Page 56 of Cruz

Her lips turn up at the corner, an almost smile that I want to see tip into the real thing. “If this was an older time, I’d say I have pluck. I like that word. It’s snappy and peppy. You know exactly what it means just by the sound of it.” She brushes her hands over her arms, though she doesn’t seem cold. “God, I’m being weird. This is what happens when you take a chronically single single mom out for her first official date.”

“You’ve never been on a date before?”

“Not in so many words, no. I… no. Sort of, but not really.”

My chest constricts with that information. “I should have at least planned dinner. When’s the last time you ate something you didn’t have to cook.”

“Never? Err, there was probably one time, I just can’t remember what it was.” Her stomach growls, as if on cue. She glances down in shock, which only makes the whole thing funnier. “I guess that I’m kind of hungry. I didn’t eat much today. Or yesterday. I was pretty nervous.”

“Me neither.” I wish that I could have done this without crashing into her life and making things hard for her. Awkward. Without causing her to feel even a second of stress.

She can see my turmoil and sets her hand on my thigh. “That’s life. I have no regrets. Well… not major ones.” She blinks. “I love it out here, but is your ass getting numb?”

My laugh echoes out into the night. “I guess that it is, now that I think about it.”

“It doesn’t matter how uncomfortable I am. Not if you’re right beside me, but—we could… go to that diner that you were talking about before. The one on the edge of Hart. Get a burger.”

“Your comfort matters to me,” I assure her. “It definitely matters.” I shift around, kneeling to gather up the blanket and get out of the truck bed so that I can offer my hand to help her down.

I catch her wincing in my direction. “Holy shit, I can hear your joints popping.”

It doesn’t stop me from getting down. I set the blanket on the tailgate so I can offer her both hands. She takes one, her smaller palm locked with mine, and sets the other on my shoulder so she can brace herself to jump. I’m still right there, lifting her as she takes that step off the tailgate, steadying her after she jumps and once her feet hit the ground.

“They get like this. Wait until you hit forty.”

She keeps her hand in mine, her eyes dancing with laughter. “You work out way too much to be creaky. It was the truck. Your poor spine and your knee.”

“You were right there too.”

She laughs. “I was. You’re right. It’s pretty hard.” She shoots up on her tiptoes and kisses my cheek before I can express any regret that I took on this poorly padded, spine crushing date. “I loved it. Thank you for bringing me out here. And… thanks for the future dinner.”

Whatever aches and pains I might have had spark to life and flood with heat at the warmth in her eyes. “I’m well lived in, Sloane. That’s only going to get truer as the years go on.”

She grabs the blanket off the tailgate and drapes it around my shoulders. She’s the one who holds the edges and tugs it tight, stepping into the warm circle of my arms so that she’s enfolded in yarn and me. “I like well lived in,” she whispers before she kisses me.

Chapter 19

Cruz

I’ve just finished laying out mats when Liam finds me in the gym. He walks in, casual, with his hands in his sweats, but he’s wearing his gym shoes and a t-shirt, dressed like he’s going to participate today.

My pulse spikes. Liam hasn’t come here since that night that Sloane told him about us. While he hasn’t given her a hard time, she let me know two nights ago over those burgers at Patterson’s, that Liam followed through and asked Tyrant for a room at the clubhouse.

I came to the gym early and went through extra stretches, working out any residual soreness still lingering in my knee, and warming up. It’s quiet, but that won’t last forever. In less than an hour, the gym will be full, and even if it’s not, the clubhouse will start waking up and coming to life as guys either emerge from their rooms or roll in.

I can’t help but brace myself. If Liam wants to give kicking my ass a go, that’s fair, but I’d like to be prepared so that he doesn’t do any damage to my knee if he takes my legs out. Just because I won’t fight back doesn’t mean that I won’t protect myself to some extent.

“My mom has a look,” Liam says. His voice is soft. Surprising. His eyes wander around the gym, refusing to land on me. “I didn’t know what it was until she told me about you. My mom would never keep a secret from anyone that would hurt them, but if you give her information that you absolutely needed to get off your chest and you ask her not to tell a soul, she’d do that. I realize what it looks like now, when she’s interested in someone. I should have seen it all along. I used to work at a nightclub. I just… she’s my mom. I’ve never seen her look at anyone before. She lights up when you’re around, or when she mentions you. She’s happy. I’ve already said that I’m not gonna stand in the way of that, but I’ve been avoiding you.” He digs the toe of his shoe into the shiny hardwood by one of the mats. “Sorry. I wasn’t trying to punish you. I wanted to think and get shit straight in my head.”

“I know.” I want to clap him on the shoulder and assure him that everything will be fine. That we’re all good, but I can sense that he’s not finished yet.

“If it’s anyone, I’m glad it’s you… I guess.” He does tack the last bit on a little grudgingly. “I’m not jealous of you taking Mom’s attention. I just want you to promise me that you’re gonna treat her right.”

“I’ll give everything I have to make it work in any way that your mom wants for us. I’ll do my best to make her happy.”

Liam snorts, but when he looks at me, I see that it’s not derision. He’s amused. “Mom knows how to look after her own happiness. She’s worked hard to find that. Don’t crush it, or I promise, I’ll do whatever it takes to crush you. That said, you guys break up and it’s mutual, I know there might be some hard feelings and some hurt. But truly hurt her? We’ll have an issue then. I don’t care how big you are or how much older, or how much I like you and respect you. We’re finished if you ever do anything like that.”

I take that seriously and thrust out my hand, gravely. Liam stares at it, then his eyes whip up to my face.