Page 106 of Trusting a Warrior

He knew she did. By her own admission, her disappointment had been fleeting.

“It was my fantasy about us sharing together in the group,” she’d said when he haltingly told her he wouldn’t be going back. “A fantasy that I’ve been trying to impose on you. This is your journey, not mine.”

Thoughts of Lani made Geo rush through the rest of his shower. They were meeting at Ari’s game tonight, the last one of a hard-fought season. She would be making cupcakes for the team, and he’d volunteered to stop off and grab some pizzas.

As he jogged to his truck and tossed his duffel in the bed, he couldn’t help but snort. Here he was, looking forward to spending his evening eating cupcakes with a bunch of ten-year-olds. Not that long ago, if anyone had suggested he’d enjoy that, he would’ve laughed and promptly dumped a beer on their head.

What had changed?

The sudden buzzing of his phone made him smile, and he swung up into the truck before opening Lani’s text.

Cupcakes done. Whaddya think?

Instead of the cupcake itself, the attached pic was a selfie. In it, she had chocolate frosting all over the tip of her nose and lips, obviously from sampling her handiwork.

A pleasant tingle went through him. Mmm. I think I have a sudden hankering to lick the spoon. And by spoon, I mean you.

She sent back a string of laughing emojis, saying, Good thing I saved us a bowl of frosting to, uh, eat later.

The tingle turned into a blaze of arousal, and Geo reached between his legs to palm himself soothingly. “Jesus. Down, boy.”

To Lani he said, You’re killing me, beautiful. Can’t wait.

As he drove, his happiness couldn’t help but dim a bit. At some point he’d have to tell her about Alex’s text, which would burst the idyllic little bubble they’d been living in these past two months, the one in which he came home every night and woke up next to her every morning.

He didn’t want it to end.

Geo clenched his fingers on the steering wheel as he reminded himself that they’d turned a corner, too. That night at Scars & Ink, he’d felt it—something had shifted between them, something good.

Sighing, he turned into the parking lot of the pizza restaurant with a resolve to make sure they talked about it tonight, after the soccer game. He wanted a future with her, and he was more than ready to make some big changes to get it.

The stack of pizza boxes made the cab of his truck smell so good, Geo couldn’t resist sneaking a slice on the way to the soccer field. When he arrived, most of the team was already there, milling around, and a cheer went up when they saw him.

“Pizza! Pizza!” they chanted, swarming the boxes when he put them down on a nearby picnic table.

He gave Renae a hug and a kiss on the cheek, then looked around for Ari. She was a short distance away from the rest of the group, seated on the grass, doing some desultory stretches. Stuffing his hands in the pockets of his jeans, he wandered in her direction.

“Hey, kiddo,” he said softly as he approached.

She glanced up at him and shrugged. “Hey.”

He dropped to sitting next to her and leaned back on his palms, his legs crossed at the ankle. “How’s it going?”

“Good.”

These pre-game talks had become their own private ritual. Mostly Ari wanted to hear about her father, and it delighted Geo to dredge up all the funny and inspiring Cade stories he hadn’t thought of in years.

How could I forget for one moment how amazing you were, bud? Because you were, and I miss you.

He waited for her to ask, but tonight Ari was quiet for a long time. Geo didn’t push, just sat next to her, letting her take the conversational lead. At last she drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around them. “Do you ever think it’s your fault?”

His breath froze in his chest. “Think what’s my fault, honey?”

“That your dad died.”

Geo paused. “My dad?” he asked carefully, wondering if he’d heard right.

“Yeah. Do you ever think it’s your fault he died?”