Joel followed his gaze to see Raven outside, fiddling with her purse. A deep frown was set between her brows and she looked tired. Dark circles shadowed her eyes, her lips curving down.
Without taking his eyes off Raven, Connor squeezed Joel’s shoulder. “I’ll be back.”
As his friend headed toward the door, Polly took his seat. “Is it okay if I sit here?”
“Absolutely. In fact,” —he tugged her chair closer, so her thigh pressed to his—“if Connor wants his seat back, you can sit on my lap.”
She scoffed. “I’m sorry, but you will be denied that pleasure. We are not going to be a second Anika and Mark. Public displays of affection are not my thing.”
“Huh.” He grabbed her around the waist and heaved her onto his lap.
She gasped and pushed at his chest. “Joel.”
He grinned, his hold on her waist like iron. “Is this so bad?”
She rolled her eyes but smiled. “Fine. Maybe I like it. Maybe I don’t even care who’s looking.”
He chuckled.
Her gaze caught on the window, and she nodded toward Connor and Raven on the other side of the glass. “Is something going on between those two?”
“Not yet.”
“Yet?”
Joel lifted a shoulder. “I think Connor’s interested. It just depends on Raven.”
“I’m worried about her. I mean, I don’t know her very well, but when I went to the community center to thank her for what she did by the river, she was really jumpy and looked so tired.” She frowned, still looking at Raven before shaking her head. “I tried to gently ask her if everything was okay, and she said it was. I wanted to push but…”
“But it’s her life? When has that ever stopped you?”
She hit his shoulder. “Hey.”
“Ow.” He grabbed his shoulder.
“Don’t be a baby.”
“You know, you’re starting to sound like the old Polly. The one who told me to go play in traffic.”
She threw back her head and laughed. “Yeah, I was a bit mean. But to be fair, I wasn’t very nice toanyman.”
“Luckily, I saw through that hard façade.”
“Was it a façade?”
“We both know you were hopelessly in love with me since the day you first set your eyes on all this.”
Her gaze softened. “I think you might be right, Dawson.”
He hovered his lips over hers. “So you don’t want me to play in traffic?”
“Only if I get to play with you.”
He chuckled before closing that last bit of distance and kissing her. Holding her. Loving her.
32
Connor rose from his seat, his gaze on Raven on the other side of the glass. Her blond hair was down today, and she wore this cute red dress with boots that went halfway up her calves.
