Page 105 of Relentles
The sparkle in his eyes flickered out and she laid her head on his chest. “Mama or the baby didn’t come back.”
A tremble assailed her. He tightened his hold and just held her, wishing he could take her pain away.
“My mom will…talk to my mom…”
His mother couldn’t fix everything. At the moment, she couldn’t even fix herself. He wasn’t sure if she was having a breakdown or was just so overwhelmed, she couldn’t process the reality of the situation. Separated from the moment, heunderstood why Dad shook her. Someone needed to shake sense into her.
CJ had never liked when his father lost his temper with her. Even when she had the ability to talk him down, laugh it off, or stand toe-to-toe with Dad.
Molly pressed closer to him and rubbed her cheek against his leather jacket. He held himself still, willing his body not to respond. She needed his friendship more than a meaningless attraction.
A couple of days ago, he’d been determined to win Jaleena. Now, he was remembering his kiss with Molly?
“Thank you, CJ,” she said quietly, her arms encircling his waist. “You don’t hurt me and make fun of me.”
“I won’t ever do that,” he promised. “Point me to the motherfucker who does and I’ll have a word with him.” Ryan’s face rose in his head and he blew out a breath. “I’ll talk to my cousin.”
“Ryan hasn’t been mean to me,” she admitted. “He was happy when I told him I was coming with Lolly and Pop to the club. Can I just say Lolly-Pop?”
“If it’s easier for you.”
Gripping handfuls of his jacket, she lifted her head to look at him. Her blue-gray gaze met his. Eyeshadow in shades of peach and pink showcased the silver, charcoal, and bright blue swirling in the depths of her irises.
“You won’t think I’m talking about candy?”
He refused to study her lips. The shimmery nude lipstick made them almost impossible to ignore. “No, Mo. I can contextualize.”
“I always think of candy when I say Lolly-Pop.”
“Candy isn’t a bad thought.” All things considered. “I love candy. Milky Way.” Like Mom. “Ferrero Rocher is a favorite, too.”
She frowned.
“What, bae?”
“Lolly took me shopping for my Christmas stuff and told me to buy gifts if I wanted to. I never did that before, so I didn’t know what to buy. I bought Ryan a book about movies on a bucket list. I couldn’t find the bucket to put it in, though.”
CJ would explain the term another time.
“I bought Pop a reusable planner and Grant a board game about space. He said he wouldn’t play it with anyone but me.” She beamed at CJ.
“Grant’s a good dude.” Much better than Ryan.
“I bought Lolly bath rock sugar from Brazil.”
“Himalayan bath salt, maybe?” Rebel loved that shit.
“Brazil and Himalaya aren’t the same.”
“One’s a mountain range and one’s a country,” CJ conceded.
“They’re both countries. Duh. Brazil is just closer, so they can send us the rock sugar.”
Another argument he’d wait to engage in.
“They didn’t even get mad at me when I told them what their presents were before they unwrapped them.”
“They aren’t like that.” Ryan was, although he was completely different toward Molly. “I’m glad to hear you were able to get out a little bit.”
