Page 71 of Protecting Josie
“Thanks. Think I’ll see if I can wrangle her home. Thanks for getting all her things to my truck.”
“Of course.” Preacher slapped Blink on the shoulder. “It’s good to see you happy, Blink. For a while there, we weren’t sure you’d be able to climb out of that mental pit you were in.”
Blink looked his friend in the eye and said, “Me either. But Remi helped with that. As did all of you. None of you looked down on me for feeling the way I did. I’ll always appreciate it.”
Preacher snorted. “If I lost any of you guys, like what happened to your first team, I’m not sure I’d ever be able to get over it. You told Safe earlier tonight that you’re in awe of Josie’s strength, but you’re a perfect match for her. You’rebothstrong as hell. Take her home. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Blink hadn’t ever really thought of himself like that. He simply did what needed to be done, when it needed doing. And he certainly hadn’t felt strong when he’d been lost in his head after his friends were killed and injured. But sometimes being strong was putting one foot in front of the other day after day, when all you wanted to do instead was curl into a ball and fade into nothingness.
Josie was talking animatedly to Smiley and Flash when Blink approached. He wrapped an arm around her chest diagonally from behind. “Ready to go?” he asked, interrupting the story she was telling his friends about a possum named Pete. He had no idea what the hell she was talking about—it was amazing how quickly her words returned when she felt safe and happy—but when she tilted her head up and smiled up athim, Blink knew he’d stand there and let her babble for hours, if that’s what she wanted to do.
“Ready,” she said instead.
Shifting, Blink took her hand in his and gave his friends a chin lift and headed for the door, before Josie could get sidetracked again.
She paused before walking through and waved at the bar, not at anyone in particular, and said, “Bye Aces! I’m out!”
People chuckled and called out their goodbyes as Blink pulled her through the door to the parking lot with a smile on his face.
“Hey, wait…did everyone save this parking spot for us?” she asked, as Blink led her to his truck.
“Yup.”
“That’s awesome!” she exclaimed.
Lots of things had been “awesome” for her tonight, and Blink thought it was adorable as hell.
He opened her door and lifted her into the passenger seat with ease. She let him snap her seat belt into place, but stopped him before he could step back and close the door. “Nate?”
She sounded serious for the first time in hours. “Yeah, hon?”
“No one has ever done anything like this for me. The party. Thank you.”
“You should’ve had this kind of thing all your life before now. And I’m going to do my best to spoil you and make sure you know how much you’re loved from here on out.”
A smile formed on her lips. “I repeat, you aresogetting some when we get home.”
Blink chuckled. He wasn’t sure she’d be able to stay awake for the drive home, forget about doing more when they got there.
“Okay, Spirit.”
“I’ve decided that I like that nickname,” she informed him.
“Good. Watch your arm, I’m shutting the door.”
She leaned left, and Blink got the door closed. He jogged around to the driver’s side and climbed in. Before long, they were headed home. He kept looking over at Josie, only to see her gaze glued on him every time.
“What?” he finally asked when they were halfway home.
“I love your freckles. And your hair. I’ve always wanted red-haired babies.”
Blink gaped. But she went on as if she hadn’t just rocked his world.
“And twins. I know they’re more work, but since you’re a twin, they probably run in your family. I wanted a brother or sister so bad when I was growing up, but of course Mom was single, so that wasn’t happening, or so she told me. I think three.”
“Three what?” Blink asked when she didn’t continue.
“Kids.”
