Page 16 of Same One
“Being nice to me for a week, and waving back when I wave at you on the road,” Delta said with a grin on her face. “You have been a grizzly bear lately.”
Tabian ducked a smile. “Deal.” She had a point. He had been the king of the distance lately. He wasn’t surprised Delta felt it. She was a feeler.
He stared at the bottle of wine she left beside the door after Delta left, knowing damn-well he wouldn’t ever open that thing. Tru wasn’t going to travel out here. Not in a million years.
He built the dresser and his bed frame and had moved onto the chairs when he heard the engine of an unfamiliar little car.
And oh, the hope that bloomed in his chest was going to destroy him when it ended up not being Tru.
He stood from where he was sitting on the plastic covered couch and made his way to the door, and he stood there in shock as the little black Camry picked its way through the clearing and stopped in front of Liam’s house. The address included all of these homes here. Through the un-tinted windows, he could see Tru, clear as day.
She looked uncertain and nervous, and scanned the homes.
“Oh, hell yeah,” he rumbled as he jogged toward her.
She jerked her attention to him and turned the wheel and headed his way. She pointed to his home with a questioning look, and he nodded and gestured her to park in front of his place.
She parked it and pushed open the door, and he couldn’t help his grin as he noticed what she was wearing. Her hair was in the cutest messy bun he’d ever witnessed, and she wore a pair of navy-blue sweatpants, with a little matching tight top, and a baggy hoodie she had left unzipped, exposing the most perfect cleavage he’d ever seen in his entire existence.
“Hi,” she said, pulling a paper bag out of her car and standing there awkwardly. God, she was so freaking cute. “Um, I can’t stay. I was just bringing you a housewarming gift.” Her cheeks were bright red as she stared at the ground and offered the paper bag.
He could smell the spaghetti sauce and garlic bread from here.
“I don’t know what you like to drink, so I just grabbed one of Bayen’s sodas out of the fridge. I figured you don’t have a lot of kitchen supplies unloaded yet, so I put some silverware in there and a roll of paper towels.”
Heart pounding against his chest, Tabian reached for the bag and then gave into the urge and pulled her along with it and gave her a hug. “You have no idea how happy I am right now.”
She’d gone into the hug stiffly, but the tension eased in her shoulders, and she slowly wrapped her arms around his waist. “Hungry?”
“Starving. I got you a present too. Want to see?” he asked.
“Oh, I really have to get going,” she explained, easing out of his arms. “I have to watch my phone just in case Bay needs anything.”
“You call him Bay for short?”
“Yeah. He’s Bay to me.”
Tabian could hear the love for her stepson in her voice. Her cheeks were so pink right now. God, her blue eyes were so clear in the waning evening light. Beautiful woman. Whatever asshole had thrown her away, Tabian bet he was feeling the loss. Tru was special. This thoughtful gesture touched him more than she could understand.
She’d driven all the way out here just to bring him a housewarming meal.
“Um, maybe I could stay for just a minute.”
It took every ounce of strength he possessed not to reach for her hand to lead her up the porch stairs to his house. Instead, he clenched his fist to rid himself of the tingling sensation there and led the way up the stairs. He gestured to the outdoor furniture he still hadn’t arranged in any kind of organized fashion. “Outside sitting area,” he explained. “I want to get one of those propane fueled fire pits, but I’m going to have to wait until my next payday.”
“I have one of those and I use it all the time,” she told him, and he smiled at the excitement in her voice.
“There’s something about staring at a fire, huh?” he asked as he pushed the front door open and held it for her.
“A good fire can fix your whole soul.”
Atta girl. They would match just fine.
Inside, he set the bag of food onto the counter and started to unload it. She’d put more stuff in there, including an entire container of plasticware. The whole roll of paper towels was accompanied by the orange soda and three bottles of water. Underneath the plastic container of spaghetti and foil-wrapped garlic bread, there was a pile of granola bars and fruit snacks and treats he hadn’t eaten since he was a kid. There was also a single roll of toilet paper, a hand towel, and hand soap.
She’d put together an entire move-in care package for him.
“You’re the coolest human I’ve ever met,” he said, stunned as he looked everything over.
