That sobered me up for a second while I flashed back through our lives. Hell, Koa was right. We’d never been out to eat just the two of us, ever.
I hadn’t eaten out much in general, especially in nicer places like this. As a kid, the dollar menu at fast food restaurants had been the most I could ever afford, and then after, we’d struggled for so long to even keep the kids, a luxury like this had been so far from my mind, it wasn’t funny. Even when things had started to get good, when my career had begun to build up and Koa had had a stable income, we’d still had seven kids. We were rarely completely alone, and I couldn’t think of one instance in the last seven years that we’d carved out time just for ourselves.
“Fuck, that’s not right, Ko. We gotta do this more often.”
“Go on dates?”
“Yeah, why not? Best friends can go on dates. Husbands go on dates.”
Koa hummed thoughtfully but otherwise stayed quiet. He took a sip of his drink, looking away from me. Something felt off, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Had I said something wrong?
The food finally came, and for a few minutes we busied ourselves with that. Eventually, the comfortable chatter came back, and whatever that strange moment had been all but left my mind.
“Do you think Cara will get Wynter talking to us again?” I asked as I filled my fajita.
Koa shrugged. “I don’t know. If anyone has a shot, it’s her. What did the lawyer say about Aren’s chance of getting custody?”
I made a face. I didn’t even want to think about it. “Slim. But he might get supervised visits, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to fight that.”
Koa frowned, and I could see how pissed he was. I knew he remembered that day as well as I did. He’d saved me. I fullybelieve I would’ve died if Koa hadn’t gotten there when he had. I owed both him and Knox my life.
“I don’t like it,” he grumped.
“Yeah, me either. Hopefully, he does something to fuck up his parole before it gets that far.”
We thankfully moved on to other subjects after that. He talked about his team and the chances of them making the championship this year. I told him about my newest commission. We came up with a schedule to get Bel to his piano lessons and Rue and Cruz to their jujitsu class.
A good hour passed before we knew it. We got the bill and to-go boxes, and I most certainly did not use one to take the chips and salsa.
“What do you want to do after this?” I asked. We still had time before we had to pick up the kids.
Koa chewed his lip like he was almost embarrassed to tell me. Then, “Wanna go pick up those fancy brownies from Daisy’s Diner and then go home and watchScream?”
That was Koa’s comfort movie and go-to watch whenever he was feeling out of sorts. He’d once told me his parents had finally let him watch it with them a couple of months before they’d died, so it reminded him of them. We’d watched it so many times that first year he’d lived here that at five years old, Knox had walked around quoting it.
Something was definitely wrong, especially if he wanted to eat sweets and watchScream. I thought about calling him on it, but then his eyes met mine and I could see he was practically begging me not to push. What he needed now was a night on the couch and his favorite movie. I was more than happy to give it to him. I’d give him anything he needed.
“Sounds perfect.”
We put on our jackets and grabbed the bag of leftovers. As we walked out, I slipped my hand in Koa’s. It wasn’t anythingunusual for us. I was sure most people would think it was weird for best friends, but we’d always been like that. Even when I’d been younger and would flinch at the slightest touch, I’d craved Koa’s. And honestly, I didn’t give a fuck about what anyone thought about our relationship.
Koa smiled softly at me, his thumb rubbing over the back of my hand in a comfort gesture. He always did that, and I wasn’t sure he even realized it.
We walked hand in hand out of the restaurant and toward my SUV, and the nerves I felt about Koa started to settle. Whatever was going on with him, he’d tell me when he was ready. I just had to be patient.
Chapter 8
Riot
Why was cereal so expensive?Almost eight dollars for a box? It was outrageous. I put down the Cocoa Puffs.Maybe we weren’t as hard off as we’d been before, but we weren’t made of money, and old habits died hard. I couldn’t bring myself to spend that.
Walking away with a little bit of regret since that was my favorite, I headed farther up the aisle to oatmeal. I hated the stuff, but Koa ate it almost every morning he had work, and I was pretty sure we were getting low. At least that was still reasonably priced.
Storm tugged on my sleeve, bringing my attention to where he sat in the front of the cart. “Nanas!”
I tapped his nose.
“I already got nanas, buddy. See, they’re right there next to Hawk.” I pointed to the back of the cart, where Hawk sat surrounded by groceries. He had his headphones on and his tablet in his lap, but he was more focused on organizing the items around him.
