Casting a look at my kid, I murmured, "She’s fine, honey. We’ll get her home, she’ll sleep it off, and tomorrow… Well, in a few days, she’ll be as good as new."
With Keira dosed up and squinting which let me know she wasn’t drifting in and out of consciousness, I started up the SUV and drove us home. Each bump, she moaned, and if I went past forty miles an hour, she groaned and clutched at her gut like she was going to puke.
It took about twenty minutes longer than usual to get back because of how slow I drove, and we were all relieved when we got there.
As I moved around the fender, she held out her arms for me to carry her as she grumbled, "I can do it myself."
I grinned because her eyes were closed and she couldn’t see me. "‘Course you can, baby, but why would you when I’m here?"
"Damn straight," she muttered, sighing when I managed not to jostle her into my hold.
"Open the house up, ladybug," I told Cy, pleased when she obeyed, and went a step further—darted inside and opened Keira’s bedroom door without my asking her.
I never went in here, not even to drop off Keira’s laundry, so it was the first time I’d seen it since before we’d moved in and had the safe room installed. She’d decorated, choosing colors I would never have expected from her.
In the past, our bedroom had always been navy, plaid on the bed, the walls dark, the furnishings darker. Not that I really gave a fuck, of course, but it was clear she’d picked those colors, that style, for me.
That goddamn programming of hers.
I wasn’t even sure if I’d known it had been as prevalent as it was until we’d broken up, until here and now where she led her own life and did things her way.
This room couldn’t be more different.
The bedspread was a tropical kind of floral with goddamn toucans on it and palm leaves. The walls were a kind of peachy orange, and she had pretty pictures stacked on them. Some were large and central, others were small and she’d grouped them together. Most of them contained photos of our family, but the larger ones were decorative.
The peach rug was patterned with more palm leaves, the nightstands were rattan and there were gold lamps on them as well as some more framed photos, and she had a massive potted plant in one corner which wasn’t doing that great, mostly because it needed more sunlight.
"You need to look after that one," Keira said with a sigh as I helped put her to bed.
"Huh?" I asked, unsure what she meant.
"I saw you looking at the palm. You’ve got a green thumb. How did I never know that about you?"
I twisted around to look at the doorway, found Cyan had disappeared which came as a surprise, but then I heard the door closing and realized she’d gone to lock it.
Because she was absent, I murmured, "I never used to, but it’s a recovery thing."
One of K’s eyes popped open and she squinted at me. "Like, a responsibility kind of thing?"
I nodded sheepishly.
"That’s why you’ve got so many of them in your office!" she mumbled. "I wondered about that."
"Surprised you even noticed," I said wryly.
She shrugged, then instantly grimaced and reached up to rub her head. "It was a surprise to see so many. What’s the next phase?"
"A dog or a cat."
A hum escaped her. "Cy will like that."
"You hate dogs and cats," I pointed out.
"I know I do," was her grumpy retort. "I know my own head, don’t I?"
I laughed, enjoying her grouchiness. "That supposed to make sense?"
"I know what I like and don’t like, I mean. But she’s always wanted a dog."
"And you always said no."
"I did. But if it helps you, then I won’t argue."
I licked my lips. "You’d do that for me?"
Both eyes opened, just a smidge, and she murmured, "You know I would."
My nostrils flared, and I told her, "I’m going to teach you how to fight." Her eyes popped open wider, and she winced, which told me her head was hurting bad. "Just so that, next time, you don’t knock yourself out and I can fuck you while we’re both riding the adrenaline."
A shocked gasp escaped her, and just when I thought I’d stunned her, she rasped, "I’d like that."
"It’s a date, then," I told her.
"It is."
"You were hot as fuck today, Keira."
Her lips twitched at the corners. "I don’t feel hot now."
"Well, you are to me." I leaned over her and pressed a kiss to the temple that wasn’t decorated with a goose egg. "What did she say?"
"Is Cyan anywhere close?"
I peered around and not spying our kid, said, "No."
"That Cyan preferred London to me because I was such a shit mom."
My mouth flat-lined. "I’ll deal with her—"
"You don’t have to. I did." That she sounded smug had me laughing softly. "It felt good. I should have done that before." She heaved a sigh. "Now we’re never going to make Cyan realize fighting isn’t the answer."
"One fight doesn’t make you Cassius Clay, babe."
She pouted. "I choose to think otherwise."
I leaned over her and pressed another kiss to her temple, murmuring, "You get some rest. I know your head’s probably killing—"
"Cy has classes," she argued.
"I can figure it out."
"I want to prove that teacher wrong, Storm," she pointed out, grousing, "Cyan’s smart as hell."
"We know she is." I hummed. "Tonight’s Krav Maga anyway. You gonna be okay on your own?"
"Yeah." She turned on her side and muttered, "She always wanted you and could never stand that you picked me because I got knocked up."
My brow furrowed at that. "Whether you got pregnant or not, you were always going to be mine, Keira. I was too selfish to ever let you go."
I’d have let her walk away, go off to college, but even then, I’d have followed her. For a girl like her, college towns were dangerous. Who else would have kept her safe?
She sighed. "Kendra never got the memo."
Uncertain if I should continue, I hesitated a second, but then I dared to say, "Would you have let me go? If you hadn’t gotten pregnant?"
Her stillness was an answer in and of itself, and as a lifetime of feeling like scum started to hammer at my temples, she rasped, "The first time I saw you, I knew you were trouble. I knew you were different. I knew my parents would never accept you. You scared me because I couldn’t stop thinking about you. Never have been able to stop thinking about you since."
Hope started to fill me. "You should probably have walked the other way when you first saw me."
"Now you’re just fishing for compliments," she grumbled. "I think the major reason we have such a problem is that women can’t walk away from you."
"The only one I ever wanted did though," I told her softly.
She peeped up at me. "I did, didn’t I?"
My lips curved a little. "You did."