Page 49 of Cru's Crush

“Yeah? How many did you break?” he asked.

“Four,” I responded, returning to where I’d been air-frying nori.

He raised a brow. “Ouch. How?”

“Surfing.” My cheeks heated when Cru stepped behind me for the second time.

“Anything I can do to help?” he asked as his hand trailed the same path it had earlier—up my leg until he reached the apex of my thighs.

“You can get your brother-in-law a drink,” Maddox responded.

Cru squeezed me, then removed his hand. “What are you allowed to have?” he asked.

“Whatever the fuck I want.”

When my eyes met Maddox’s and he winked, I wondered if he’d picked up on what Cru had done. My cheeks flushed.

“Looks like Daph could use a drink too. Bring me a finger of bourbon. She might need two,” he said, winking a second time.

I looked around the room. “Where’s Trevino?”

“When they told me Maddox was being discharged, I messaged him, and he responded to head here without him. I expected him to have already arrived,” Alex said when she approached and delivered our drinks. I thought she might give Maddox a hard time about adding alcohol on top of his medication, but all she did was kiss his cheek. “Can I help?” she asked.

I pushed the note I’d jotted in her direction. “If you’ll find out what everyone wants, I’ll start assembling tacos.”

“What can I do?” my mother asked.

“The salad is chilling and only needs to be dressed.”

“On it,” she said, opening the refrigerator door and pulling it out. “This looks fantastic, Daphne,” she said,removing the cling wrap and tossing it with the serving utensils I’d left on the counter.

I looked around the room until my gaze met Cru’s. He held it, making sure I was aware when he reached into the pocket where he’d put the remnants of my panties earlier.

“Is everything okay, sweetheart?” my mum asked. “You look flushed.”

I glanced down at the empty glass that had held the bourbon I’d finished in one drink. “I could use a glass of water.”

She poured it and set it in front of me. “Anything else?”

“Yeah, I need to talk to Cru for a minute.” I walked over to where he stood talking to his sister. “Have you heard from Bit?” I asked.

He shook his head. “This kind of thing isn’t unusual from him. I just wonder where he went and how he got there, given I have his vehicle.”

“I’m assuming you’ve tried reaching him.”

Cru nodded. “It’s going straight to voicemail.”

“Should we wait?”

He looked at Alex, who shrugged. “No telling when he might show up,” she said.

“It’s fine, Daph. He’ll eat when he gets here.”

“I’d planned for us to sit on the terrace,” I said, glancing over at Maddox.

“I can manage,” he said, standing with Alex’s support. She slid the list of what everyone wanted over to me before helping him through the doors that led out to the dining area.

Since everyone appeared to want one of each type of taco, my mother and Lucia helped me with the assembly, setting each inside the holders Cru and I had purchased at the home-goods store.