“Hey, baby. Is everything okay?”
“I’m okay,” she replies, her voice warm. “I just wanted to ring you while I walk home.”
I stop mid-step.
“You're walking?” I move closer to the glass, looking out into the dark. It's pitch black beyond the garden lights, drizzle misting the air.
“Why didn't you ring me to pick you up?” The thought of her alone out there—in this weather, at this hour—makes something protective and restless settle in my chest.
“I have rung you. And besides, I didn't want to interrupt your time with your brothers.”
She says it so sweetly, like my time and family matter more than her safety. I can't help the grin that pulls at my mouth, even if I’m slightly annoyed.
She honestly has no idea what I would actually do for her.
“Believe me,” I reply honestly, leaning a shoulder against the glass, “I would rather be with you than them right now.”
There's laughter faintly in the background.
“I’m serious,” I add. “Where are you?”
She hesitates, her breathing heavy. “A few streets over from where you are.”
I’m already reaching for my keys. “You stay on the phone. I’m coming to you.”
“You don't have to—”
“I know,” I interrupt gently. “I want to.”
A small pause as I pull on my jacket.
“Okay.”
And just like that, there's nowhere else in the world I’d rather be than walking through the dark toward her.
Chapter 34
Willow
“You’re practising a lot lately.”
River comes over in his usual training gear, water bottle in hand, brows creased in that worried way I don't particularly like seeing. I know what that look means—and I don't want it. I don't want people worrying about me. I’m not fragile. I’m just coping in my own way.
Dancing helps. It keeps my mind busy.
And well… Elijah’s tongue between my legs this morning in the shower also helped. Very distracting.
He was adamant about having my taste on his lips when he went to work, and he succeeded.
“You really need to stop worrying; I’m fine.”
I shift slightly in my split, pulling my leg slowly to the front, not even bothering to look at him when I add. “Which you would know if you were around more.”
River goes quiet for a second.
“Is that a dig?”
“Call it what you want,” I reply lightly, hoping he just leaves me alone.
