Page 152 of Crew Princess
All the weird stuff disappeared, and need, hot and yearning, need took its place.
Cross pulled back. “I fucking wish, but not here. Not in Heather’s office.”
I gave the room a quick scan. He was right. There was a sign positioned in the corner that said Chef Rules To Follow: Don’t let anyone pasta away.
I shook my head. “That must’ve been a gift. Why would anyone choose to put that in their office?”
Cross dipped his head down, peppering kisses over my throat. “If we weren’t here to celebrateyou, I’d make up some excuse for us to ditch. I think we should have a day, just you and me, where we do that. Where we celebrate each other. You game? We could go somewhere. Alone. Just be. You know?”
It sounded heavenly. “I’m game.”
We hadn’t talked much the night before when he’d crawled into bed. He’d been at another family dinner, except this one had just been family. No significant others. The mom. The dad. Taz and Cross. I didn’t think Blaise was included, and Cross had been quiet this morning. And then Heather had asked me to come early and help her pick out last-minute decorations since the party was for me.
I cupped the side of his face, my thumb running down his cheek. “How’d last night go?”
His arms tightened around me, and a shadow crossed his face. “It was what it was.”
I waited, but he didn’t add anything. Giving his chest a tap, I tipped my head back. “Hey. It’s me. Talk. Let me in.”
His eyes lifted. They were so hooded, so haunted, that my heart sank.
He closed them again. “Taz is going to Grant West, and what you said came true. My mom is leaving with her. She’s going to buy a house there, settle in, get a job.”
I waited, but nothing.
My hand flexed on his chest. “And your dad?”
“He’s here.” He looked up again. “What else is there to say?”
Kids went away to college. Parents stayed back. That was to be expected. I didn’t think Cross was feeling the pain of that. It was the fact that his entire foundation was shifting under his feet. He had no home to come back to, but then I thought about it, and he did. It was me. It was here. It was Zellman and Jordan.
“Where’s Blaise going to college?”
“Cain.”
“Are you serious?”
He nodded, his face grim. “He was supposed to go somewhere in the east. Don’t know why he switched.”
“You think it’s because you’re going there?”
Cross was silent, and then shook his head. “No. The two times our paths crossed since that dinner, he hasn’t given me the time of day. My guess is there’s some other reason he switched.”
Cross hadn’t said anything more about his brother, or his parents, or even his sister. I asked every few days, and he responded, but the answers were like this. He was letting me in, he just wasn’tfullyletting me in. There was an ocean of stuff in there about his family, but I’d be here when he was ready. And I knew it’d come out at some point. Everything did.
I smoothed a hand down his chest, hooking into his jeans. “After tonight. You and me. Yeah?”
He nodded, resting his forehead against mine. He breathed out, “Sounds perfect.”
“I love you.”
“I loveyou.”
We could hear Heather walk past us, saying something about Zellman. Her words were muffled, but it was enough to remind us where we were.
“It’s your party today,” Cross said.
“It is. All of Heather and Channing’s friends are here too. Or they’re coming.”
