“Hey, maybe we should invite Charlie,” I say lowly, letting a hint of deviousness creep in. “Make a whole night of it.” I tip my beer to my lips, letting the silence draw out before hinting as subtly as a hammer against glass, “She could even bring Kayla.”
Barrett goes tense beside me, his fingers flexing around his beer. We both look toward the kitchen, making sure Charlie’s distracted, before he looks at me with narrowed eyes. “Wanna play, motherfucker? I’ll play.”
“What?” I ask innocently. “Nothing’s going on between the two of you, right?” I blink guilelessly before adding a sly, “Anymore.”
“Remind me to stop drinking around you,” he mumbles, right before he drinks the rest of his bottle in one hit. Barrett sets it aside and then steals mine out of my hand, ignoring my protests as he drinks that one too.
“It’s not my fault you’re loose-lipped when you’re drunk.”
“It’s not my fault you’re a fuck-knuckle,” he grunts, and I roll my eyes.
I open my mouth, but before I can let my comeback loose, Charlie’s walking over, a smile tipping her lips up. “What’re you talking about?”
“Nothing,” we say at the same time, and Barret adds, “Organizing another game night.”
Charlie knows about Kayla and Barrett, but she also begged both of us to keep her the hell out of it. She shakes her head.“Well, dinner’s almost ready. Hope you guys are hungry. I made way too much.” Charlie leans over the back of the couch, wrapping her arms around my neck and pressing a kiss to my cheek. Barrett fake-heaves over thearmrest. I ignore him, savoring the easy way my girl is touching me. It’s such a simple thing, that soft touch from her. I never realized just how much I missed it until she gave it back.
I lean into Charlie as she presses her silky cheek to mine, giggling at the rough brush of my beard. She never specifically told me to keep it, but she plays with it enough, that sweet smile on her lips, that I wouldn’t shave it for the world.
“Thanks, Angel,” I murmur.
She hums, the sound loud in my ear. “What for? Dinner? Don’t thank me when you haven’t eaten it yet.”
I twist away, leaning my head back to look in her eyes. “Nah, not for dinner,” I say quietly, ignoring the loud dramatics Barrett’s still putting on. “For everything else.”
A phone rings, and he digs it out, mumbling something about being saved by the bell. He puts it to his ear, saying, “Hey, what’s up?” as he gets up and walks across to the kitchen.
I watch him go curiously, but Charlie rounds the couch, sliding onto my lap. She’s sitting sideways, and she wraps an arm around me, her fingers stroking the column of my neck.
“You okay?” she asks softly. “You’ve been quiet ever since we left your gran’s.”
I place one hand on her knee, the other smoothing up and down her back. “I’m okay,” I reassure her. She watches me, not hiding a thing, and I smile. “Promise, Angel. I think it just hits harder, talking about my parents. Thinking about them. Especially after everything with us.”
Her expression creases sympathetically. “I know you want to help your mom, but your gran is right. She needs to want the help.”
Charlie’s green eyes are bright and free of shadows. Thesilence draws out between us, and a flush crawls across her cheeks. “What?” she asks laughingly. “You’re staring.”
I reach up a hand to cup her face. “I’m glad you walked away from me that day,” I whisper, feeling the truth of it in my bones. “I’m glad you forced me to face the truth of what I was about to become.”
“Dillon—”
“No, Charlie,listen. I don’t ever want to be my father, so shrouded in darkness that I’ll tear the one person who loves me unconditionally down, just to make sure she’s miserable, too.” I swallow, shaking my head. “I don’t want to ever be the reason you doubt yourself or the reason you hurt. I want to be the person who puts you back together when you need me.” I duck my head, hiding the raw vulnerability in my eyes. “I want to be the person you go to when you need defending, even though you’re aces at defending yourself. I want to be all that, and more, even though I’ve already let you down.”
Charlie matches my move, twisting to face me head-on, cupping my face in her small hands. She lifts my head up, forcing my gaze to lock with hers. I could pull away if I wanted to, but I don’t, swallowing hard as I let her see it all.
“It’s done, Dillon,” she tells me fiercely. “We aren’t holding onto the past anymore. Not when we’ve learned our lesson from it, and we’ve grown. I’m not my mother, empowered by bitterness and hate. And you…You are not your fatheroryour mother.” She smiles, confident and happy. “You’re my Dillon, and you’re enough the way you are.”
My eyes are burning a little as I let out a huff through my nose. “Isn’t that supposed to be my line?”
“I think it’sourline,” she tells me, her voice low, like it’s a secret. “We don’t have to repeat the cycles of our families.Not anymore. History doesn’t matter if we don’t repeat it.” She lifts a shoulder in a delicate shrug. “I know you’ve got my back, just like I have yours.”
“Wouldn’t have it any other way, Angel.” I palm the back of her neck, pulling her into a brief kiss. “I love you, and I won’t ever let you forget it.”
Her eyes sparkle with happiness.
“Now, that’s a promise I can live with.”
Epilogue 1
