Page 96 of From the Start

I snort. “I can’t imagine Jaxon ever needed help keeping on track.”

She laughs. “True. Jaxon is my little genius. It was obvious from the time he was five and returned home from kindergarten to announce he needed glasses.”

“He knew he needed glasses?”

“There was an eye test and he failed. He never failed tests.”

I shake my head. Sounds like Jaxon.

She clears her throat. “Anyway, I could tell by the way Kai acted that he was in love with you. My youngest has a big heart, but he’s a goofball.”

“I call him Goofy.”

“He’s not a goofball when you and your dad are around. He acts like the man of the family – taking care of your dad and you.”

“My dad had a stroke after Mom died,” I say instead of responding to her comments about Kai. I can’t deal with howKai has grown up to become a man for me. It’s too much to handle at the moment.

“Ah.” She nods. “And now you are afraid of love.”

I scowl. “I’m not afraid of love.”

She meets my gaze. She doesn’t have the Raider blue eyes – the color must come from their father – but her brown eyes bore into mine without blinking. I duck my chin when I can no longer meet her gaze.

“I might be afraid of losing love,” I admit. “Dad after Mom died…” I blow out a breath. “He was inconsolable. And then he had the stroke.”

Jessica squeezes my hand. “He didn’t have a stroke because of grief.”

“I know. At least, my head knows. My heart? Not so much.”

“I admit I was inconsolable after Ted left. But every day it gets a bit easier. Every day, your heart hurts a little less. And then, one day, you find another man who forces his way into your heart.”

“My dad never wanted another woman.”

“But he didn’t give up on living.”

“He worked his ass off to recover from his stroke.”

“And there you have it. There’s no reason to be afraid of losing love.”

“Ugh. You make it sound easy.”

“Ha! There’s nothing easy about love. But there’s also nothing as rewarding as love.”

I stare into the ocean. I don’t love Kai. I might be falling for him. But I’m not there yet.

“Uh oh,” Jessica mutters as she points to a group of men – Kai’s brothers – hurrying toward us. “The cavalry has arrived.”

“How bad do we need to kick his ass?” Eli asks.

“Bruises? Broken bones? Stitches? Hospital visit? What?” Rhett asks.

I hold up my hand. “Whoa. Whose ass are you kicking?”

Miles rolls his eyes. “Kai’s, of course.”

Zane crosses his arms over his chest. “He hurt you. He’s going down.”

Jaxon pushes his glasses up his nose. “You and your dad are family now. We don’t let anyone hurt our family.”