All the people listening on the couches murmured approvingly, but not Faith. She was frozen. Stabbed in the heart by his offhanded comment.Daddy’s money.The same words he’d thrown in her face back in June. She leaned away from him, swallowing thickly. He probably didn’t mean anything by it, but to think that he’d lump her in with those spoiled kids who’d complained about footwear and made him and William roll their eyes…
She inhaled hard and willed herself not to spiral out of control. He might not have meant anything personal. He was just talking to his family. It wasn’t about her, right?
He must’ve noticed her shifting uncomfortably because he turned to look at her. “You okay?”
She stared at him with a furrowed brow, wanting to ask but scared to find out.
When she didn’t speak, he frowned and bent forward to sniff her drink. “What’s in this?” He grabbed the cup from her and took a drink. “Is this strawberries?”
Vanessa waved a casual hand toward the kitchen. “Probably. Dad wanted us to try some new rum fruit drink.”
“What?”Leo stood and dropped to his knees in front of Faith, his eyes intent on hers. “Are you okay? Your throat? Your breathing?” He turned his head to yell over his shoulder, “I told you guys, no strawberries! She’s allergic.”
That killed the conversation, and his sisters watched anxiously as he swung those amazing dark eyes back onto her, his hands moving to the side of her neck. “Any swelling? Do I need to get you to a hospital?”
His frantic gaze bored into her, leaving her too surprised to move. But his careful touch combined with the actual fear on his face quickly broke her paralysis.
“No! No. I’m fine.” She wrapped her fingers around his. “I outgrew that allergy years ago. It’s fine.”
His thumbs stroked her jawline. “Christ, Dutch, are you sure?”
“I think I know my own allergies,” she murmured. Then she repeated his action from the front porch a few hours ago and pressed her forehead against his, a little overwhelmed at the intensity of his response. Even if it was thoroughly misplaced, it lit a glow inside of her. “I’m fine. I swear.”
He exhaled hard and kissed her forehead. “Coño. Don’t scare me like that again.” He rose and resumed his place next to her, and when they turned back to the group, everyone was staring at them with various degrees of speculation and understanding on their faces.
Faith, too, felt a little more clarity. Hedidcare about her again. He had to, right? This wasn’t just sex, wasn’t just the memory of their old affection for one another. He might have opinions about how she’d been raised, but he’d taken her camping, he’d called her his girlfriend, and he’d been ready to carry her out the door to the hospital from the looks of things.
It was good. Things were good. And that knowledge let her turn to his sisters and wiggle her fingers in a “bring it on” gesture.
“Okay, hit me. I want the meanest Spanish names to call your brother when he gets out of line.”
As she’d hoped, that pulled everybody in the group back into the fun, and she left his parents’ house with a number of wicked things she planned to use in bed with him later.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Leo was leaning against the kitchen island, chugging a bottle of Gatorade when the garage door rumbled open and then shut again. Moments later, his roommate loped into view, a smirk on his face as he flopped his gym bag on the floor.
“I didn’t see a sock on the front door handle, so I figured it was safe to come in.”
Leo didn’t have enough strength left to control his grin. Not only was he physically spent, but this was the third straight weekend that he’d had Faith in his bedroom, and he was basically existing on joy and sex pheromones at this point.
“Yeah, she said she wanted to be able to walk straight tomorrow at work so she headed home to get ready for the week.”
Smug? Him? Absolutely, especially when William eyed the empty Gatorade bottle next to the half-full one he’d just set on the island.
“So it’s just sex? I’m actually starting to get hurt that you’re not braiding my hair and sharing your relationship secrets.”
Leo grabbed the empty bottle and tossed it into the recycling bin. It was a stall, but really why hold back any details at this point?
“I’m guessing you’ve got most of it figured out,” he said. “We were together in high school. The fox tattoo was for her. We had a bad breakup that sent me running to Southern Illinois for college and then to the Amazon after that.”
William nodded, clearly not hearing anything that surprised him. “Is she why you moved home?”
“No.” He spun the remaining bottle between his palms, eyes fixed on the neon-yellow liquid sloshing inside. “I didn’t even know she still lived in town. We just bumped into each other and…”
“And bumpedintoeach other,” William finished for him.
Leo shook his head. “No. It’s bigger than that.”
