3. Lake

LAKE

I was a damn liar.

I'd told myself I was okay and that I didn't need him. And I finally got to tell him that to his face too. So why did it feel wrong? Why when I watched him with the guys as I talked to the ladies did I want to scream that it wasn't true?

Nope, I couldn't risk letting him back into my life.

There was a big problem though. The women and kids that Stormi and I had met were wonderful. We both yearned for more connections even if we both put on a brave face like soldiers on the front line ready to take on anything that came our way.

But a front line had more than two soldiers and it would be damn nice to have more people on our side. If it was just us we would survive, but I didn't want that for my daughter. She deserved more.

But… if we were around them, then Bronson would be around too.

How long would I be able to keep my walls up and my heart safe?

Was your heart ever safe when it came to Bronson?

"I'm so glad you decided to come back," said the woman introduced to me as Capri.

She was the one at the crime scene that brought the man himself back into my life. In fact, Bronson had put his life on the line to protect her. While growing up, he'd always had a protective instinct and that seemed to have only grown by leaps and bounds. He was my protector for years.

What would it feel like to have that again?

"You helped Bronson and I am so thankful for that," Capri went on. "I can't imagine if he hadn't made it after safeguarding me and my unborn child."

What could I say to that?

As hard as it was seeing Bronson again and having past feelings dredged up that I worked to shove down brought to the surface, I would never want anything to happen to him. Seeing him hurt had emotionally killed me.

Thankfully I didn't have to say anything because Ruby chimed in on another topic. Only issue, it was one I didn't really want to think about either.

"The guys can really help you and Stormi if you're having problems. They help many people, it's what they are built for. And when it's one of their own, they will go above and beyond."

My eyes widened in surprise. "I'm not—"

Ruby took two fingers and slid them across her lips in a zipping motion. "The moment you showed up at Alley's that night, you were one of us."

I opened my mouth and closed it when Alley decided it was her turn to speak her mind. I remembered the raven-haired badass from that night at her house. She'd stood at the back of the ambulance with a purple baseball bat in hand. There was an air about her that said, ‘Don't fuck with me.' I liked her immediately.

"Don't argue, you won't win." Her tone left no room for debate, but her smile was still warm and welcoming. "I think you'll fit right in. Stormi too. And just maybe…" She waggled her brows and looked across the yard.

My gaze followed hers and my breath hitched in my throat.

Bronson was running with the kids, making monster noises that had them all giggling in glee. He'd swoop one up, then the next. When he got to Stormi, the pure joy on her face had my heart racing.

I closed my eyes for a second to get my bearings. How many times had I wished for a moment just like that between Bronson and my baby girl?

"See something you like?" Alley whispered in my ear, causing me to turn and look at her.

"I can't go there again." They may not have all known my story but it was obvious after my outburst a while ago that we had a past. "It hurt too much when I was sixteen. Now I have Stormi to think about too."

She cocked her head to the side, watching me for a second and said something I wasn't expecting her to reveal since we'd just met.

"My husband was the love of my life. I was just a kid back then too." She glanced over my shoulder and I assumed she was looking at Landon, the man I'd met earlier. The adoring gleam in her eyes didn't leave room for it to be anyone else. "Some people may not understand that it is possible to find our soulmates so early in our life and understand love, but they're fools."

When she said soulmates, I froze. That was always how I'd thought of Bronson.

"When I lost our baby," she went on, her words making me gasp as tears sprung to my eyes. "I let Landon go. I hurt him and myself in the process. I'd been a fool. I'm thankful every single day that we got a second chance and that he forgave me."

This strong as steel woman's voice cracked a bit, showing her soft side. The other ladies came up behind her as a united front and some reached out to touch her back.

God, I wanted that.

Could this group be that for me and my daughter?

"This could be your second chance if you just let yourself forgive. But whatever you decide, you have us, always."

Next thing I knew, Landon was upon us, wrapping his arm around his wife and kissing her on the temple. "I think I need a moment with my wife, please excuse us," he said to the group before dragging her away.

"I'm so damn happy those two finally got their shit together because there was never a doubt they belonged together," Summer said as all the other ladies nodded their heads in agreement.

There was more to the story than she'd told me but I had a feeling all the women had stories I would really like to hear.

"I can see what you're thinking as you look at us," Ruby said. "You're right, we all have some pretty wild stories. How about we grab another drink and share?"

Hearing about them sounded good to me, but I wasn't one for opening up right away so I hoped they wouldn't be too disappointed that I didn't offer up much about myself.

"I'd love that," I told her.

Every couple"sstory reminded me of some romantic suspense novel.

Each of them could be made into books for sure. I'd learned Alley was a romance author so she could very well tell her own story as well as her friends' and have best sellers with every book she wrote. Not that she wasn't already a best seller, which was crazy to think about.

All the women were amazing in their own right, and in the blink of an eye, I found myself connecting with each one of them.

Capri came up beside me and nudged her shoulder with mine ."Sorry if I made you uncomfortable earlier talking about Bronson. He's done so much for me. All of us really and we've become really close friends." She laughed a little. "My husband might be a tad jealous if he didn't already know I was over the moon and only had eyes for him."

I stamped down the ugly green monster that rose to the surface. Why would I be jealous? Capri and her husband, Paxton, were madly in love. Besides, Bronson wasn't mine. It had more to do with how close they were as friends. With my best friend.

He isn't your best friend anymore.

"It will never be what you two had. Something tells me the connection you and Bronson had was pretty damn special." She gave my shoulder another nudge. "It's not my place to tell you what to do but he came back into your life. Maybe there's a reason for that."

It's like the woman could read my mind. In fact, a couple of the others had done that throughout the day. Their men may have been former military who now run a security company and a lawyer who could easily read people but I wasn't sure that any of the men had anything on their woman.

All of them together were a force to be reckoned with.

"Alley writes second chance romance all the time and it's one of my favorite tropes. But it happens in real life. Alley and Brinley are both examples of that."

They were damn fabulous examples of that for sure. But…

"Maybe it's your turn for a second chance."

Was Capri right?

I looked over at Bronson laughing with the guys and the deep, rich sound evoked desire in me I wasn't prepared for or anything I'd felt before. Well, that wasn't true. I had felt it but only with one person. Bronson. Only now as adults it felt more powerful and made me squirm where I stood.

"He is handsome. All the men are and make quite a sight," Capri said with a sigh.

"Are you ogling our men?" Teal asked, as she and the other ladies joined us.

"Can you blame us?" Capri teased.

"Hell no," Brinley added. "They are all fine specimens, even if Rowan is the hottest."

A throat cleared behind us and we all whipped around.

Obviously all the men were not in one spot because my gaze landed on Gyth who'd come out of the house quiet as a mouse. For a big guy he sure could sneak up on someone.

He raised a brow, a smirk on his face. Then he looked at his wife, Summer. "I better not catch you checking out all those yahoos over there or you'll feel a warning on your sweet ass when we get home."

It was a good thing the kids were off playing and hadn't heard that, but I was sure he knew that since I'd seen him glance around before the words spilled from his mouth. He gave Summer a smacking kiss on the mouth.

"Carry-on, ladies." Then he headed to the group of guys.

When he got there, he said something to all of them and they all whipped their heads in our direction.

Patience giggled. "Looks like you all might be feeling it on your backsides tonight."

She'd been fairly quiet all day so I was shocked to hear her say what she had. The other ladies almost looked relieved that she spoke and I wondered what that was about, but then we all burst into a fit of laughter.

"I see you girls are up to trouble," came another voice. "Good for you, it keeps your men on their toes," Ruby's Gramps said before making his way toward the kids.

That man was something else and Ruby was lucky to have him still in her life. Jurnee's parents had stopped by for a bit and they were wonderful too. A touch of melancholy hit me thinking about the loss of the amazing parents that took me in the day I was born.

I was lucky to be alive, left at birth in a basket by the lake. But I'd also been fortunate to have two of the kindest souls find me and love me like they had. Thinking of them also brought memories of two other people that had been my rocks growling up. Bronson and his father. And with that came guilt. I hadn't told Bronson I was sorry about his father's passing. All I had done was yell at him.

Emotions were a bitch.

Looking over at Bronson again, our eyes met and I felt the same pull he always had on me down to my toes. He was amazing to look at as a boy, but all grown up, he was drool-worthy for sure.

I'd already noticed the increase in muscles that I was sure would be even more breathtaking if he wasn't wearing clothes. Just at the thought, my cheeks heated and I saw Bronson raise a brow as if he noticed. That made them flame more.

I looked away for a second but then as if a beacon, my gaze zeroed back in on him. His tanned skin, dark hair, masculine face splattered with sexy scruff, and those warm, hypnotizing, green eyes were reeling me in like a fish caught on the end of a line. And the tats. Oh my, those were hot. He glanced at something the guys were saying and I sighed.

"Girl, you may be angry and I don't blame you after what you told us, but it's clear you really like what you see," Capri said. "My guess is your lady bits are tingling."

I'd just taken a sip of a much-needed drink of soda after taking in Bronson but spit it everywhere at her words. In a very non-ladylike way, it sprayed from my mouth like a sprinkler and right out my nose as well.

She wasn't wrong about the lady bits, but I didn't expect someone to call me on it. Capri slapped my back a couple of times as I choked and the others who overheard cackled. I looked up at Bronson who had a knowing smile on his face. Could he really tell how he was affecting me?

And damn him for that smile that was always hard to resist.

I was holding onto my anger whether he liked it or not.

Quickly, I turned away and looked at Capri to give her shit. She was studying me closely, her laughter dying all of a sudden. Did I have something on my face? What the heck?

"I've been trying to figure out all day why you seemed so familiar and I should have noticed it from the start, but it just hit me."

I was thoroughly confused.

"From the hospital maybe?" I asked her.

"Nope, that's not it. You look like my therapist, River."

River? That was weird. Capri must have thought so too because then she said what I was thinking.

"It's so strange the similarities and don't you think it's odd that you both have bodies of water for a name? Don't get me wrong, I love your names, but what are the chances of such a coincidence and looking alike too?"

That was very strange. "Umm, I'm not sure but I was adopted and don't have a biological family." Even while I said it, my mind was racing with questions and surprise that I'd felt comfortable enough to divulge something personal about myself.

Capri opened her mouth but my phone rang and she stopped what she was about to say.

"Sorry it's work, I need to grab this," I announced after pulling my cell from my shorts pocket and glancing at the screen.

I hit the button to accept and put the phone to my ear. "Hey, Dave, is everything okay?"

When he told me why he called, an unnerving sensation rippled through me.

Not again.