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I wasn’t an idiot. They didn’t have a change of heart or anything—that wasn’t how they worked—but they also weren’t known for their patience. They didn’t know how to keep in control, so the fact that they seemed to be leaving us alone didn’t make much sense.
It was too good to be true.
All of it.
For the first time, my life felt normal, happy. I spent every night in Riven’s bed. Most of my day-to-day supplies had found their way to his house. Sure, it was mostly because Riven was a protector. He wanted me and Betsy in one place so he felt he had more control over keeping us safe. It didn’t matter that I didn’t need Riven to protect me—I’d spent my life defending myself against my dad and Rex—but it meant the world to me that he wanted to. That those small, little ways Riven had tried to look out for me when I was younger, now turned into him loving me and wanting to keep his man close.
It was lunchtime at work. I found a shady spot for us to eat, while Riven went to take a piss. My gaze was immediately drawn to my phone. No messages. Nothing. Again. I hadn’t expected anything different, not really, but I’d hoped.
I flipped over to my email.
“Nothing from Becca?” Riven sat beside me in the grass beneath the leafy tree.
“Nope. Last message from her was still the one saying she needs time.”
I’d replied that I would give her what she had asked for and told her to message me anytime, even if she just needed something but wasn’t ready to be friends again. She had message receipts on, so I saw she’d read it, but that was two weeks ago, and she hadn’t responded since.
“It’s not your fault.”
“I know. It’s still shitty, though. But hey, I got my test results. All clear.”
“Same,” Riven replied. We’d gone to get tested even though he had yearly physicals in prison, and I had one done not long before he got out.
“Looks like we can skip condoms.” I pumped my brows, then pulled my lunch out of the cooler. “I love Betsy’s sandwiches. She spoils us.”
“You just went from sex to my grandma’s sandwiches.” I laughed and he added, “She loves doing it.” Riven took a bite of his.
“Yeah, and now I know where you get it from. You’re both caretakers.” Riven huffed in response as if he didn’t believe me, then proceeded to pull up the app for the security cameras at home and check them for the millionth time. “I rest my case.”
He frowned, tossing his phone to the grass. “Fuck off.”
“Oh, someone doesn’t like to be proven wrong. Poor little baby.”
Riven turned on me, tackling me to the grass and straddling my hips. His hat had fallen off, black hair hanging down as laughter danced in his brown eyes. I loved when he let himself be silly this way.
“Wanna take me for a ride?” I teased, bucking my hips.
“I’m never wrong,” he countered.
“Nope. Not ever. You’re perfect, King Riven.”
“I like the way that sounds.” He leaned down and kissed me before climbing off me. I was surprised at even that small amount of affection he’d shown. Riven wasn’t big on PDAs.
I grabbed his hat and put it on my head, not caring that it was sweaty from him.
“Aren’t you two the cutest.” Wayne walked over and sat beside us.
“No,” my boyfriend grumbled, making me laugh.
Wayne ignored him. “Now that Riven isn’t a total grump and he’s a little more human, I thought I’d see if you guys wanted to go out and have a beer tonight. Even Smitty might go.”
A tingle of excitement sparked at the base of my spine. I’d never gone out with Riven that way. Our lives were so fucked up in too many ways to count. He’d let go when we’d gone camping, and I wanted that for him again.
“Hey, what do you think?” I nudged him. “Might be fun.”
I knew the answer before he opened his mouth and said, “Nah, that’s not really my thing.” I tried not to be disappointed. It wasn’t as if I wanted Riven to do something he didn’t feel comfortable doing, but there was a slight sting there. “You can go.”
Leaving him at home took most of the fun out of it. The point was I wanted to do things with him. “Maybe next time,” I told Wayne.
“You sure? We can still have some fun.”
I waved him off, and then Smitty came over and the four of us finished our lunch together.
Since it was Friday, Riv had to go see his PO. Like I had the past few weeks, I went with him but waited in the truck.
It wasn’t until we were back home, both of us having just showered, Riven sitting at the small table beside me, that he said, “You really can go without me. Your whole life has been turned upside down since I got out—you got beaten up, lost your nieces, your best friend, started sleeping in my shitty garage apartment instead of the house you worked hard for. I don’t want to argue about fault. I’m not even saying it’s my fault. It’s simply the truth. I want you to know I see it, the sacrifices you make, and I don’t want you to make even more.”
