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I squeeze Octavia against me. “Will you ask her about it?”
“I can try.” She shrugs. “She’s been avoiding me lately.”
Shit. “Any idea why?”
“Maybe it’s just an age thing? I kinda think my sis went through a similar phase. But you should talk to Mary, make sure nothing’s the matter.”
I will.
I vow that’s exactly what I’m gonna do tomorrow. It hurts to think my daughter is upset about something and won’t tell me, but I’m getting to the bottom of this. I’ll fix the problem, although Octavia is right, it has to be a phase.
And I’m damn well gonna check the messages on Mary’s phone. If she has a boyfriend, he’ll have to go through me before he as much as speaks her name again, and that’s a fact.
Tomorrow.
“You feeling up to dinner?” I dip my head, and she looks up, her lips parting. I kiss her, sweeping my tongue over her lips, to taste her sweetness. When I break the kiss, we’re both panting.
“I’m starving.” She smiles, her eyes going heavy-lidded. She licks her lips and damn, I want to keep kissing her all night. “Where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
* * *
We collect a strangely quiet Mary on our way out, and then Gigi, Merc and Octavia’s mom join us. Gigi hugs her sister and starts to chatter about the dean and the students and the weather and just about anything one could possibly talk about. I swear, the girl doesn’t need to breathe.
Merc shoots me a long-suffering look, and I grin back at him. Boy has grown into a fine man over the past few years, his white-blond hair falling in those blue eyes the whole Watson family shares, although Octavia’s are the prettiest by far.
Not that I’m biased or anything.
“Have you guys seen Kaden and Hailey?” I ask them, but they shake their heads. That nagging worry is back in my chest, and even as I shove it ruthlessly back down, my heart starts pounding, my breathing coming too fast.
Shit. I lift my phone to call, see what held them up, and find the battery dead. That’s probably it, I think. Kaden tried to call and tell me that something came up, but my phone’s dead.
And then I see them as we head toward our car. They wave and smile, and my racing heart finally slows down.
“Where have you been?” I grumble when Kaden grabs my arm in a bro-shake and pats my back. “You missed the ceremony.”
“We caught the tail end of it. Not sorry about missing all the speeches, though.” He winks at me and I deflate, all my anger and worry going out like a candle. I can never stay mad at my brother for long.
“Shawn and Ashley okay?”
“Yeah, they’re fine. Watching a Disney movie with Mom.”
“Good, good. Let’s go eat.” I haul Octavia to my side, my arm wrapped around her slender shoulders. “See you there.”
“Hey, Matt.”
I stop, turn to shoot him a questioning look, something in his voice bringing me up short. “What?”
Kaden rubs the back of his neck, and fuck, that nervous gesture isn’t promising anything good. “Just something I need to talk to you about. Later.”
“What? Kade, come on, don’t leave me hanging like this, you know I hate it.” That’s an understatement. “Is it family-related? Is it the Mancave?”
Octavia burrows closer to my side, taking off her Oxford cap, her blue eyes wide. “Is everything okay?”
Dammit. Last thing I want is for her to worry.
“It’s nothing that bad, I swear. Let’s go.” Kaden flashes us a quick smile, the bastard, and reaches for Hailey’s hand. “See you at the restaurant.”
