“Make sure I get the correct credit, Will.” She smiles as she pulls back, and I have to laugh. Okay, maybe I did miss this.
“Always.”
Oakley clears his throat, and I watch Ainsley’s eyes look him up and down before looking at me with a sly smirk and an arched eyebrow.
“Wonderful to see you, Oakley. Please come in.” She steps aside, fanning out her arm like Vanna White, and I don’t hide my laughter.
“Girl, we need to talk about that later,” she says out of the corner of her mouth as Oakley walks past.
“We can talk about it at dinner if you’d like,” Oakley calls over his shoulder, and I snort as Ainsley’s cheeks turn bright pink.
“Well, that’s not embarrassing at all. I thought I was craftier than that.” She walks to the kitchen, where Ledger and Rina are leaning on the island.
Ledger stands and holds out his hand to Oakley. “Eye looks good.”
Oakley huffs out a laugh. “Yeah, it healed nicely.”
“Oh, Jesus, stop the macho-man act, you two. Who’s cooking dinner?” I move and give Rina a hug as she smirks at the men.
“I haven’t seen Ledg’s ‘dad act’ in a while. This is fun,” she whispers to me.
“It’s only fun when it’s not happening to you.” I pull a seltzer and a water out of the fridge and crack it open, tossing the water to Oakley.
“I’m cooking, and I’m making Ainsley’s favorite,” Ledger says, arching an eyebrow, daring me to question him.
I truly don’t care what he cooks for dinner. I’m just happy to get some of his home-cooked food. Although, a certain coffee shop owner sure has been spoiling me on that lately.
Ledger moves to the stove to stir some things in pots as Oakley joins him to help. I smile at how he seamlessly works himself into my family, like he was always meant to be here.
“So, the plan is to bring Lennox home tomorrow. He’s being a crotchety asshole to the nurses because he’s going crazy sitting in the hospital. The good news is that all the superficial cuts have healed nicely, and the deeper ones are out of the danger zone and healing well. The doctor said he’ll need stitches out soon, but we can do that here.”
We all nod, happy with the progress this extended hospital stay allowed.
“I am worried about him being alone in that cabin of his,” Ledger says.
“I offered to have him stay with me for a little bit, and he immediately said no,” I tell him.
“Yeah, I offered too. It probably didn’t help that we both asked,” Rina adds.
“Shit, I did too. No wonder he wants to be alone,” Ledger says.
“Him being alone isn’t a bad thing, but I do think it’s wise that someone checks up on him daily, or every other day for the next few weeks. He’s been through … a lot, and even if it annoys him, it’s better to be cautious,” Oakley says. If anyone knows what he went through, it’s him. And if there’s anyone who’s seen the aftermath of Tennison, it’s Oakley.
“And what if it pushes him away more?” Rina asks.
“Honestly?” We all nod. “It probably will. He’s going to be angry and not understand a lot of the feelings he’s feeling. Hell, I stillfeel that way, and I was never directly attacked.” I wince at the thought but also at the fact that he was. He was stabbed, and he’s brushing it aside like it’s nothing. I’m going to have to take his own advice and use it on him, I think.
“And what do we do when turns that anger onto us? I don’t want to push him too far,” I say.
“I think it’s important to feel him out daily. Just general texts and see how he’s doing. You all have different relationships, so one day, he may benefit from joking around” — he looks at me — “or tough love.” He looks at Ledger.
“Why do we automatically assume I’m the tough love?” he asks, put out.
The four of us burst out in laughter, and he rolls his eyes. “One punch, and suddenly I’m the hard-ass,” he mutters.
“It was a good punch.” Oakley grins.
“It fucking hurt like hell. My hand was all swollen,” Ledger tells him. My eyes ping pong between them, and I am amazed at their interaction. One little conversation, and now they’re joking about the punch.Men.
