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“The woman who gave me this house.” She waved her arm like she was a spokesmodel on The Price is Right. “The one who is like a grandmother to me. Anyway, I’ve just been doing this all alone and now I think I failed so I’m a little cranky about it.”
“If you want to talk about it, I’ve been told I’m a good sounding board,” he lied. He’d never been told that in his life. But he really didn’t like seeing Viv look so discouraged and defeated. He liked Viv with fire in her eyes. And if he could help put it back there, he would love to.
“Um…” She licked her lips and he could tell that she had an internal battle going on as to whether or not she should trust him.
The head on the top of his shoulders knew that her uncertainty was the reason she was licking her lips, the head below his belt had other ideas as to why her tongue was sliding along the seam of her mouth.
He cleared his throat and tried to refocus.
“No pressure,” he said casually, hoping he would come off as nonchalant even though he was chalant as hell. Was chalant a word? He had no idea.
She dropped back so her ass was flat on the garage floor and crossed her legs criss-cross applesauce style like they had been during story time. But during story time she hadn’t been wearing cutoff sweats that barely covered whatever panties she might be wearing. Or not wearing.
That thought had beads of sweat breaking out on the back of his neck. Why was every thought he had about Viv so perverted? He’d been attracted to women before but he’d never sexualized them like he unconsciously did with Viv. He wasn’t doing it on purpose. Hell, he wished he didn’t have those thoughts about her. The damn things just kept popping up in his head like a fucking computer virus.
Her large blue eyes lifted to his. “You can’t tell anyone.”
He nodded in agreement, but she continued staring at him, so he gave her verbal confirmation. “I won’t.”
Since he could see she was still nervous about telling him whatever it was she needed to say, he figured he’d try and do something to lighten the mood. He sat down on the floor and crossed his legs, lifted his hand and extended his little finger to her and extended Bree’s version of a gentleman’s handshake. “Pinky promise.”
The smile that spread across her face was worth making himself look like an idiot. She lifted her hand and when her finger wrapped around his. The contact set a shockwave of awareness radiating through him. He dropped his hand before he did something stupid like pull her towards him and kiss her senseless.
She stared at him for a moment, perhaps feeling the same after-effects from their brief contact as he was. Then she shook her head, rolled her shoulders back, and took in a deep breath.
“I’m looking for my dad. Or should I say the man who contributed half of my DNA.”
“Okay.” Glenn nodded, not sure why that would be a huge secret.
“He left when we were little. Really little. My oldest sister, Grace was five, Ava was four, I was three and Audrey was two. We haven’t seen him since.”
Glenn took in the information she was giving him, and his heart broke for her. He couldn’t imagine walking away from Bree. Not for anything. Ever.
“None of my other sisters have ever said they wanted to find him. I don’t want to bring any drama into their lives, but I just...I feel like I have questions and I need answers.”
“What about your mom?”
“My mom died when I was sixteen.”
“I’m sorry.” He’d lost both his parents in his early twenties, and it had devastated him. He couldn’t imagine what losing your only parent, your mom, when you were only a teenager would do to a person.
“It’s fine.” Her left shoulder lifted in a shrug as she looked back down at the ground. “It was a long time ago.”
That was the same answer he gave when people found out both his parents had passed. But the truth was, it wasn’t fine. And although time might dull the pain, it didn’t make it go away. It was just...different. Less sharp and more of an ache.
“It’s not fine.”
Her gaze lifted to his again and unspoken understanding passed between the two of them.
Viv nodded as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “It could have been worse. Grace was eighteen and managed to get custody of us. We were able to stay together and stay in the home we grew up in.”
“That’s good.” Glenn was happy to hear that but couldn’t imagine what that responsibility must have been like for Grace. Gabe had been an adult, or at least of legal age when they lost their mom and dad and Glenn had still felt an incredible sense of responsibility for his baby brother.
His phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw that it was a message from Cruz saying he was ready to hit the mats. The guy was still getting over his jet lag, so their training sessions were at odd times and Glenn was basically on call.
“Shit. It’s work. I have to go the gym.”
Viv nodded and they both stood up. She was wiping the backside of her cutoffs when he turned to leave, but he hesitated and turned back. “Do you really believe in the Hope Falls Effect?”
It was a stupid question. He tended to ask a lot of those around this woman. But he wanted to know if it was just a joke that had turned into a publicity stunt or if she thought it was real.
She nodded. “I’ve seen it too many times not to believe it.”
There was a sadness in her voice and he wondered if it had something to do with the comment she’d made to Amy about her getting good juju and maybe getting her own HFE. He had a million follow-up questions that he wanted to ask, but they would have to wait. He had a fighter to train and a woman not to kiss.
