“This is because he left, isn’t it?”
Glory couldn’t look at them. They must think she was crazy.
“Glory, honey. Ryan didn’t leave you. He was—”
“Hunting the bad guy. I know.” And no matter how many times they tried to tell her, her heart just wasn’t hearing it. Every time she thought about being in the hospital, hurting and alone, with Ryan nowhere to be found, she wanted to scream and cry. She had, back in the hospital, crying out for Ryan while half out of it on pain meds and anesthetic.
Ryan never came.
“He went after that guy and tore him into dog kibble. Cut him some slack, okay?”
Glory shrugged. So what? Ryan had destroyed the man who’d nearly killed Glory, but he should have been with her. He was supposed to be her mate, not her avenger. Still, she could understand why everyone, including herself, was frustrated. She liked Ryan, but she just couldn’t get past feeling abandoned. “It’s…complicated.”
“Maybe you should talk to someone.”
Glory stared at Tabby, blinked at Mt. Doom (was it bigger?) and sighed. “You think I should have my head shrunk.”
“You know I love you, Glory, but you’re being a bitch.” Cyn shrugged when Glory turned and glared at her. “My family is the one that took you in, remember? I know all about your abandonment issues, and Ryan didn’t do that. He’s here, every day, and he’s not going to go anywhere.”
Glory lay down with a sigh. She really needed a chaise like this in her apartment. It was so much nicer than the lumpy couch she had now. “I know that up here—” she pointed to her head, “—but not here.” When she laid her hand on her heart, Tabby began to cry. It seemed she did that when the wind blew, when the bell jingled, hell, when the coffee pot turned off. The woman was trying to drown them all in salt water and pregnancy angst. “Aw hell. Not again.”
The bell over the door jingled, and the deep voice of Alex “Bunny” Bunsun, Tabby’s mate, rang through her like guilt in hammer form. “Why are you crying, sweetheart?”
Before they knew it Alex had Tabby in his lap, cuddling her close and cooing in her ear. It was revolting. Hell, he’d even sat her so the growth was against his chest.
Glory had the sick urge to poke at Tabby’s head and see if the thing was bouncy like a ball.
Ugh. She really needed to get a life.
“Hey, pretty girl.” Ryan squatted next to her chaise and brushed some of her powder-blue curls from her forehead. The hopeful expression on his face had her heart pounding in both fear and longing. God, she wanted what he was offering so badly, but the courage she thought she had disappeared whenever he turned those blazing sapphire eyes on her. “I brought ham and cheese subs.”
At that, her stomach growled loud enough to startle a grizzly. “Spicy brown mustard?”
He nodded.
“Tomatoes and lettuce?”
He was smiling, watching her with all the wonder of a boy with his first love. “Would I bring you anything else?”
She reached with greedy hands toward the bag he was holding between his knees. “Gimme!”
He leaned over her, caging her with his body. “Say the word, and you can have that any time you want.”
There was no doubt what he was talking about, since he was still holding the bag between his knees. She pushed him back and glared. “I want the ham, not the salami.” Behind him, Cyn barked out a laugh. “Gimme.”
Ryan chuckled, and oh God, what that low, seductive sound did to her. It was like feeling his joy feathering over her skin. “Here, you greedy little thing.”
Glory took the bag and dashed off the chaise, heading for the back room. “Meat! Woo-hoo!”