Page 71 of Playing for Keeps (Checkmate 4)

A month from now, when Riley has his leg, I’m going to request another dance. We’ll toss the crutches away, and I’ll allow him to lean on me while we sway. And then, a few years after that, when I convince him he might actually want to marry and keep me around forever, we’ll dance to that song again and celebrate how far he’s come.

We’ll celebrate the fact he survived.

That he’s a hero.

That he’s resilient and can overcome anything.

Nervous, though I have no clue why, Riley led me toourroom while giving his dick a pep talk, then he made love to me in a way that was reminiscent of that time before the accident. The time he showed me how it could be without the angry fucking.

Riley’s not all better yet. He’s not even close. His mind and confidence have a hell of a lot more healing to do than his leg ever will, but he’s here with me, he’s participating and including me, and when we sleep, he does it with his face over my heart and soft breath fanning my chest.

Everything’s going to be okay.

For the first time since I got here, I know everything will be okay.

* * *

“Riley,I’m coming in with your Christmas present, so I need you to close your eyes, okay? Sit on the couch and tell me when you’re ready.” Standing at the front door with giddiness swirling in my heart, I hold his gift close and inch the front door open. “Riley! It’s snowing out here and cold as shit, so answer me, dammit.”

“I told you not to get me anything, Dee.” His crutches thump across the floor and head toward the front door. Riley Cruz’s default setting isgrump, but I have the motherload of all Christmas gifts right here with me, so he better get on board, or I might lace his brownies with something more dangerous than pot butter.

He swings the door open despite my instructions to sit the hell down. For the briefest moment, his eyes transform from exasperated, to loving, to downright angry when he notices his gift, to straight up big fat tears. “Mommy?”

Raya Cruz’s eyes spill over as she walks toward her son and throws her arms around his neck. “Hey, mijo. I missed you, baby.”

Riley cries on his mom’s shoulder. This big, strong, amazing man, cries against the tiny woman and almost uses her to stand up. He squeezes her tight and forgets that he’s injured and doesn’t want the world to know.

Today’s a good day for Raya; she knows who she is, she knows whoheis. She even knows who I am. She knows it’s Christmas day, and she was present enough to have a conversation with me before we left the home.

Riley got hurt at work, so he’s going to look a little different. But he’s okay. He’s not in pain. He just wants to spend the day with his mommy.

I help the couple into the warm house and out of the biting cold. Closing the door, I drop Raya’s overnight bag on the floor and pull my thick coat off.Note to self: I need to go shopping and give Lindsi’s clothes back.Moving forward, I help the unsteady couple move toward the couch. Raya clings to her baby like her life depends on it. And Riley’s clinging to his momma like he doesn’t ever want to let go again. The only issue is that neither of them are strong enough to hold the other up. So I take Raya’s arm with my right hand, and Riley’s in my left, and I lead them toward the couch.

We’ve already had breakfast and cleaned up, and Raya’s nurses told me she’s eaten, too. So I leave mom and son on the couch and give them the privacy they’re both in desperate need of, and I move to the door and collect her bag.

The home gave me enough meds for the night, and packed pyjamas and a new outfit for tomorrow. Riley’s going to lose his everloving mind when he finds out she’s staying all night; my gift to him is a Christmas from his childhood. I’ll bake cookies, I’ll make hot cocoa, I’ll keep the popcorn bowls full and warm, and the TV playing whatever Christmas specials they want to watch.

Raya will sleep in the guest bedroom, she’ll snuggle Nacho all day, then she’ll go home tomorrow with new memories, an understanding of what Riley’s been hiding from her for more than a month, and a belly full of sugar and carbs.

If she forgets it all tomorrow, then that’s okay, because Riley won’t.

I drop Raya’s things in the spare room and tap Nacho’s bottom to wake her up. She’s in a green and red tutu today, because we like to dress for Christmas. “Wake up, Nacho. We have visitors today. You wanna go see?”

She looks at me with derision in her eyes. She doesn’t like to be woken, but I ignore her upset and pick her up off the bed. Setting her on her feet, I tap her bottom a second time. “Go find Riley, Nacho. Go find Raya.”

I fix the covers on the bed, then follow her back to the living room. Like she remembers, she bounds into Raya’s lap and makes both me and Riley smile. I stop behind the island counter and prepare to start baking, but before I do, my eyes meet Riley’s. He holds me captive, he studies my body in a way that makes me tingle, and with sparkling eyes, he mouths ‘thank you.’

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