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Assuming I didn’t have a choice, I leaned down and hugged her. She gripped me tightly, and I could imagine her offering the same affection to her kids.

After we stopped hugging, Yarrow studied me. “I’m sorry you got hurt.”

“Thank you. I’m sorry you got hurt, too.”

Yarrow considered my meaning before realizing I was talking about her childhood. Nodding, she exhaled deeply.

“I wanted my babies to grow up to be safe. Then, Boone got locked up. Goldie lost her braid, and the assholes hurt her hands. Now, this. I don’t like having adult kids. They were easier to protect when they were little.”

“The men who hurt her were scared when they died,” I said, sensing Yarrow would appreciate knowing about their suffering.

Goldie’s mom rewarded me with a big grin. She took my hand and guided me into the family room. Rather than have me sit in the nearby chair, she nudged me onto the couch on the other side of Goldie. Yarrow sat on the coffee table and watched her daughter sleep.

Soon, Goldie woke with a start and looked relieved to find herself surrounded by her people. She noticed me next to her and offered a smile that brightened her battered face. I lifted my arm so she could use my chest like a pillow, as she had been doing with her dad. Once Goldie created room, Yarrow settled between her daughter and husband.

As we sat together on the couch and watched “Live and Let Die,” I could see the real value of lowering my guard with these people. Even if I didn’t, though, Goldie came with a strong family unit. Keeping them at arm’s length would never be an option if I wanted to make her mine.

GOLDIE

York never complained about being away from home. Not when we watched Bond movies all day, or he endured the noise of so many people in the house. I also noticed how he tried to connect with my parents and friends.

Yarrow decided she wanted York to marry me. She thought he was a good fit for the family.

“Not too emotional,” she said while helping me in the bathroom. “He knows when to shut up. York reminds me of your brother.”

Rather than answer the question of where I would live, my mom focused on the fun stuff like the wedding.

“Duffy can be in the wedding like she was with Boone’s,” Yarrow insisted days later while York was out back with Blackjack and Boone. “She liked wearing the flowers in her hair.”

I thought of Duffy and the other Rawlins kids. The Tooker siblings hadn’t decided when they were returning to Little Memphis. They were comfortable in the split-level house and riding with their parents. I didn’t doubt that Little Memphis’s wildness would eventually draw them back here.

Cher and Stevie remained in Little Memphis, as did their parents. Tricky had survived the first few days after his surgery. He was awake but heavily sedated. Cher spent her days with his parents, Joker and Amanda, at the hospital. Stevie stuck close to her sister when not running around the Sorority House with Anise and Yarrow.

For hours, the three of them acted like kids, playing tag and hide-and-seek. I suspected York thought my mom was weird, but he never showed her any disdain.

“Yarrow wants you to knock me up with a boy,” I told him as I adjusted myself in bed that night. “She thinks Nova will have another daughter. My mom wants a grandson.”

“Are we at the point where we’re talking about kids?” York asked as he squatted next to Mochi and stroked her little body.

My dog was head over heels in love with York. He gave the best rubs. His hands were like magic, and she was a fan.

Though I also loved his hands, I had barely gotten to feel them on me. Despite sharing a bed, we were kept apart by a pillow wall.

Every night, I removed another pillow. The top part of the wall was now gone. I could touch York more easily, and he could fondle me. Yet, he kept to himself, still worried about hurting me.

“I know talking about babies isn’t sexy, but I want to fuck,” I said as he crawled into bed.

“How would that work?”

Though I considered teasing him about needing instructions, I ached to feel him inside me.

After adjusting onto my left side, I tugged up my shirt and flashed my bare ass. “Are you keeping your dick holstered because I brought up babies?”

“No,” York said and slid my hair from my neck before kissing just under my ear. As I moaned, he explained, “I’ve been thinking about kids since we hooked up. I always knew you and I would either want more or crash and burn. I never thought the fuck buddy thing would last.”

His palm caressed my waist before lifting to my breast. York’s lips teased my throat while I reached back to stroke his face.

“Just relax. Don’t tire yourself out,” York murmured and nibbled at my earlobe. “Let me work my magic.”