Once she has our orders and has passed over the pastries requested, Holden places his hand on my lower back and steers me toward a table. “I’ll wait for the drinks while you sit with Ash.”
“Are you sure?”
“Why wouldn’t I be?”
“I thought maybe you’d wanna spend some more time with him.”
“It’s okay. I promise,” he tacks on when I open my mouth to argue. He pauses and cocks his head. “Hey, Luci, can you turn the music up?”
My lips turn down in the corners, but Holden ignores me. The music comes through the speakers slightly louder, and he listens for a moment. Then he grins at the country singer singing of a Texas tornado blowing into his life and making him her fool. Holden pulls his phone from his pocket and deftly unlocks the screen.
“What are you doing?” I ask, stretching to see that he’s editing my contact information—adding a tornado emoji to the “Dee” and heart that’s already there. Rolling my eyes, I smile and stroke a finger along his forearm. “I love you, you weirdo.”
After the coffeeshop visit, we go back to the apartment. Holden sets Ashton down on the living room floor, tousling the toddler’s hair, then stands upright. I stare unabashedly as my boyfriend stretches; his shirt rides up and exposes a strip of skin above the waistband of his bootcut jeans. My heart quickens in my chest. He catches me ogling him and laughs.
“I feel like you’re objectifying me,” he teases as he makes his way to my side.
“Of course I’m not. How dare you think that?”
“Sure, sweetheart, you keep telling yourself that.”
“I absolutely will.” I wrap my arms around his neck, tugging him closer, kissing away his chuckle. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
My head tilts to the left at his grimace. “What? What’s wrong?”
“We have to drive back, don’t we?”
I can’t help it. I lose the battle against my giggles at the petulance in his voice, the pout on his face. Holden pokes my nose, but his lips twitch and betray his amusement. I lace my fingers with his and lead him to the couch. Ashton ignores us, too busy making his dinosaur toys stomp across the floor. I watch him for a moment to remind myself that he’s fine. He’s happy. Understanding and promises live in Holden’s eyes when I turn back to him.
“He’s okay,” he says softly.
“I know. I just… I’m worried this last week has been harder on him than I could ever actually comprehend.”
“It may have been hard on him, but I doubt it’s something that’ll stick with him. At worst, if he remembers, he grows up thinking it was a vacation.”
I snort. “Yeah, a vacation full of sad songs and his aunt crying all the time.”
“Well, we’re fixing that, right? You and me, in this together for the long run?”
I nod before he even finishes speaking. I have renewed hopes this relationship will last. That it will grow stronger with time, that we can make this work. Whatever was wrong before won’t happen again. I clear my throat and head back to the kitchen for a drink. Holden follows, a shadow I don’t mind having. He waits until I’ve filled a glass with water before he speaks.
“So. Driving back.”
“Yes. Driving. I like your car, and so do you. I don’t wanna leave it here.”
“And I don’t really wanna drive that much.”
“Then you can fly while Ash and I drive back.”
“I amnotletting you out of my sight for a very, very long time.”
I stare at him with my glass raised halfway to my lips. There is no amusement on his face, and his lips are pressed into a thin line. I have no doubts he’s not joking or making light of the promise. I graciously decide not to remind him of the tour he has planned that’s rapidly approaching.
“Then we’re driving together,” I say with a grin, holding up outstretched arms.
Holden steps into my space and crowds me against the counter. “I guess I can handle that if you’re by my side.”
