Page 123 of Wilde's End
Bob gives me a feral hiss, but I ignore him.
“Noted.” The curl to Lynx’s lips makes it hard to believe him, but all we have out here is our word. He’s given me his, and for better or worse, I’ve given him mine.
I told Hudson that I’m not a murderer, and I stand by that, but I am a protector, and I am dangerous. If Lynx comes near him again, I’ll do whatever I have to in order to defend my man.
I force a smile that still doesn’t feel right on my face. “That last crop of carrots were delicious, by the way.”
“Always nice to be appreciated.”
I turn and leave them, then kill some time before swinging back to grab Ziggy. He slides into the car and places his toolbox at his feet, and then we’re off again.
It’s a quiet drive, but he’s humming with something I can’t place. Something that brightens all of his usually hidden features.
“Crush still going strong?” I guess.
He scowls and crosses his arms over his narrow chest.
“I’d put in a good word for you, but I’m pretty sure Kennedy still thinks I’m mistreating his brother.”
That earns me a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.
“It’s fine. Bringing Hudson back earned me some points, and I still have a long time to win him all the way over.” I could probably try harder to convince Kennedy that I’m not another Sutton, but I’m still working on convincing myself. I’d never treat Hudson like he did, but that doesn’t necessarily mean I’m going to treat him right all the time either. Just like Kennedy, I still need time to trust myself that I can do it right.
We pull up in Old End, and I follow Ziggy out of the car. We walk straight into house two, and I trail after him, still not sure if I should stay or go. Hudson’s brothers … well, they intimidate. There’s no real reason for it other than this deep-seated want for them to like me.
“Ziggy!” Kennedy’s voice echoes through the old framework. “Wasn’t sure if you’d be here today.”
He holds up his toolbox.
“Awesome, let’s start over here.” Kennedy lightly sets his hand on Ziggy’s back and steers him away as Hudson notices me.
“I wasn’t expecting to see you.” He greets me with a long kiss, hand gripping my ass and long body pressed tightly against mine.
“I can go.”
“I never want that,” he says against my mouth. “But you never stop in. Everything okay?”
The question catches me off guard as I look into his trusting eyes, feeling the same emotion from him that’s been rattlingaround in my chest for so long now. “Yeah. It’s all sort of perfect.”
“Perfect is taking it a bit far.” He steps back, but his amusement is obvious as he gestures to the house. “Still lots of work to go.”
I tug him back against me. “I’m not romantic, so let me have this for a second. I can’t remember being happy like I am with you, so yeah. I’m allowed to think things are perfect because that’s exactly how I feel.”
“I’ve been scarily happy too,” he says, reaching up to play with my beard. “But every time I focus on being happy, I worry it will go away, and then it makes me sad again.”
“We’ve got issues.”
“Lots of issues. Lots and lots of perfect issues.”
I let out a small laugh and press my forehead to his. “Just taking this day by day, city boy.”
“Day by fucking day.” He kisses me again. “I’m glad you came by.”
“Me too.” I pull away a little, looking at all the work they have ahead of them. “Can I help?”
Hudson’s eyebrows almost shoot off his face. “Really? But?—”
“Yeah,” I cut him off because he doesn’t need to rehash my thoughts on this. Like I told Lynx, I’ve chosen to trust him, and part of that comes from not having an answer to our problems and knowing that one day we will. “But we’re doing this partner thing, and while I’ve never had one of those, I’m confident that one partner doesn’t leave the other to struggle through something alone.”
