Yeah, probably. I should be crapping myself because I’m about to meet my future mother-in-law, but I couldn’t be happier. Bring on next weekend. I’m going to show Ms. Isles how much I deserve her daughter.
Harley
After training wraps up the following Saturday, Devon and I pack our gear and head to the airport. It’s a short flight to Portland, and from there, we hire a car and drive to Cedar Bend. During the commute, I have plenty of time to wonder how this is going to go. Just as I was the first woman Devon had brought home, he’s the first boyfriend I’ve introduced to my mother.
I sneak a glance at him. One of his arms is draped over the steering wheel, and the other stretches across the space between us, his palm facing up. I rest mine atop it and he closes his fingers. Warmth rushes through me. Even that slight gesture of affection has a cozy, snuggly sensation lighting me up inside.
“How are you doing?” he asks. “You’ve been quiet.”
“I’m good. Just thinking.”
“Ugh, thinking.” He chuckles. “A surefire way to start doubting yourself. Dare I ask what you’re thinking about?”
I study the angle of his jaw. So familiar. So handsome. I ache to kiss along the line of it. “You.” I can tell I’ve surprised him when he doesn’t reply immediately.
“Are they good thoughts or bad thoughts?”
“Good.” Raising his hand, I kiss the back of his knuckles. “Definitely good.”
“That’s a relief.” He swallows, and I have the insane urge to run my hand down his abs and dip it beneath his waistband, but I don’t want to distract him while he’s driving. “I don’t suppose you’d care to share?”
I wink when he turns to me briefly. “Nope.”
“Be like that then.” He pretends to pout, and it’s so ridiculous I snort-laugh. “So, tell me. What was your favorite thing about growing up in Cedar Bend?”
“The gym.” I don’t even have to think about it. “Cedar Bend Martial Arts.”
“It has a certain ring to it.” His thumb draws a languid circle on the back of my hand. “What did you love about it so much?”
I shrug because it’s easier to do that than to try to tamp down all of the uncomfortable memories flying back at me. “It was like family, I guess. When I first turned up, not long after Seth left town, they didn’t think I belonged there, but I stuck it out, and by the time I left, those rough old guys were like my surrogate dads.”
“That’s cool.” He stares out the windshield at the road as the landscape whirs by. “Why’d you start going after Seth left? Seems like something you would have done together.”
I laugh. “You ask a lot of questions.” He just looks at me, and I fidget. “Seth used to stand up for me, and scare away the bullies who thought it was fun to torment a scrawny poor girl. But he left town the moment he turned eighteen and I was on my own.”
He hums in sympathy. “You must have been young.”
“Six or seven. Apparently, I found my way to his old gym and insisted they teach me.” My lips quirk at the thought. I don’t really remember it, but I made quite an impression. “One of them, Don, took me home, but I kept coming back, and eventually Mom got them to agree to let me stay for the classes.” By the time I reached high school, most of my peers were scared of me. It made things lonely, but I don’t want Devon’s pity so I don’t mention that.
“So, you were always a stubborn little thing.”
“Yup. Guilty.”
He chuckles, and the rich sound makes me want to curl up in his lap. God, it’s inconvenient being this attracted to someone. “Seriously, I think you’re amazing. I’m sorry you had it rough, but you grew into a kickass woman, and I love you for it. Is it weird that I kinda want to visit your gym and shake those men’s hands?”
“Maybe,” I answer. “But not in a bad way. Now, enough questions about me. I want to hear what you were like growing up.”
“A nightmare.” His reply is swift and certain. “It’s a miracle my parents didn’t leave me on the side of the road somewhere. I was one of those full-steam-ahead kids who destroy everything in their paths.”
“That sounds about right.” I can picture him. Small, with brown eyes and a mischievous smile, knocking things down while looking so damned cute his parents couldn’t do a thing about it. “You’re a very open person. Why is that?” It’s only because I’m watching him so closely that I see a muscle tick in his jaw. “Dev, you okay?”
He exhales slowly, as though he’s counting in his head, then he says, “I was adopted. It’s not a big thing, but I didn’t find out until I was a teenager, and it hit me kind of hard, so I prefer not to put anyone in a situation where they don’t know the full truth.”
“Oh.” My brow scrunches. “So your mom and dad aren’t actually—”
“My biological parents,” he finishes. “But I don’t care about that. We love each other, even if we don’t always understand each other. It was actually a relief when I found out, because I’d always wondered why I was so different from them, and I finally had a reason.”
I moisten my lips before speaking, afraid I’m going to say the wrong thing. His entire body is tense, and I can tell this is a difficult subject for him. “Then why was it so hard?”
