, not anything that personal.”
“He’s just a fucking prick.” I take a hotter gulp of water.
“I can ask for a new bodyguard—”
“No. Don’t. You move him ‘cause of me, he’ll throw a fit and I’ll have the rest of SFE breathing down my neck.”
He nods.
I ask, “Do you like him?”
“O’Malley?”
“Yeah.”
Beckett folds his towel. “He’s not anything like you, but he’s made time move faster when it was going too slow some nights. He was fun. Until…”
“Until he got jumped protecting you.” I feel responsible. “I’m sorry—”
“You weren’t the one with the bat,” Beckett murmurs, then pauses. “I do like him, Donnelly, but I hate what he said in the elevator. I don’t think he really even knows you.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because if he did, he’d never question how you’d treat Luna. Or your motives behind getting with her.” He lets out a laugh in thought. “I can name over a dozen situations where girls, too drunk to consent, tried getting in your pants. You gave them water. You tried calling them a cab. Sometimes they were so relentless, you were struggling to even stay at the bar without being groped, and you just took it.”
“Nah, you usually got us out of there.” Beckett did care about me. Maybe he’s right. Maybe it wasn’t to the same degree, but he noticed me. He saw, and he had the power to leave, since I only had the power to follow as his bodyguard.
He left for me.
Time and time again. He made sure I was good. I made sure he was good. It was Beckett and Donnelly Take New York. Bright, happy days. They’re not gone anymore. I can remember them.
I smile softly over at him. “So…what do you think of me and Luna? You still pissy about it?”
Beckett grins at the floor, then shakes his head. “I was so angry.”
I’m glad we can both smile about it now. “I know. You stormed out of the suit fitting like I ate all your McDonald’s french fries.”
He laughs. “Yeah, well, it felt like you moved on completely, and I’d never…have this again.” He’d never get our friendship back. “I wish I’d known earlier about you liking her.”
“I didn’t tell anyone for the longest time. It took me a while to process it, honestly. Think it was supposed to happen slowly.”
“Still,” he says, “I doubt there’s a more perfect match, for either of you. It makes so much sense in hindsight, Charlie was shocked we didn’t see it sooner.”
I forgot being close to Beckett means I get all the fun nuggets about Charlie. I grin. Yeah, knowing Charlie has likely read about the first time I fucked Luna—having the inside scoop into some of his thoughts makes me feel like a kid with a million-bucks in a candy store. I’m back on an equal playing field with the most unpredictable Cobalt.
And I’m now on stable ground with my favorite one.
When we stand up to start gathering weight plates, I hug him. Glad to have him back. I know he feels the same.
34
PAUL DONNELLY
I finish a set of chest presses. Then switch with Beckett so I can spot him during his reps, but as he slides a weight plate off the barbell, he says, “You should come to the ballet. Not as security. Just as…”
“Your hottest friend,” I smirk.
“Eliot would fight you on that.”
“I’d let him have it. We’d know the truth though.” I watch him put the heavier weight away on the rack.
He straddles the weight bench. Not lying back yet. “Really, I meant as Luna’s boyfriend. You should take her on a date to the ballet. I can get you free tickets.”
I nod in thought. “You think she’d like it?” I haven’t ever asked if she enjoys the ballet. I love the music, some pieces more than others, and I miss seeing Beckett perform.
“Yeah, I do.” He sounds assured. “We’ve never been too close, but Charlie has always had a decent read on her. He says she has a fascination with people. It’s probably easy to watch us perform and try to imagine what the fuck is going on behind the curtain.”