Page 182 of A Lick and A Promise
“And if she’s feeling more forgiving of the mom unit than Knox is, and Gypsy told the mom he’d been hurt, the mom is now freaking and wants to make sure her boy is okay.”
“She should have made sure he got to junior football practice when he was eleven,” I snapped.
“Luna, honey, you’re among friends,” Raye cooed, reaching out and stroking my arm to soothe me. “I agree with you. I’m just trying to suss this out.”
I shut my mouth.
“Do you want to go back up to your apartment. Ditch tonight? I can give you a full debrief tomorrow.”
“No, I’m going.”
“Maybe—”
“I need to take my mind off that, and I need time to figure out how I’m going to tell Knox about it. He’ll definitely be home before me. He’ll also definitely be pissed as fuck his mom ambushed me. Another hour or two will assist me in the endeavor of finding the right words.”
“Whatever you need.”
That was what a friend said (so fuck you, all Dream’s ex-friends).
That was what made the foundation of a good partner, which would in turn form the foundations of a good mom (so fuck you, Cynthia Chambers).
That was what Knox had with the Hottie Squad.
The rest of the bullshit, he was out.
And we’d agreed that I wasn’t going to ask Dimitri to make that clear to Gypsy et al.
But damn it all to hell.
I just changed my mind.
TWENTY-ONE
THE RED BEAR
I walked into my apartment, preceding Knox and Brady.
Jacques ran to us, stopped, sniffed the hem of my dress, my foot, and started licking.
I turned when I heard Brady mutter (his mutter laced liberally with humor), “Later, brother.”
“Thanks for the ride,” Knox replied.
And oh yeah, his voice was laced with humor too.
A lot of it.
I watched them clasp hands and bump chests, Knox doing this holding the handles of the to-go bag he had, but that night had been such that I did not rejoice in seeing this male camaraderie.
Stiffly, I walked to the bathroom.
In it, I took off my shoes.
Instantly, Jacques grabbed one by the strap and dragged it out of the bathroom.
I let it go. I’d already said my sad goodbye to those boss shoes.
I stepped into the shower and shed my dress and underwear.
