Page 35 of Hollywood

I laughed. “Pretty sure I knew what you meant, Holls. It’s alright. Everyone wants these magic hands on them.”

He rolled his eyes. “Cocky bastard.”

“Bas?” Ruby said. “Cock Bas!”

“No!” he exclaimed, looking horrified. “I said cookie monster!”

Her eyes lit up. “Cookie?”

My phone buzzed with a text while Hollywood tried to dig himself out of a hole with Ruby. Poor guy was going to have to bribe her with sugar. I checked my messages to see a group text from Knight. I scanned it and looked over at Hollywood.

“Hey, Knight says the guys found a trailer for you to check out at Clover Leaf. Want to swing by before you take Ruby up to the hospital?”

Hollywood checked the time. “Oh, wow. That was fast.Yeah, I just told Carrie we’d be there midmorning, so there’s time.”

I typed out a reply to Knight, then nodded. “Okay, we’re all set.”

Hollywood grabbed a bag of supplies for Ruby containing her favorite bunny, a couple of pullups and wipes in case of any potty accidents, and a few snacks. She held her sippy cup filled with apple juice, slurping as I put her into the car seat and buckled her in.

“Okay, princess, we should be all set.”

She pulled the cup from her mouth. “No. I Ruby.”

“My mistake, Ruby. You’re just as pretty as a princess. I was confused.”

She gave me another one of those skeptical looks that were becoming a frequent part of our exchanges. Now that Ruby had settled in a little, her personality was coming out, and this girl was going to be sasssssy. Chastity would love her.

I jogged around the passenger side of Hollywood’s car and slid in.

Hollywood started the engine. “Okay, here we go.”

“Go!” Ruby echoed.

I buckled my seat belt while Hollywood shifted into reverse. Ruby kicked the back of his seat, making him flinch, then laughed at her naughtiness. She pulled back her foot to do it again, and I reached back to catch her ankle.

“It’s fine,” Hollywood murmured.

“Oh, I know.” I tugged off Ruby’s shoe. “I just couldn’t resist these little toes.”

I tickled her foot, making her giggle as Hollywood turned down the side street. He shook his head, a smile playing around his mouth. “Always saving me. Maybe we should start calling you Knight.”

I smirked. “I think he’d fight me for it, and we both know he’d win.”

“No kidding,” Hollywood said. “That fight he took on was something else.”

“The drive home was certainly interesting too…”

Knight had been pumped full of adrenaline, and he and Aiden had gone at it in the back seat.

The whole time, I kept thinking, what’s so bad about that? Why can’t I let myself have that with a guy? I wasn’t homophobic. Not on the outside. But there was a small voice inside that kept saying,It’s fine for them. Just not for you. That’s not who you are.

“What happened?” Hollywood asked as he slowed for a stop sign.

“What?”

“On the drive home?” he said. “What happened?”

I glanced into the back seat. “Uh, let’s just say it was not appropriate for little ears.”