Page 95 of Ridin' True
“Jed. I don’t know thisJed. Tell me where you are, Alexia.”
“I’m safe, mami. I promise, okay? It’s late. I’ll come over tomorrow. We can come for dinner. Okay? I’m fine. I promise.”
She was silent, but I could hear her breathing on the other end of the line, trying to calm down.
“I’ll call you in the morning,” I repeated. “Please let Bella and Alejo know I’m okay. And I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“I don’t understand. Who would do this to you,hija? What are the police saying?”
I sighed, wishing I had more patience, but certain my well had run dry.
“The detectives on my case are looking into it, mami. Just—please don’t worry. I’ll explain tomorrow. Please, can we do this tomorrow?”
“Fine. Fine.Tomorrow. If I don’t hear from you in the morning—”
“You will, mami. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
As we said our goodbyes, Jed came to stand in front of me.
“So, they covered the shooting on the news,” I told him, tossing aside my phone.
“Gathered that.”
I nodded and added, “Also, we have dinner plans tomorrow.”
He smirked. “Yup. Heard that, too.”
“I think I need to go to bed now.”
“Thank fuck,” he muttered, offering me his hand. “I don’t think I could stand to listen to another episode of that show.”
I laughed as I stood—a real, unstoppable laugh—and it felt good.
“Ah, come on. Admit it. You werekind ofinto it,” I teased.
“Negative.”
I dropped his hand and reached up to wrap my arms around his shoulders as I goaded, “But I bet if I asked you to stay home tomorrow and cuddle me while I watched the rest of the season you’d do it.”
He shook his head, but he did it smiling, and I knew that meantyes.
Before I got the chance to tease him any further, he bent down, grabbed hold of the back of my thighs, and lifted me off my feet. I hugged him close, wrapping my legs around him, and he carried me through the house this way—checking doors and windows, turning out lights as we went.
We were in bed shortly after, Jed’s body curled protectively around mine. When I closed my eyes—there was only darkness, but no fear.
So long as he was close, I didn’t need to be afraid.
Wrangler
Whenhewokethenext morning, Wrangler found himself in bed alone. He sat up with a start, searching the room for Alexia, but there was no sign of her. He tossed aside the covers and began to make his way into the next room. He’d barely reached the door when he smelled it.
Breakfast.
As he rounded the corner into the kitchen, he found Alexia at the sink doing dishes, still in hardly more than the shirt she snagged after their shower the night before. He stopped and watched her for a second, then greeted her with an inquisitive, “Darlin’?”
“Hmm?” she hummed, looking up from her task. “Oh, hi. You’re up. Perfect. Um, breakfast is almost ready. I made a frittata. It’s in the oven. I used the rest of your eggs and most of the shredded cheese, so we probably need to do a grocery run soon.”
