Between Then and Now by Rebecca Young Page B

when he walked back into
their bedroom a few minutes later, wearing nothing but a towel.
Beads of water rolled down his bulked up chest and clung to the
rectangular patch of dark hair on his still flat abdomen. The
shower might have been physically cleansing, but his shoulders
still sagged under the weight of whatever was on his
mind.
    She knew what that felt like.
    “ Dinner ready?” His words were slow
and careful, like he was trying hard not to piss her off. Like he
needed to walk on eggshells around her. Damn.
    She crossed the room and slid her arms around
his waist, pressing her face against the damp, warm skin over his
spine. “It’s been a long year, eh?”
    “ Sure has.”
    “ Did it all used to be easier?”
Under her fingers, his abdominal muscles flexed, but he didn’t
respond right away. After a long silence, he took a deep breath and
twisted to pull her around to his front.
    “ It was so long ago, babe, I don’t
know either of us can rightly say.” He kissed her forehead. “I get
that you want to talk, but we gotta have dinner and get to Kaylie’s
hockey game, right?”
    She nodded numbly. Never enough
time. 

Chapter Two
     
    She fell
asleep in Drew’s room that night, and by the weekend, they’d both
been making such an effort to be thoughtful and considerate that
when the kids were dropped off at his parents, it seemed a shame to
bring the mood down with a heavy talk, so they headed to Danny’s to
catch up with friends. Her closest friend, Karen Miller, was
chatting at the bar with Evan West, who had been in Ian’s grade in
high school, so Carrie left the men to catch up for a minute and
went in search of drinks. Karen joined her.
    “ Where’s everyone else?”
    Karen craned her neck to the back of the pub.
“Ty is back there somewhere making out with his chickie of the
week. Evie and Dale were here for a few minutes, but he threw a
temper tantrum when Evan showed up, so they left.”
    There was no love lost between
either woman and their friend’s husband, whom they had long
suspected was unfaithful. How anyone could cheat on Evie, who was
funny and smart and drop-dead gorgeous, was beyond them. But Dale
also pushed their buttons by being extra possessive of his wife,
particularly around her high-school boyfriend, Evan.
    Which made no sense, because Evan was pretty
openly gay.
    But Dale was a douche, and logic wasn’t a
factor.
    Besides, despite having a good week, she
really wasn’t one to judge other relationships when her own might
be in a precarious position itself.
    Before long, the table had filled, and when
Ian caught up, he pulled a chair up right behind her and leaned
forward, sharing her space. His breath was hot and distracting on
the side of her neck, and though he seemed to be paying attention
to the conversation, his fingers were busy in the wavy tangle of
hair cascading from her low ponytail.
    It had been too long since she’d had his
attention like this. She eased her hands backward through the slats
of her chair and reached for his legs, reciprocating the gentle
touch. Before long, he’d lifted all of her hair into a twisted bun,
and his fingers were resting on bare skin at the top of her
spine.
    Prickly awareness coursed down and out from
that hot contact, and she was halfway to proposing they sneak off
to the restrooms when he shifted his hand sideways and squeezed her
neck, holding the possessive position for a few beats before
bringing his lips to the curve of her ear. “Let’s get out of here,
angel.”
    They quickly made their goodbyes, and a quiet
thrill danced through her heart that Ian held her close until they
got back to their SUV, where he held her even closer and pressed
home a kiss that promised more to come at the end of their short
drive.
    Ian drove, and she was grateful for the
automatic transmission that allowed their fingers to remain tangled
even as Ian nudged the vehicle into drive. The silence was
comfortable and warm, and she was torn on