Tucking her against my chest, I kissed her head and ran my hand up and down her back as she clung to me. “Hey, baby girl. You okay?”
She nodded against my chest, but wrapped her arms around my neck, clinging to me like her lifeline. Over the past two years, this little girl had wrapped me around her finger, and I gladly let her. She was the sweetest, fiercest child I’d ever met, and I had no doubt it was all because of her parents.
“What happened?”
“The house was attacked,” Parker said. “It’s shot to hell. Thank God for Knight’s improvements to the house, or we’d all be?—”
He cut himself off, his eyes flicking to his daughter.
“Never thought you’d say Knight was right.”
“Yeah, well, I never thought we’d be dealing with shit like this again. What are you doing here?”
“Cassidy was run down outside the police station. We were leaving Seafood & More, and that’s when someone attacked Alyssa. Ex-boyfriend, I think. Cassidy was running for help, and—” I swallowed hard, trying not to lose my shit again. “Hit and run. She’s lucky to be alive.”
“Sam,” Blake whispered, her eyes narrowing on me. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing. It’s nothing.”
“It doesn’t sound like nothing. I’ve never seen you like this.”
“Pissed? You’re goddamn right I’m pissed.”
Parker reached for his daughter, taking her from my arms. “I think we’ll leave you alone to talk.”
As he walked away, Blake grabbed my hand, pulling me down a deserted hallway. “Spill.”
“There’s nothing to say,” I snapped.
“Sam, what the hell is going on between you and Cassidy?”
I didn’t want to talk about this. Hell, I didn’t even want to think about it. Seeing her lying on the ground in a pool of blood was bad enough. The last thing I needed was to try to put a label on the sharp pain stabbing me in the chest.
“It’s just sex.”
She flinched back, glaring at me. “Seriously? You’re all broken up because your fuck buddy is in the hospital?”
I swallowed hard at her words. Fuck buddy wasn’t right at all. I tried that. I told myself that’s all we would be, but somehow, it just sounded wrong.
“Look, whatever it is…”
“Sam, when was the last time you actually had a relationship?”
“Never,” I muttered. “It’s kind of a career killer.”
“Then what are you doing with her? I know you’re trying to get back in the ring, so why would you pursue something with her?”
“It’s not like that. I mean…It’s an attraction.”
“You don’t follow your attraction to the hospital and hang out for hours, pacing the hospital until you can see her.”
“So, I can’t be worried about her unless I’m in love with her?” I snapped. “She was run down right in front of me!”
Her eyes softened as she tugged me unwillingly into her arms and hugged me. “I know. Is this because of Mom?”
I yanked myself out of her arms and shot her a disgusted look. “What? Because Mom died, I must be fucked up in the head?”
“You’ve been like this since she died. Did you think none of us noticed that you shy away from any sort of connection that might make you feel something?”
