“Where you tending bar?” I sat in a lounger, leaning back and breathing deep.
“Primo Steak on First.” Sammy sat at the table, resting her chin in the palm of her hand.
“Nice place. You like it?”
“It’s the kind of place you go to if you’ve been inPeoplemagazine or read it. It’s a see-and-be-seen kind of joint. Big crowds means big tips, so yeah, I like it.”
“You want to get out, though? Do your crafting?”
“Jewelry making,” she said, correcting me.
“You should do that. You need a backer?”
Her laugh filled the air. “I didn’t know where you were going with all this, but I get it now. You think if I stay legit, there’s a better chance that Lynx doesn’t get sucked back into shit.”
“I do. I’m not denying it. I lived with her shit for a long time, played second fiddle to whatever negative notions she had about herself, and then her mission to find you. Now she did, and I want her to myself.”
Samara shook her head. “I admit it’s a noble cause, but I don’t need a backer. I got money in the bank, just didn’t want to leave L until she got her shit together. Now that she’s seeing someone and decided to trust you again, I’m close to getting out.”
I leaned forward. “Appreciate you doing that. Staying here, waiting for Lynx to come around.”
“She’s my sister. Trekked to the other side of the goddamn earth for me, burdened herself with a lifetime of crap memories for me.”
I nodded. “They’re all going to be good from now on.”
“From your mouth to God’s ears, Big Mike. You have his cell number?”
We were both laughing when Lynx appeared with a huge platter of food. Jumping from the lounger, I ran over to help, sliding my hand over Lynx’s ass and giving it a pinch. Her answering grin made it all worthwhile.
“You both want water?” I asked, and when they nodded, I went in and grabbed three bottles from the fridge.
Seated around the table, the three of us chowed down until Sammy got a call from Landon. When she bounded like a puppy on speed into the condo, Lynx and I stayed outside to give her some privacy. The food all gone, we relaxed at the table, enjoying the sound of the surf and the darkening sky.
“What are you going to do when Sammy heads to Lauderdale?” I was full of tamales and myself, blurting out my thoughts to Lynx when I should have been doing dishes. We sat across from each other, the table a nuisance, keeping us too far apart.
“Stay here in Miami. I’m not going to go with her. She’s chasing Landon.”
“You mean here by yourself?”
“I haven’t thought about that. I’ve lived by myself before. I even had my own apartment over—”
“I didn’t mean you couldn’t.” Taking her hands in mine and resting them on the table, I said, “I meant you could move in with me.”
“Michael ...” Her smaller hand squeezed my large one. “One thing my therapist said is you need to be able to hear about what happened. It’s a part of my story. You can’t interrupt me or shush me every time I mention it.”
Shit.
For lack of any reply, I cleared my throat. “It’s because I want to leave it there. In your past. In a different world, one where you don’t exist anymore.”
“Me too.” She stood and came around to take Sammy’s vacant seat. “But we have to acknowledge it happened.”
“If that’s what we need to do, we’ll do it.”
As I spoke, she brought the back of her hand to my cheek and caressed my stubble.
Why was she comforting me? I was supposed to be the big brute.
Without thinking, I turned her hand, wanting to feel the coarseness of her scabs, needing to remind myself she’d been through hell. “Did you show them to her? Shit, I promised myself I wouldn’t ask a bunch of crap. I’d let you tell me.”
