“That’s nice of you, but I can’t ask—”
“Just give a signal,” I said, throwing him a wink as I headed toward the market entrance. “Like I said, happy to give you a little peace. Does your father always give you grief when you try to help him?”
“Only all the time.” He let out a sad chuckle as we walked inside. “But he can grumble at me all he wants. I make sure he’s okay and taken care of, whether he likes it or not.”
“You’re a good son, and I’m sure he thinks so too.” I grabbed the one last cart after we walked inside. Jude kept in step beside me, throwing in various items as we shopped.
This was…different. I wasn’t inexperienced when it came to men, but I’d never shared a shopping cart with one. There had been only one cart left, and he didn’t want to carry the few things he had to buy. This wasn’t an intimate thing, but it seemed strange, nonetheless. We ambled past the produce as I finally remembered I was here to buy things, not dissect Jude’s every word and action, and I grabbed a small bag of limes to throw into the cart.
“Don’t take offense, but do you only eat the boring cereals? I mean, can’t you throw in a box of Lucky Charms just to level it off?”
I stopped laughing when I spotted his wide grin.
“My father is diabetic and has kidney issues. These cereals are all part of the low-sugar, renal-friendly, and boring-as-fuck diet he has to follow and hates that I make him.” He pointed to the box of peanut butter chocolate cookies. “Someone has a sweet tooth.”
“I do. I’ve been eating my feelings since I arrived. I keep trying to forget this market has a fresh bakery aisle. My shorts are tight enough. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m on the curvy side.” I craned my neck around and met Jude’s gaze.
“If by curvy, you mean perfect,” he said in a throaty whisper, “then, yes. I noticed.”
I swallowed, wanting to say something snarky to get rid of this stupid pinch in my chest, like “save it for the show,” or accuse him of laying it on too thick. Instead, I smiled and breathed out my thanks.
“I’m sure your dad appreciates you taking care of him, even if he doesn’t show it. I have the opposite problem. My parents want me around all the time. If I moved in with them, it would be their dream come true.”
“And I guess that would make you crazy?” he asked as we strolled to the next aisle.
“God, yes. I mean, I love them dearly. And we get along. Mostly,” I said, my heart almost skipping a beat when I caught Jude’s shoulders jerk with a tiny chuckle. “I’m an only child. They had me late in life, so I was the lucky sole recipient of all their love and expectations.”
“I know how that goes,” Jude said on a long sigh. “My parents were older when I came along too. All my cousins are at least ten years older than me. I was babied for a while, and I never thought I’d say that I would rather that than this,” he mumbled to himself. “When your parents are older, they get sick sooner.”
I nodded. “Mine are in mostly good health, thank God, but they’ve aged quite a bit over the past few years. It’s hard to see, so I can’t imagine what you’ve been through.”
He shrugged without turning his head.
“It was easier when my mother was alive. He was always the sicker one, and she knew how to handle him. Once she… Well, we lost the buffer between us. Without her to calm us both down and get in the middle, we bicker all the damn time, as you may have noticed.”
He swiveled his head and raised a brow at me. “I don’t know why I’m telling you all this.”
“Hey,” I whispered, pushing the cart ahead to catch up to him. “I’m a pretty good listener, when I’m not speeding down highways.” I got another tiny mouth-tilt from him as I pursed my lips. “You can tell me anything you want.” Before I realized what I was doing, I draped my hand over his shoulder. “You sound like you’ve been holding that in for a while.”
He stilled a moment, flicking his eyes to mine before he nodded. “I guess I have. If I brought this up to anyone in the family, they’d just tell me to put him in a home. And as much as we drive each other crazy, I don’t want to do that. My mother wouldn’t have wanted that either. Once he can get around better, and if he still wants to go into that facility and have his own apartment, that’s different. I can’t explain why, but it is.”
“I get why,” I whispered, my hand still on his arm. I squeezed his shoulder before I pulled back, clearing my throat when I realized how hard the muscle was under my fingertips. He was hot enough when he was just grumpy and broody. The vulnerability pulling at his features was as intoxicating as it was irresistible.
“I wouldn’t want my parents in a home either if I could take care of them. Maybe it would be easier, depending on what they’d need, but I’d be too worried they weren’t being cared for the right way and feel guilty for letting someone else do it when they’d want me, even if they fought me about it.”
I spied a tiny nod as he took slow steps away from me.
“I can read people pretty quickly, and your father seems like a good guy who cares about his son, even if he was giving you shit that afternoon. Maybe you both just need to retreat to your own corners for a bit and give each other some room.”
I shot him a big grin, the hairs on the back of my neck standing straight up when he smiled back, wide and gorgeous and almost relaxed.
My God, he was beautiful. And I was getting too involved.
It seemed like he was all alone, and I hated that for him. Whether it was because of this ridiculous yearning for Jude to smile at me, or the squeeze in my chest from the sadness pulling at his perfect features, I wanted to be the one to make him feel better. If only for the afternoon.
I was too mentally exhausted to take stock of my issues or state of mind and figure out whatever I was doing or why I was doing it.
We made our way through the market, picking up what we needed and tossing it into the cart while keeping a comfortable silence, and we headed to the checkout. I held in a laugh when I spotted the six-packs of wine coolers by the register.
