I remain silent for a few streets. “To Candy’s place?”
“No, she’s meeting me at Nevicare, so you can drop me there.” That’s the Italian place in town. It’s one of the nicer restaurants. We fall into silence until we pull up outside the restaurant. “Thanks.”
Kindred reaches for the handle, but I bring my hand down on that bare thigh of hers, right above the knee. She freezes.
“I didn’t mean to snap at you.” She nods. “Cupcake, I?—”
“It’s just the things you say sometimes, Hudson. I don’t?—”
“Hudson.” My fingers ever so subtly stroke the inside of her thigh. Fuck, she’s soft everywhere. “Call me Cash.” I don’t know why, but suddenly I want to hear my first name from her lips. Everyone calls me Hudson. They have since I entered the Army, but Kindred’s different.
“You want me to call you Cash?” I touch her softly, and she relaxes, letting her hand drop from the door handle.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Not really sure.” I’m still trying to fully understand it myself, and I likely never will. That’s the thing when it comes to Kindred—I don’t understand all the things going on inside of me.
She stares at me for a long moment. “All right, Cash.” A soft smile plays on her lips. “It’s not the snapping that bothers me. It’s what you say.”
“I don’t want to do either. The snapping or words that hurt you.” Kindred turns slightly to face me more.
“I might enjoy it when you’re a little grumpy.” She holds up her fingers, showing way more than a pinch, which I would take as more than a little, but I’ll take her word for it. I don’t seem to be too good at understanding her at times.
“I don’t want to be an asshole.” My father was an asshole for no reason. A mean son of a bitch.
“You’re not an asshole. I don’t think you ever intend harm with what you’re saying.”
“That’s the thing, Cupcake. I have never in my life uttered a word that I thought might hurt you.” I would sooner cut out my tongue.
“You mean that?”
“We might go around and around, but I adore you.” I would tell her I love her antics, but they don’t need any encouragement. "I'm trying to be better with understanding."
"You're not good with the opposite sex. That's why you're reading those dirty romance books." There is a playfulness to her tone.
"Yes."
A full smile lights up her face. "Not even shy or embarrassed about it. You know—" She tips her head to the side. "I kinda adore that about you too. A lot of men would be embarrassed."
"If you want something in life, you have to find a way to work toward it." Sure, the library books might not be much, but it's better than nothing. Even if I don't learn shit from them at theend of the day, I know Kindred enjoys reading them. I'll start us a book club of only two. Exclusive.
"And you want what most others want in New Hope. The whole family with a wife, a few kids, and maybe a couple of kittens." I shrug. That all does sound nice, but what I want is her. "Are you bringing a date to the wedding?"
"No." I fight not to growl out my answer.
"Do you know what one is?" She laughs. I guess I didn't suppress that growl real well.
"I hadn't given it all that much thought. Like I said, I didn't know you were supposed to bring a date to begin with. It would be nice if you went with me."
"You'd want to go together?"
"Don't see why not. You don't have a date." Her brows rise. Shit. "I said that wrong. God knows you could have a million dates if you wanted." Well, maybe not. They'd be dead before they could show up for it.
"You think I'm that big of a catch?" Now she's smirking and wiggling around in her seat.
When Kindred gets excited or pleased about something, she can never sit still. Fucking adorable. It's on the list of all the things she does that work for me. I think anyone else wiggling all around next to me would be annoying.
