Page 83 of Flirting with Trouble

“What are you talking about?”

“You hit on her at Sutton’s wedding,” she reminds me.

“And at the holiday dance,” Bellamy adds.

Fuck. They’re right. She did see me in that light at first, but I have to believe Victory knows me better than that now. She knows the real me. The one I didn’t even know existed before her.

“There’s Kei!” Six-year-old Ritchie Lacroux shouts as he bursts through the crowd followed by his uncle and legal guardian Ryan. Ryan stepped in to raise Ritchie for his brother, who has a substance use disorder. Ritchie stops abruptly a few feet from Keira and starts jumping with both feet toward the bar. He has a thing for kangaroos.

Behind him, Ryan smiles, shaking his head.

Ritchie hops between Bellamy and Keira, flashing a toothy grin, and says, “Hi, Bellamy! Hi, Wells!” Then he pats Keira’s legs excitedly, beaming up at her. “I didn’t know you were here!”

“Hey, Ritchie Roo.” Keira ruffles his sandy hair. “How is my favorite customer?”

“I’m good, thanks for asking,” Ryan says, his eyes locked on Keira.

“Uncle Ryan, I’m her favorite!” Ritchie insists.

“Yeah, Uncle Ryan,” Keira teases, and we all chuckle. “There’s no competing with this cutie. What is that on your cheek, Roo? Icing?” She brushes something off Ritchie’s cheek with her thumb.

“Uh-huh! Me and Uncle Ryan shared red velvet cake!”

“You guys are cheating on my baked goods, huh?” Keira glances coyly at Ryan. “I see how you are.”

Ryan leans in and lowers his voice. “Don’t tell your brother, but it wasn’t as good as yours.”

I scoff.

“Sounds like Wells needs to up his dessert game,” Bellamy says.

“I’ll get right on that,” I say.

“You should use Keira’s bakery,” Bellamy suggests. “I can negotiate a good deal for you.”

“No,” Keira and I say in unison, earning an eye roll from Bellamy.

“Where are you off to, Roo?” Keira asks.

“Home,” Ritchie says sadly.

“We’ve got a fun night of bath time and stories ahead of us,” Ryan says. “Say goodbye, buddy.”

“I wanna stay with Kei,” Ritchie pleads.

Ryan puts his hand on Ritchie’s shoulder and says, “We can’t stay, but if you get up a little early, we can stop and see Keira at the bakery before school.”

“We can? Yes!” Ritchie pats Keira’s leg again. “Bye, Kei!” He turns to us and waves. “Bye.”

“Bye, buddy,” I say.

“See you, cutie.” Bellamy sets a serious stare on Keira and crosses her arms. “Did you see the way Ryan was looking at you? You can’t tell me he’s not into you.”

Keira rolls her eyes. “We’re friends, Bellamy. That’s it. You know what I see when I look at them?”

“The most lusted-after cop on the entire island?” Bellamy asks. “A tall drink of champagne with a body made for giving pleasure?”

“Bellamy.” I glower at her.