“That’s ridiculous.”
He held his arms out wide, giving me a beautiful look at his broad chest. Punishment. That was what this was. Not the penance I talked about before. This was torture because I knew what that chest looked like with nothing covering it.
I knew how his touch felt on every part of my body. I knew how he tasted, and it was good.
Closing my eyes for a moment, they popped open when he said, “Get used to it.” I felt my eyes narrow on him. Seriously. Did he just say that?
“Seriously?”
He relaxed his arms as he pulled out his cell phone and called the pizza place in town. I listened to him order and he added breadsticks, mozzarella sticks and pepper poppers. We were definitely going to have enough food for the night.
He turned his phone off, saying, “’Bout twenty minutes. What should we do?”
As soon as he asked, I really wanted to stuff a sock in his mouth.
“Watchis Twollz!” Boom. I knew it was coming, but a small sliver of me wished she’d turn her love to something else. But it was Trolls.
“Great…” Dryerson said, not really feeling it either.
But what she wants she gets. Trolls it is!
Trolls could kill a lot of moods, but being around Dryerson, Trolls and all, I was still wrapped up in wanting him.
15
DRYERSON
Remy was fast asleep in my arms. Filled up with pizza, her two favorite people, and Lord save me—all the Trolls—she was knocked out.
She looked like a little angel. Her body so tiny against mine. Yeah, that Andy boy was going to get talked to. Fuck that and fuck him. This angel would be off limits forever if I had anything to do with it.
Making my way to the bed without stepping on toys was a bit of a challenge. It was one of the fun reasons to babysit. I didn’t have to pick up the mess. Ensley and Micah had that job. I felt myself chuckle at the thought because I could hear Micah cussing me up one side and down the other.
Gently, I laid her down and pulled her pajama shirt down, then covered her up. I leaned down and kissed her forehead, and she curled onto her side. I swore she had a small grin on her face. That was a score for Katie and me. She had a good night.
Turning around, Katie stood at the door, her shoulder on the jamb as she watched us intently.
“What?” I asked, and she put her index finger on her lips, telling me to shut the hell up or I’d wake Remy. Since it was way past her bedtime, I got it.
Closing the door, I asked her again as we moved to the kitchen island. She stood on one side, and I stood on the other. “What?”
“You’re good with kids,” she commented. Her brunette locks fell down her face, and she pushed them back with her hand. So silky that hair. I missed that hair. No. I missed her.
“Plan on havin’ some?” I asked, curious. She never really talked about the future. She seemed to always be stuck in the past. That had to change. Neither of us could change what had happened in our pasts, but we could change our futures.
And I planned on having Katie in mine. She just needed to see it.
“No. None for me,” she said, surprising me.
“None?”
She shook her head. “Nope.”
“Why is that?” This topic had me very curious because since Katie was in my future, the kid thing would need to be too. But I’d have to get more information first. Not to mention, we were nowhere close to that at this point.
Hell, I’d be happy tonight if she’d let me put my lips on hers. But the night was still young.
Katie shrugged. “There was a point when I wanted to have a ton of kids just like how I grew up. But then I thought about it. It would just keep the cycle going. My oldest would be in charge of all the kids I popped out after her, and I didn’t want that for her. I didn’t want that burden because it’s a heavy load to hold.”
I loved it when she let me in. Sometimes she didn’t even know she was doing it, which made it all the better. She was getting more comfortable with me.
After the incident, she was closed off to everyone except Ensley. Even Micah, it took her a bit to get used to. What those men took from her… I wanted to bring them back from Hell and kill them myself. It was like the fire had gone out. She went from calling me surfer boy to a quiet shy girl.
Not that I didn’t like both of them, but I wanted the smartassness to come back. The sass she had. That flame needed to be lit again inside of her.
“That’s rough. I can see where you’re comin’ from. But now that you’re out of there, what are your thoughts?”
She stared off into space for a moment, and I’d love to be in her brain at this moment. Love to know what she was thinking. Those wheels were turning hard.
“I haven’t thought about it to be honest. My past is engrained in me, I guess.”
That didn’t mean a final no. This was good. It wasn’t a deal breaker.
“I think I’m gonna go to bed,” she told me, seeming to look to the side of me and not at me. “You can head out.”
A chuckle escaped. “Nope. I’m stayin’. You wanna watch a movie or somethin’?”
Her little jaw tilted this way and that as she bit her lip with each movement. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“Why the hell not? I can rub your feet again.” I waggled my brows.
“That did feel good,” she contested.
“Come on.” I walked around the island and held out my hand. She paused, staring at it for a few beats, but I didn’t push her. She needed to do this on her own time. Thank God she slipped her small hand into mine.
I didn’t lace them together or pull her hand up to my lips, even though I wanted to. Instead, I kept the same grip all the way to the living room, only releasing her when she bent to get on the couch. I sat at the other end and pulled out the remote.
Picking up her feet, I maneuvered us and got comfortable. “What sounds good?”
“Umm… Bridgerton?”
“No. Ensley made Micah watch it, and he bitched about it for a month.”
She started giggling. “I have no idea why?”
“Horses and dancing. Not my thing.”
“Okay, how about The Handmaids Tale?” I began rubbing one of her feet with my free hand as I switched the channels.
“We moved from before the beginning of time to the death of America.”
This made her laugh. The sound coming out of her mouth was something I hadn’t heard directed at me in far too long. It was happiness and carefree. Before I could soak it in, she covered her hand over her mouth and muffled the sound.
“Alright, how about Squid Game?”
“Squid Game? What the hell is that?”
She smiled. “Good, then you don’t know what it’s about. It’s on Netflix.”
“This better not be a combo deal from the first two.”
She laughed again, covering up the sounds.
I had no idea what I was getting into. She didn’t warn me one bit.
“Red light,” the ugly as hell big doll said on the screen. Then it started, one after the other shots fired in rapid succession, killing people on a whim who moved the slightest millimeter.
“Holy fuck, Katie.” I felt my heart race.