“No, I’m an adult. I want to talk to him at some point, see if he’s still cheating on Mom, but other than that, I don’t care.”
“What if he is, and then your mom finds out and your family—”
“He put his hands on you!” I roared, surprising us both. I stared at him and swallowed hard, willing myself to calm down. “Besides, you’re my family now.”
I reached over him for the tissue box on the bedside table, raising a brow at his sheepish look.
“Okay, so it hasn’t been just crying,” he said. “I’ve also been…”
I made an educated guess. “Touching yourself and thinking of our video call?”
“Yeah.” He pulled out a couple of tissues and blew his nose, then blotted his face a little.
“How about we settle under the covers? I want to hold you.” I didn’t think he would be in the mood for anything sexy anyway.
River’s face looked a bit awed. “Are you sure? I mean…I kept this big secret—”
“Baby, I get why you kept it.” I pressed a kiss on his forehead. “It’s okay. I love you, and we’re going to be okay.”
A fresh stream of tears rolled out of his eyes, and he made a choked up sound. “I’ve wanted to hear that since we were fourteen.”
“Better late than never?” I smiled. I loved him so much.
“Yeah.” He mopped his face again, chuckling at himself.
We settled down under the covers, and I hugged him close.
“I love you, too,” he whispered into the quiet.
* * * *
In the morning, we woke up early. It was River’s day off, so we went downstairs and started to cook a big breakfast for everyone. River texted Lake to let him know what we were doing so he and Theo would show up, too.
Then Cook wandered into the kitchen, took one look at us and frowned.
“I think that’s my job.”
“I think you’ve cooked for two days straight,” River replied. “You can make us more coffee, but then you have to take the morning off.”
Cook glared at him playfully. “You’re not the boss of me.”
“No, but my best friend is, and I will tell on you.”
We all chuckled.
Jack Cook was a giant of a man. He wasn’t bulky or anything, but he was fit and strong-looking, and if I hadn’t known better I would’ve stereotyped him as a biker.
Rey joined us while we were almost ready with the food. “Oh great, someone else is cooking,” he mumbled as he grabbed some tea and went to sit at one of the tables.
“See,that’sthe kind of comment I’d expect from someone who has been cooking for an event.” River pointed at Rey with a spatula. “You should take note, Cook.”
Rey seemed to catch up on what Cook’s reaction had been, and he snorted. “Nah, Jack’s too much of a control freak for that.”
River glanced at me and raised his eyebrows minutely. Yeah, nobody called Cook by his first name, except, apparently Rey.
We were lining up serving dishes on the counter buffet style when Theo and Lake came in. Theo went to clean his hands and Lake yawned loudly while making coffee.
“I swear, I feel like my tolerance for people-ing, energy-wise, has gotten lower while I’ve been here,” Lake complained.
