Page 113 of Ransom

"Gossip about what?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe the giant tour bus that rolled into town and the twenty extra people that rolled off of it?" Ican’t even imagine how much worse it would have been if we’d brought the dogs. Luckily Cadence had room at the shelter for our pups to go play for the day.

"Really?" he says, looking so hot, yet so oblivious. He has no idea what he's stepped into.

"You still don't get it, do you? If you'd done that at home, people would look, and they'd go home and mention it to their families, but that would be it. It's just one more weird thing you'd see in a city. Here? Twenty years from now, two old guys will be sitting on one of these benches. One guy will turn to the other guy and say, 'Remember that time that fancy bus pulled up and all those odd city people stormed the town?' and the other guy will go, 'Yup, there must have been a hundred of them, all as big as football players.' Then, another twenty years later, it'll be two hundred giants getting off that bus."

"You're shitting me?"

"I shit you not, baby. That's how small towns work."

He scowls, planting his hands on his hips. "So everybody gossips about everybody. Sounds really fucking suffocating."

"Sometimes. But when Dad got sick, people brought casseroles, drove him to chemo, and would come and sit with him." I take another sip of coffee. "You don't get that kind of support in the city. Well, maybe you do, but it's harder to find. That kind of looking out for each other is built into towns like this."

He reaches out, running his finger down the bridge of my nose, tapping each freckle as he passes. There's a lot of freckles, so a lot of little taps. My man loves my freckles and loves to count them with his tongue every chance he gets. And I'm completely covered. It's a long, frustrating, amazing experience.

"Do you miss it?" he asks, eyes narrowed.

"Parts of it. The community, knowing your neighbors have your back." A group of kids races past us on skateboards, andI smile. "Teaching those kids was special. Being able to watch them grow up and to see them outside the Dojo was pretty special."

Kade turns in a slow circle, looking thoughtful, then he pulls me into a hug. I tip my chin up as his troubled eyes meet mine. "You came to the city for a fresh start. And I'm fucking lucky that you did. But do you wish you lived someplace like this?"

I lean up and kiss him softly, my fingers curling into his shirt. "I love where we live. Our family's there; our life's there. But maybe we could have both?"

"Both?" His eyebrows scrunch together.

"Yeah. Like when we have kids, it'd be nice to have a place like this to visit. Let them ride bikes up and down the streets, sit on the porch drinking lemonade while they play."

Kade freezes, his whole body going still. "Kids? We're having kids?"

"Well, I mean, eventually. If you want them." I trace circles on his chest. "Can you imagine? Little ninjas running around, dropping f-bombs like their daddy?"

"Holy fuck." His face breaks into a grin. "Our kid's first word would be fuck."

"And I'd teach them how to roundhouse kick before they could walk."

"They'd definitely get sent home from school."

"For cursing or fighting?"

"Both. Probably at the same fucking time." He pulls me closer. "We'd be amazing parents."

"The best. I mean, who else would teach their kids proper choke hold technique?"

"Or how to swear in three different languages?"

I snort-laugh against his chest. "See? We'd be too awesome not to reproduce. It's like our duty to humanity."

"Fuck yeah it is." His hands slide down to my hips. "When do you want to start this service to mankind?"

"Soon. But maybe we should practice the baby-making part first, you know, just to make sure we're going to get it right when we're ready?"

"Now that's the kind of fucking practice," he stops to giggle-snort at the pun, "I can get behind."

I'm watching my husband's eyes glaze over as his hands roam lower on my hips. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"That bus has bunks." He grins. "And everyone else is in the diner."

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