Jock watched her, his chest tight.She’d been a little quieter since the SSMC mess started, her usual fire banked by something deeper, something scared.He knew that look.Had seen it in the mirror way too many times.“Silly,” he said, voice rough but soft, “you okay?”
She turned, her green eyes catching the light, wet and raw.“What if I’m not cut out for this, Jock?”Her voice cracked, barely above a whisper.“A kid.A family.I never had one worth a damn.What if I break it?”
He stood, crossed the room in two strides, and pulled her into his arms.She didn’t fight it, just sank against him, her breath shaky.“Sylvia Rene Anna Estavez Perez, you know you’re not your past,” he said, his lips brushing her hair.“You’re tougher than anyone I know.And you’re not alone in this.”Stay sharp, stay steady,he thought, the mantra grounding him as her warmth pressed against his chest.“We’re in this together.”
Silly looked up, her eyes searching his, and something shifted.It looked like fear finally giving way to a flicker of hope.“You really want this?With me?”Her voice was small, like she was waiting for the world to pull the rug out.
Jock cupped her face, his calloused thumbs brushing her cheeks.“Hell yeah, I do.You, me, a kid.Oh, hell yeah.I say fuck the odds.We’ll make it work.”He kissed her, slow and deep, pouring everything he couldn’t say into it.Every promise, every fear, every damn thing he’d buried since he was a kid running from his own shadows.
She kissed him back, fierce, gripping his cut like she was holding herself together.The air changed, electric, the weight of their words igniting something primal.Silly pulled back, her eyes dark now, hungry.“Show me,” she said, voice low, almost a challenge.
Jock didn’t need to be told twice.He took off his cut and slung it over to the dresser, then lifted her, her legs wrapping around his waist as he carried her to the bed, their mouths crashing together.Clothes hit the floor.His shirt, her tank top, a tangle of denim and cotton.Her nails raked his back, and he growled, the sound raw, feral.The bed creaked as he pinned her beneath him, her thighs parting, her breath hot against his neck.
“Jock,” she gasped, arching into him, pulling him closer, demanding.He moved with her, hard and fast, their bodies slick with sweat, the room filled with the slap of skin and her sharp moans.It was messy, urgent, like they were chasing something bigger than themselves.A spark, a future, a life.She clung to him, her nails digging in, and he drove deeper, lost in her, in the heat and the need and the raw, wild connection that burned away everything else.
When they collapsed, panting, tangled in the sheets, Silly’s hand found his, her fingers lacing tight.The room was quiet again, but it felt different now, as if they’d staked a claim on something new.
Jock pulled her close, his heart still pounding, and whispered, “I love you.Love us.Love us so much.”
Chapter Eleven
Silly
“I feel like putting my finger on a list might be easier.”Silly rolled her eyes at her friend Penny, who was also Twisted’s old lady and baby momma.“It’s stupid.I have an IUD I need removed.But then there’s the maybe-more part.How in the world did you pick an OB-GYN?”
“I took someone’s advice.”The pointed response made Silly giggle.
“But I want to know I’m going to like the person putting their whole face in my hooha.”
“You’ll like Doc Richards.She’s the best, promise.I can even go with you to the initial appointment.”
Silly looked up, surprised, and yet not surprised because Penny was one of the most giving women she’d ever met.“I’d like that, honestly.”
“Then I’d honestly like to go with you.”She pushed Silly’s phone her direction.“Go ahead, make the appointment.”
“Okay.”Silly stared at her, tears trembling on her lashes.“I’m doing this.”
