“Thanks. You need a hand?”
He shakes his head. “I’m good.”
I keep my eye on him, anyway. Most of his bruising has faded now. His ribs will take a while longer to heal, and anyone who has ever had fractured ribs knows just how much they hurt.
Once he’s out, he slams the door and moves to stand next to Delphi, who is staring up at the sign.
“We going in, or do you need a minute alone with the sign?”
“I need a minute alone with the sign,” she answers without an inch of shame, making him laugh, which in turn has him holding his hand to his ribs and wincing.
“Shoot, I’m sorry,” she tells him.
He shakes his head. “For being happy? Woman, you’re a nut.”
“For the love of god, don’t you start calling me ‘woman,’ too. These guys are rubbing off on you,” she complains as I grab the door and push it open.
Theo walks in with a grin as I stand in the doorway and watch Delphi. Her eyes slip closed, and a peaceful expression slips over her face, softening something inside me. It’s these moments that get me every time. The ones where she lets down her guard and forgets she has to be this strong, tough woman, and she can just be her jaded, vulnerable, kookie self. When she’s like this, I could stand here and watch her all day.
Eventually, she opens her eyes and looks over at me, a dopey grin on her face. “So this is what happens when all your dreams come true, huh?”
I walk toward her, and she meets me halfway. “I’m glad it’s everything you dreamed of, chestnut.”
She wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me down for a kiss before looking back up at me with a soft look on her face. “I don’t mean the store. Well, I do, but not just this. I’m talking about you and Theo, Legs, Hero, and all the guys. I was so lonely for so long. Everywhere I turned was just a series of empty hallways and echoes of a past I couldn’t escape. And now here you are, giving me a family and a home and filling up all those empty spaces inside me. So yeah, I love my store, more than you’ll ever know. But mostly because it’s here in your town, around the corner from where you work, so you can drop in at lunch and we can fuck in the stacks after I close.
“I’m about to step inside a place that only a few months ago, I could have died in. And yet when I’m here, I don’t feel a single negative emotion. It’s as if it’s all been purged with every new memory. Legs’s terrified expression has been replaced with Theo’s grin. Midas’s horror when he realized what I was doing is gone in favor of a Circus frowning when I tried to explain book girlies to him. Every tainted mark and smudge of fear has been wiped away by the fingerprints of the man I love, who taught me it was safe to dream.”
This time it’s me who kisses her, long and deep, until I hear Theo gagging. I pull back and flip him off, making him laugh.
“You sure you want this kid?” I joke into her ear as I sling my arm around her shoulder and walk her into the shop.
“More than anything.”
“Yeah, me too. Little shit’s grown on me. Like a fungus.”
“Admit it, you love him too.”
I wink at her and walk over to where Circus and Capone are standing.
“Kruger. Wasn’t expecting to see you today. You can’t steal our girl. We have plans.”
“She’s not your girl, she’s mine, and how come I’m not invited?”
“You get her to yourself all the time,” Capone complains.
“To myself? Have you not met Theo, the teenage cockblocker?”
Circus grins and crosses his arms. “That sounds like a you problem, Kruger.”
“Yeah, well, it’s your problem today because I’ve gotta go talk to Havoc, which means you two are on Delphi and Theo duty.”
“That is not a hardship. Everything okay?” Capone lowers his voice to ask.
I look behind them. Delphi points at some of the artwork as she talks to Theo. “Yeah, just need an update on the situation. It’s been a little quiet after the initial pushback from his mom. I’m not sure if she’s just given up or if she’s planning something. G’s been digging, so has Nathan. But with everything going on, I haven’t had much time to check in.”
“Go. We’ve got this. Was gonna take her out for beers and burgers as it’s become our thing, but I’ll see what the kid is up for. No hardship for us to order in pizzas.”
“Beers and burgers are not your thing. You don’t have a thing. We have things. You have…whatever,” I snap, sounding every inch the jealous high schooler. Judging from the looks on their faces, they didn’t miss it. And fuck me, I’m never going to hear the end of it, am I?
