“The lady ain’t wearing a property cut, can’t blame a man for tryin’. You two have a good one. Crawley, let’s go back to our spot.”
Hawk watches me so intently that I’m starting to think I’ve done something wrong. I keep replaying the last five minutes in my mind, but I can’t think of what that could be.
Finally, he gently tucks an escaped strand of hair behind my ear.
I shiver.
“Maybe I should put my jacket back on,” I tell him, and he shakes his head with a smile.
“Maybe.”
Chapter 20
Hawk
As she pulls into the parking lot of the fairground, Marissa looks ready to cry. When she sees me approach, she slumps against the steering wheel.
DJ’s babbling in the back, so I unbuckle him. We have a whole conversation about his weekend plans while Marissa gets herself together.
“And your grandma’s gonna be there too? Wow. Please tell her hi from me,” I tell him right as his mom walks up to us.
She strokes his head with a sad smile, and I hand him over to her.
After I grab his overnight bag, neither of us says anything as we walk towards where Slim said he’d be.
I’m dying to know what she’s thinking.
“How was the event?” She asks, much to my surprise.
“Eventful,” I say with a wink. “Lucy won the bikini contest.”
Her smile is big and sincere. “Oh, my God. I didn’t even know she’d signed up for it.”
“Shroomie talked her into it.”
“That makes sense. Was she happy? Was there a prize?”
“She was, until Hammer ruined everything.”
She stops walking. “What happened?”
“Marissa!”
I turn towards the voice and see Slim frowning at us.
“Hey, man,” I greet him with a nod, and he barely nods back.
“Hey,” Marissa says in a stilted voice as her eyes dart around. “Where have you parked?”
“Just over there,” he tilts his head to the right.
“Okay. Here’s his bag,” she gestures towards me, and I hand the bag over. “I’ve packed enough clothes and toys for this visit, but I’d really recommend buying your own things,” she tells him matter-of-factly.
My stomach turns at the proprietary way Slim examines every inch of her before nodding. “Okay, text me a list.”
I huff a disbelieving laugh through my nose. This fucker.
“Did you look at the one I’ve sent you for this visit?”
