Page 182 of Will Bark for Pizza
“I saw what you did for her.” She nodded her head upward. “Upstairs.”
I nodded, because I didn’t know what else to say.
“You’re a good man. I hope Kira realizes that.”
It warmed my heart to have her blessing. “She’s been through a lot.”
“Obviously.”
We both chuckled, but tension hung in the air anyway. Travis was sitting in a jail cell twenty miles down the road because he was stupid enough to get behind the wheel of his car while intoxicated. Luke arrested him before he could put his keys in the ignition and hurt anyone.
He was safer in jail than anywhere else.
Bastard.
All I could think was,Husker knew. The one time that dog forwent treats to get back to his mom, I should have known something was amiss.
“Good luck,” Connie said.
I slipped into the back, and up the stairs.
The door was locked, as I expected. I had a key, but I knocked first and waited.
Nothing.
I knocked again. “Kira? Are you in there?”
The deadbolt clicked open and the door pulled back slowly. “Hey, Beckett. You might as well come in.”
Her red-rimmed eyes were puffy, her makeup smeared. Her hair was pulled back into a low messy bun. The strong, fierce woman I watched stand up to her worthless ex appeared fragile and broken.
I closed the door behind me and reached to gather her into my arms.
Kira flinched and took a step back.
Fuck, I hated that.
I stuffed my hands in my pockets instead. “Sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” she said, her voice hoarse. “You’re amazing, Beckett.”
Double fuck. I recognized that tone, and it caused me to brace.
“I can’t believe you did all this for me,” she said, waving her hand to indicate the whole room.
The twinkle lights gave the studio apartment a soft, magical glow. But this moment was anything but soft or magical. I could feel her tension as strongly as if it were my own.
“I’m going to pay you back,” she said.
“No, you’re not.”
She flinched again, drawing attention to the harshness in my tone. But dammit, I was so fucking over her thinking I did things so she owed me.
“I’m nothim, Kira,” I said firmly.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
