Page 144 of Contentious

“Ty and I will go with Isla,” Cresley said, “so she doesn’t have to be alone.”

“I don’t mind at all if you want to be with Carson,” Isla said.

Cresley was torn.

“Go ahead with Isla, Cres,” Carson said. “We’ll be right behind you.”

“Promise me you’ll ask Julian to stop if you need to.”

“I promise.” He kissed her cheek. “I’ll see you back at home. We can go to your house, if you want.”

“Not ready to go back there.”

“Let’s go to my place,” Carson said. “Isla’s house will be a crime scene.”

“Yes, please. That would be good.”

“We’ll get your stuff as soon as the cops let us in,” Julian said.

Cresley nodded. “Thank you.” She hugged Carson gently. “Don’t get hurt on the way home, you got me?”

“Yeah, babe. I’ll behave. I promise.”

She was almost afraid to let go of him.

“Everything’s okay now,” he whispered as he kissed her cheek and then her lips. “All good in the hood.”

She left him with a wan smile and went to help Ty into Julian’s G-Wagon.

“We need gas,” Carson said to Julian.

“First stop.”

“What a fucking couple of weeks,” Carson said as they led Isla to the interstate twenty minutes later.

“No shit, huh? What now?”

“Ty wants us to be a family.”

“How do you feel about that?”

“Better than expected. I’ve become quite attached to both of them.”

“Funny how that happens when you’re not looking, huh?”

Carson turned his head to look at his brother. “Feels like everything is changing. You’re with Isla. I’ve got this thing with Cres. Griff’s got a kid. Mom and Dad are back together.”

“That’s life, right? Don’t get too comfortable.”

“It feels kind of… out of control.”

Julian laughed. “That it does, my friend, but it’s the best thing to ever happen to me. Nothing else is even close.”

“I’m starting to see what you mean.”

He laughed harder this time. “I bet you are. For what it’s worth, I think she’s great, and Ty is, too.”

“Ty is the best kid I’ve ever met.”