“Not the first time I’ve heard that one, buddy,” I mutter.The weird girl with the weird name.“My grandma called me Sloany because she thought the same,” I share, feeling a pang in my chest.
I miss her so much.
“Yes, that fits better,” he tells me, nodding and making his blond hair shake.
“What is your name?” I ask again, my gaze flicking to the woman in the back. She looks horrible, pale with blue lips, but her gaze is soft and just on him. I can feel the longing and concern in her.
His mom.
“Lio,” he states before he scrambles onto the couch beside me with a toy boat. It looks like the one I was just locked inside of, and I shudder when he starts to wave it like it’s on an ocean. “Do you like dinosaurs?”
“Sure. I mean, who doesn’t” I answer stiffly, leaning over to glance at the kitchen, hoping I won’t be alone with him too long.
I’m not good with kids.
Not because I don’t like them, I just never had any around me. Not even when I was a kid myself.
“Lio, are you bugging our guest?” my savior asks as he comes back into the living room with a tray with three mugs and some cookies, which he places on the coffee table.
“No,” Lio mumbles, making motor sounds while concentrating on his boat.
“I made hot chocolate. I thought it suits the situation better and may give you a little sugar rush to help with the trembling,” Hunt murmurs gently as he hands me a mug. The mug is warm but not too hot, and there are marshmallows swimming on top of the chocolate. “It’s drink warm,” he tells me when he takes the boat out of Lio’s hand and gives him his mug before he sits on Lio’s other side, seemingly giving me space.
I take a sip and have to stifle a moan. “Gosh, that’s good. Thank you.”
It’s sugary sweet, bordering on too much but not quite, and the warm liquid fills and soothes my insides. It’s as though it washes away the fear still clinging to my bones.
The side of his mouth turns slightly upward, and he looks down into his mug. “Glad you like it. So, how did you end up in there? Wanna share with the class?” he asks, his blue gaze coming up to meet mine again.
I turn bright red, holding my mug with both hands and whispering, “I swear I was not out to steal anything.”
He breathes out a wry laugh. “Honestly, if you could manage to steal that boat out of the shipyard by yourself, I would let you keep it.” I can’t help the small smile that forms on my lips. “But if not stealing, what were you planning to do?”
“I can’t really tell you,” I mumble, feeling the guilt creeping up.
He has been nothing but nice to me, and I can’t even give him an answer in return. He furrows his brows at me, and I have to look away.
I’m not going to tell him what I did there.
Not in a million years.
It’s bad enough that I talk to his dead brother and could get caught doing that. If he thinks he has to call the cops on me, okay. I can handle being considered a criminal, paying a fine, or going to jail.
I can’t handle people thinking that I’m crazy, though.
“Did you do anything that could harm anyone? Did you play around with the motor parts?” he asks, leaning forward and searching my face as if to find the answer.
I look at him earnestly. “I didn’t have ill intentions and did nothing to manipulate the boat.”
He looks at me for a few seconds longer, making me squirm under his intense gaze, then nods slowly. “Fine.” That’s all he says before he takes a sip of his chocolate and leans back on the couch.
My eyes go wide. “Fine? You’re just going to let me get away with that?”
As soon as it slips out of my mouth, I curse myself.
Dammit, Sloan. Take the offer being presented on a gold platter.
“Shouldn’t I?” he asks right back, curiosity in his eyes.
