Page 55 of And Everything In Between

Spirit’s teasing grin transformed into something gentler. “Well, I wanted to check in on you. One more week and then we are home for a few months. Call her if you need to.”

He nodded, grateful for the permission he didn’t need but somehow wanted. As Spirit headed toward the door, he called after her.

“Aye Spirit?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

She winked. “That’s what sisters are for. To point out when their hardheaded brothers are in love.”

“I didn’t say all that.”

“You didn’t have to.” She tapped the side of her head. “I got eyes.”

When Spirit left, Giovanni stared at the page again. The lines were right, but something was missing. The soul, maybe. The essence that made Paige more than curves and angles. Howcould he capture that fire in her eyes? The stubborn set of her jaw? The way she softened when she thought no one was looking?

He smiled slowly, caught off-guard by how quickly she’d become essential to him. A month ago, she was a beautiful woman that caught his attention at a car show. Now she was the measuring stick for everything else in his life. The obsession had snuck up on him - quiet, persistent, impossible to ignore. She was warmth and realness in a city that manufactured both, and there was nothing genuine about LA, at least not to him.

LA appeared larger than life but felt hollow compared to what he craved: southern comfort and his southern woman who never pretended to be anything other than exactly who she was. His fingers itched toward his phone. It sat face-up on the table, screen dark. She hadn’t texted yet, but she wasn’t ignoring him either. They were good. At least, he thought they were. Still, the silence gnawed at him. He didn’t want to be the needy dude calling for validation, but damn, he wanted to hear her voice.

He picked up the phone, stared at it for a long moment, then tapped her name.

It rang twice.

“Hey,” Paige answered, voice warm, already working on him.

He exhaled a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. “You busy?”

“Nope.” Her face lit up the screen, hair in a sleek ponytail, lip gloss worn off, looking like home. “Just got in from work.”

He didn’t bother pretending. “This shit out here got me in a mood.”

She leaned in closer, face softening. He didn’t have to explain. Not to her.

“L.A. feels fake,” he muttered. “Big for no reason. Like I walked into a room I ain’t ask to be in.”

She didn’t rush to fill the space. Just watched him.

“You built for rooms bigger than this,” she said finally. “Don’t matter if they flashy or not.”

He nodded slowly, but the weight didn’t lift. “Maybe. But tonight? I feel off. Tired. I don’t even know if this is really me, Cinny.”

Silence stretched, but not the kind that made him second-guess himself. This was her listening, like she always did. And also, lowkey? Squeezing her thighs together because that nicknamedid something to her.

“There’s nothing too big for you,” she said, voice softer now, but still solid. “You deserve to pop your shit.”

Then quieter, more thoughtful… “But I get why it feels like that.”

“I miss you,” he admitted, dragging a hand down his beard. He’d completely ditched the conversation about his fears to tell her how he felt. Paige had the ability to pull the softest parts of him to the forefront, and she didn’t even know it.

“I miss you too,” she replied, covering the smile on her face, easing some of the tension from his shoulders. “My granny used to say L.A. is the devil’s town. I shoulda put that oil on you before you left.”

He chuckled, the laugh catching in his throat. “You always gotta say something to make me laugh.”

“That’s my job,” she said. “But seriously, you’re tired. You’re workin’. Your team needs things. And you’re trying to juggle it all while wondering if I’m still gonna be here when you’re done with all of it. Aren’t you?”

He said nothing.

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