Page 54 of Keeping a Warrior

She waited for more, but all Aaron did was rock back and forth on his heels, his indecision just radiating off him.

“What’s on your mind, Maddox?”

Aaron blew out a long, slow breath. “Look, this really ain’t my business, but I’m just gonna say it anyway.”

Devon stiffened, her fists balling up at her sides. Was this going to be the “Stay away from my friend, you slut” speech, or the “You poor thing, don’t you know he’s still in love with someone else” one?

“Say it,” she said tersely, waves of anticipatory anger roiling in her gut.

“Whatever you’re doing with Halloran, I want you to just keep right on doing it.”

For a moment Devon wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly. “What?”

Earnestness was in every line of Aaron’s body. “My wife, Sarah, called me this morning. She’s Lani’s best friend.”

Now the wariness intensified. Were the women about to warn her off?

“And?”

“Listen. I’ve known Rhys and Lani for most of my life, and I love ’em both dearly.” He paused. “What I don’t love is them together.”

Devon had no idea what to say. “Um...”

“Rhys’s childhood was pretty shitty,” Aaron went on. “And growing up he spent most of his time at my house just to get some normalcy in his life, you know?”

Devon gave a cautious nod. “Yeah, he’s told me a little bit about that.”

Grinning, Aaron said, “See? That’s what I mean! That dude don’t tell anyone about shit. The fact he’s opening up to you at all is huge.” He punched her lightly on the shoulder in his enthusiasm.

“We just talk, though. I’m not doing anything special.” Devon gave a helpless wave of her hand. “We’re friends, Maddox. Friends talk.”

“And I don’t think Rhys has ever had a friend, a female friend, who wasn’t also Lani’s friend, too. He’s wrapped himself so completely up in her since that moment—well, that ain’t my story to tell.” He shrugged. “It’s tunnel vision, man.”

Suddenly Devon could picture it, too. A young Rhys, buffeted by the whims of the adults in his life and surrounded by unhealthy relationships, wanting to cling to the one person who made him feel safe, who made sense.

“Once Rhys decides something, he’s stubborn as fuck, too,” Aaron said. “Lani has a hard time being honest with him because she hates confrontation and half the time he doesn’t listen anyway.”

“She called him last night,” Devon told him. “I wonder why? Rhys totally wasn’t expecting it.”

A guilty look spread across Aaron’s face. “That’s my bad. I told Sarah that Rhys had a new friend that he was spending a lot of time with...a woman. She wanted to see what you look like. Remember this?”

Aaron pulled out his phone, swiped his finger across the screen a few times, then turned it so Devon could see. Her eyes widened as she stared at the picture. It was of her and Rhys at that country bar, flushed and sweaty from line dancing, sitting close together on that love seat out in the courtyard. Rhys had his arm slung along the back of it right behind her shoulders, and they were gazing into each other’s eyes, smiling.

It looked intimate and cozy, exactly like they were on a date. Devon’s cheeks heated.

“We were just having a drink and talking,” she mumbled. “What the hell, Maddox?”

He bit his lip, the guilt on his face intensifying. “I may have shown her this one, too.”

The next picture was of them sitting between those pallets on the airplane, facing each other, legs touching, deep in conversation.

“Dude, Rhys needs to see that he can have a life outside of Lani,” Aaron said. “His friendship with you is a step in the right direction, and Sarah and I are totally here for it.”

“Here for it by showing his ex pictures of me?” It was Devon’s turn to punch him on the shoulder, and she did it a lot harder than he had hit her.

Aaron flinched. “Well, that was an accident, man. Sarah was trying to show her pictures of something else and Lani saw. I guess she got real quiet, went outside, then came back in all pale and upset. She’s used to Rhys being at her beck and call, you know?”

He shook his head like he still couldn’t believe it.