Page 36 of Savior
Before I can answer there’s a polite cough. “Logan, when you’re done badgering her, there’s food out here for you if you’re hungry.”
Sienna looks up at me wide eyes and flushed.Oh my Godshe mouths in shock. She starts to pull away, but I keep her in place with one arm. When I open my mouth, she slaps a hand over my lips and frantically shakes her head.
I kiss her hand and then pull it away. “Yes, ma’am,” I say to Aunt Diane, who chuckles as she shuffles back down the hall.
“Kill me now,” Sienna says into my chest.
“I’d rather not.”
“What is your aunt going to think of me now?”
I tuck a piece of hair behind her ear and tip her chin up with a finger. “She’s gonna think you have great taste.”
Sienna growls in the back of her throat and pushes away. “You’re going to go now so I can make sure I still have a job.” She scans the rows of canned goods and selects a couple of canned peaches. “You have to stop dropping by while I’m at work.”
While her hands are occupied, I take advantage and kiss her again, causing her to suck in a surprised breath. “I like starting my day off with seeing you.”
She shakes her head. “You’re impossible.” Despite her words she steps up to me and kisses me. It’s the first she’s ever initiated.
Inside I’m crowing because I know I’ve won this round, but I don’t let it show. Don’t want to spook her off. “I’ll pick you up around six? It doesn’t get dark till about eight.”
She opens the door and looks back. “You aren’t going to stop until I give in, are you?”
“Now you’re learning.” I follow her out into the hall and wave at Aunt Diane and Grandma Rose who are sitting at the kitchen counter with smiles the size of the Mississippi on their faces. “I’ll see you at six.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she says as she walks away.
“Don’t think you can run,” I say to her back.
She waves a hand over her head.
As I leave, I hear Aunt Diane say, “He’s right, you know. If you run, it’ll just make him chase you.”
* * *
“This is a momentous occasion,” Jack says from the phone attached to the dashboard as we video chat.
Because I’m an adult, I ignore him. Ben, who is in the passenger seat beside me, does not. “The last of the single men. We should light a candle or some shit. Throw a party. Something.”
I pull out of the gym parking lot and resist the urge to lay out both of my best friends. “I’m going to lock the both of you up.”
Jack snorts. “I’m way the fuck in the desert. If you can find me, you’re welcome to lock me up.”
“Don’t tempt me,” I mutter darkly.
Ben laughs and punches my shoulder. “We all went through it, man.”
“Yeah,” comes Jack’s warbled voice. “’Bout fuckin’ time you bit the big one. Nice to see it happening to someone else.”
“So who is she? Chloe’s been pretty tight-lipped about her,” Ben adds.
“Since when did you become such a chick?” I ask Ben.
“Sue me. After the last woman you were with, I’m a little overprotective.”
“It’s his overdeveloped father instinct,” Jack chimes in. “Ever since he became a dad, he can’t help it.”
Ben flips Jack off, who laughs and I sigh. “She’s a little gun shy right now, so I don’t need the two of you fuckwads ganging up on her.”