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His hands were heavy on my head as he clutched me against his chest, and I realized he was afraid. I pulled away and after a brief hesitation, he let me.
“Vander, honey, I’m okay. I’m not upset, just stuck.”
His dark brows knit together, and he peered at me carefully. Turning, he shrugged out of his coat and draped it over the arm of the couch, then pulled me down to straddle his lap. He gripped my hips firmly then ran his hands down to my buttocks and pulled me closer, his worried eyes scanning my face.
I tangled my fingers in his hair that had grown just long enough to curl over his collar.
“Yesterday, when I went to Spuds, I felt a little jittery. It didn’t alarm me overmuch because I’m aware that I’ve been struggling with all the recent changes.”
He nodded, waiting for me to continue.
“I closed up early, picked up the boys from school, then headed over to see Yiayia. Here, at home, I was quite happy making dinner for us knowing it was the first of many.”
He smiled at that, and his face began to relax. His fingers lost their death grip on my ass, and he began to knead my curves.
“Did you go in this morning?” He asked, his deep voice soothing.
“Nope.” I shook my head. “As soon as I went to step through the door, I hit a glass wall. I must have looked like one of those mimes.” I guffawed. “It was crazy. I did my calming routine, tried again, but couldn’t do it. I called Minty and asked her to put the sign back up on the door, then she showed up here fifteen minutes later.”
Vander’s eyebrows rose. “She did? Wasn’t she at work?”
“Yup.”
He smiled. “She’s a good friend to you, isn’t she?”
Tears hit my eyes, and I sniffed. “Yeah, she is. I didn’t realize how good a friend until today. And a little while after she got here, Amber showed up.”
“She called her?”
“No!” I laughed. “Amber went by Spuds to see me and when she saw the sign she headed straight here.”
“Why are you laughing?”
“I don’t really know.” I shrugged. “I guess I just don’t feel alone.”
His arms tightened around me, and he pressed his face between my breasts. His back expanded with his deep inhale. “You’re never going to be alone.”
I ran my hands through his curls and lightly scratched his scalp, then pressed my nose against his hair and breathed him in.
“They told me I need to ask for help, and not do everything the hard way. When they left, I did a lot of thinking about my choices, and how I always thought I chose the safe option. I didn’t. I sabotaged myself.”
He kissed my breastbone and leaned back against the couch again where he could meet my eyes.
“Then I tried to go out again, still couldn’t do it, so, I called you.” I finished simply, then shrugged a little self-consciously.
He looked at the time. “I’m glad you called me.” With his hands on my hips, he pushed me up off his lap. “Grab your coat and we’ll go pick up Jace and go out for dinner. We can swing by and check on Spuds if you want.”
I grabbed my coat and purse.
“Do you want to go to West End Diner or take him somewhere else? Will we have Alex with us today?” Vander asked reaching for my hand.
With his hand in mine, I walked out the front door without a second thought.
Vander
She took my hand and walked straight out the front door with no hesitation. There was no doubt she’d been under stress the past few weeks, but I promised it would be short-lived, and me being here for things like this was a part of that.
An idea began to take shape in my head, but I’d wait until I fleshed it out before I broached the subject with her.
