Page 115 of Carry On
They don’t care, the voice reminded me.
“Kid.” I offered Peter a hand to shake because I wasn’t the initiate-a-hug type. He knocked it away with a grin and dragged me in close. I muttered, “The height thing is going to throw me off for a while. The girls in Pine Creek must love you.”
“Eh,” He shrugged rather dramatically. “I only care about my heifers.”
The fact that he cared more about his cow than dating wasn’t a surprise, considering how much he loved animals.
“You can’t call women that,” I teased and punched him playfully in the shoulder. He feigned that it hurt all while laughing.
This right here with him… this was nice. I hadn’t known how to connect with Peter when he was a kid—and honestly, I still didn’t—but it was easy being able to joke and fuck around with him like this.
“Can I see your home?” Peter asked, sounding genuinely interested.
He’s not,the voice chimed in.
I did my best to shut those thoughts out.
Here and now. That was what mattered.
He was here.
He asked.
He wanted to.
That meant something.
“Yeah,” I answered slowly, but I glanced over my shoulder to where Lincoln stood waiting. “Give me just a minute to talk to Lincoln, though. I need to give him the heads up.”
I knew Lincoln would be all in for me showing Peter where I lived. That was a very normal thing to do, and Lincoln was all about the normal things.
“Sure.” His grin was huge, damn near breaking his face, and his enthusiasm was palpable. I did my best to return the enthusiasm, but it felt forced.
Leaving him with Charlotte and Mitchell, I walked down the sidewalk to join Lincoln. I shoved my hands in my pockets as I put my back to them, giving Lincoln my full attention.
“How are you?” he asked, stepping closer.
“Um…” I blew out a long breath while trying to put my thoughts in order. They were jumbled and chaotic, good and bad mingled together. “Peter wants to come back and see your condo.”
“Our condo,” Lincoln corrected.
His condo,the voice insisted.
“It’s your home too, Lucky.”
It’s not your home,the voice cut in.
I shut my eyes and counted slowly to ten, trying to organize my thoughts. Fuck, I was struggling. This whole ordeal had my head a mess. I didn’t like it.
“Lucky,” Lincoln began, stepping closer. His fingers toyed with the ends of my hair, and his breath was warm on my face. “Talk to me.”
“Just been a day,” I admitted. “I’ll be fine.”
At least, I hoped I would.
No, you won’t,the voice piped in.
“Do you want him to come visit?” Lincoln asked.
