Cree snickered at the question as the waitress came back with his drink. “It’s good. The weather is holding, which means as soon as I eat, we’re back on the road.”
Setting the book aside, she bit the bullet. “Player said you might not have time to bring me all the way to Montreal. He said he could come get me.”
Fucking Player.“He can kiss my ass. No man, not even your brother, is taking you anywhere. We . . . you and me . . . we’re a team, right?’
Kennedy smiled, nodding. Tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, she picked up the book and went back to reading. She glanced up to see Cree resting his head back against the booth with his eyes closed. Dropping her attention back to the pages, she continued reading about a string of murders in Ireland.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Three hours after getting back on the road, they hadn’t made good time with the traffic being heavy. Seemed everyone was travelling for Christmas. It was close to sundown, and with the temperature dipping, Kennedy was more than done. Multiple times, they just sat in traffic because of one accident or another.
As the minutes ticked by, Kennedy’s hip was kicking her ass. It was to the point she couldn’t deal with it any longer and she tapped out. Cree tilted his head back as she lifted her face shield. Cold wind slapped her in the face, taking her breath away. “It’s my hip. I need a break,” she shouted over the wind. When he gave her a confirming nod, she dropped the face shield.
When they finally pulled off the highway, Cree found a gas station and rolled into the parking lot. He stopped at the first pump and shut the bike down. Pulling down his neck gator, he climbed off, but he noticed Kennedy didn’t attempt to get off to stretch her legs like she normally did. “How bad are you hurting?”
“I don’t think I can keep going. The position I’m sitting in is killing me. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I was already concerned when we left this morning. Let’s fuel up, and we can find a hotel for the night.”
He found a nice hotel, not caring what it cost. She deserved a comfortable bed and a better than decent meal. Tomorrow was her birthday, and they’d be on the road again. They might end up having to call Player to come get her after all. Once in the room, he ran her a bath and helped her undress. Her hip was a gnarly array of blues, blacks, and purples. “Maybe I should call your brother.”
“No. If I don’t ride in with you, I’m not going.”
“What if we can’t get you there for Christmas?”
“There’s next year.” Touching her hand to his face, Kennedy was as honest as she could be. “I’ve spent my entire life alone, Cree. I’d rather be anywhere with you than somewhere without you.”
Damn, she knew how to strike a chord.“Then we’ll spend the holiday together either here or there, katawasisiw. Now, get in the tub while I search for a restaurant for dinner. We need something good for your birthday.”
“Hey, you remembered.”
“I told you ‘Happy Birthday’ this morning when I woke you up.”
“Yeah, but you were doing other things when you woke me up, so I wasn’t listening to your words.”
“I see how you are. You just want my naughty parts and not my nice words.”
“Every chance I can get them.”
Cree laughed as he helped her into the bath. Closing the door, he went to work on finding a place he could bribe to deliver a first-class meal.
A first-class meal was not lobster and steak. Instead, it was pasta and salad from a place called Joe’s. It wasn’t bad, but the chocolate cake was better. When he gave Kennedy her birthday gift, she cried, which startled Cree until she threw herself at him, toppling them over on the bed. The silver bracelet had charms that represented the Native culture, and he had added a motorcycle and their initials to the set so it would mean more to her.
With her hip hurting, he had shut down things that went further than kissing, telling her she needed to rest. If she couldn’t ride, she couldn’t fuck. She tried pouting, but he didn’t budge an inch.
During the night, he woke to her running another bath and went to check on her. She said she couldn’t sleep and wanted to soak a little more. He felt when she got back in bed but didn’t say a word when she tucked herself into his side. He’d heard her blow her nose a few times as he stood outside the bathroom door and knew she was crying. The question was why. Was it her hip? The idea of missing her birthday and possibly Christmas with her brother? The only way he’d know was if she told him, and Kennedy wasn’t saying shit.
They woke early but lay around for an hour, trying to muster the energy to get up. It seemed the trip was wearing on them both. Cree finally made the decision to climb out of bed to grab a hot shower. He was surprised when Kennedy joined him. “How’s the hip? Honestly.”
“Honestly, it feels much better. Like better than it felt when we got up yesterday.”
“Maybe you needed another day of rest.”
“Maybe so.”
Making quick work of showering, they got dressed and dried each other’s hair so it wouldn’t freeze while riding. Cree eventually asked why she had been crying the night before and was shocked by her answer.
“My mom. I always hoped she’d come get me, you know. Every year on my birthday, I’d wish for her to come find me, to want me back. She never came. Hell, I don’t even know if she’s still alive. It came crashing down on me last night is all.”
