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Xander cocked an eyebrow.
“If you’re happy to see them hugging, it must mean that it’s something that Tori wants. In case you don’t know, I can tell you – it’s something that Ria wants with all her heart.”
Xander got the impression that Russ felt a little defensive of Alexandria – or ‘Ria’, as he called her.
“I never doubted that Alexandria felt that way.”
“And Tori?” Russ asked.
Xander gave him a reassuring smile. “Having seen the way they just greeted each other, do you really need to ask?”
Russ chuckled. “No, I don’t, do I?” He grasped Xander’s shoulder. “My plan was to offer to show you the gym later but maybe we should just go now and leave them to it?”
Xander grinned. “That works for me. I need to check in with Tori first, though. I don’t want her to feel like I’m abandoning her the second we arrive.”
When Tori and her mom finally let go of each other, he could see that they both had tears shining in their eyes. He jogged up the steps and greeted Alexandria with a kiss on her cheek.
“It’s good to see you.”
She really did look like a different person, especially when she smiled. “It’s so lovely to see you.” She shocked him when she waggled her eyebrows at him. “And I hope it’s okay to say it, but I’m thrilled to see the two of you together.”
Tori looked a little stunned, but Xander just nodded happily. He rested his hand on Tori’s shoulder. “I’m more than thrilled about it myself.”
Tori looked up at him with a smile, and he couldn’t help it, he leaned in to kiss her cheek, too. He wanted to reassure her, but it didn’t feel right to kiss more than her cheek while standing in front of her mom.
“Can I just steal you away for a second, sprite?”
Tori looked puzzled but followed him back down the steps to the truck. When they reached it, he opened the door and reached inside to get her phone from where she’d left it on the seat.
“It looks to me like you and your mom might want some time alone together. Russ has asked if I want to go see his gym. I was about to say yes but I wanted to give you the option first. Do you want me to stick around instead?”
“Aww! You’re so good to me.” She glanced back over her shoulder. “And you even brought me out of earshot to ask me. You’re awesome.”
“I do my best. I just know you; I know how you work, and I know you’re used to thinking that you have to face everything alone. I’m going to do my best to make you see that you’re not on your own anymore. You’ve got me now.”
She pressed her forehead into his chest and slid her arms around his waist. “I love you.”
He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her to him – if she wasn’t worried about her mom seeing, then he wasn’t. “I love you more, sprite.”
She looked up into his eyes. “And I think that…” she glanced over to where her mom and Russ were standing at the top of the steps “… Yeah. If you’re okay with it, I think it might be nice to have some time with Mom.”
He hugged her a little tighter before letting her go. “Then I’ll go with Russ.” He handed her the phone. “I wanted to make sure that you had this first. If you want me to come back, just shoot me a quick text.”
“Thanks. Are you going to be okay?”
“I’ll be fine. Russ seems like a good guy. I’m looking forward to getting to know him. And you know me; I’m always happy in the gym.”
~ ~ ~
Tori stared out at the lake from her seat on the deck over the water. She absolutely loved Russ’s place. She’d been here before, of course. At first, she hadn’t been able to imagine that her mom would be able to settle here, but she was more than happy to have been proved wrong.
“Here you are,” her mom said as she set a glass of lemonade on the table in front of her before sitting down to join her.
“Thanks.” Tori took a long drink, more to give herself a moment to think than because she was thirsty. When they first arrived, the way her mom had hugged her was wonderful, but Tori was starting to question herself now. Perhaps she’d just gotten carried away?
When she set her glass down, she realized that her mom was watching her closely. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
“What? Is something wrong?”
