She waves her hands at me through the screen. “Go. And know I’m thinking of you.”
I leave the bedroom in search of Winter, thinking about how important it is to know someone’s thinking of you. I don’t think I realised just how important until last year. It makes me think of Maddox, so I send him a quick text.
* * *
Me: Did you recover from NYE yet?
* * *
It was New Year’s two days ago and I haven’t heard from him since. He had a party to go to, so my guess is he had a big night.
* * *
Maddox: Nothing to recover from. Didn’t go.
Me: Why not? What’s going on?
* * *
I run into Winter as I send my last text.
“You ready?” he asks.
I look up at him. “I think something’s wrong with Maddox.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. Gut feeling.”
He grabs his keys and phone. Jerking his chin at the garage, he says, “We need to go.”
“I’m just gonna ring Maddox and check in with him.”
He places his hand to the small of my back. “You can do that in the car.”
I let him guide me out to the car while I call Maddox. When he doesn’t answer, I leave a message, “Hey Maddox, just checking in on you. Are you okay? I’m getting the impression you’re not. Call me. Let me know.”
I get in the car and Winter closes my door. I watch as he rounds the car and gets in the driver’s seat. When he drops the keys in the console, I wrap my hand around his forearm and say, “I love you.”
He turns his head to look at me. I can’t see his eyes behind his sunglasses, but I know exactly what they look like. Those eyes are part of my soul after all these years of him watching me with them. “I love you, too, angel. You good?”
I smile and lean across to kiss him. “Yeah, I’m good. I’ve got you.”
“Fuck,” he rasps and cups my cheek before kissing me again. He takes his time with it, to the point where I wonder if he’s planning on ever stopping. When he does drag his mouth from mine, he says, “You’ve always fucking got me, baby.”
Still smiling, because my belly is a mess of butterflies after that kiss, I say, “I think we might be late now, and it won’t be my fault.”
“How do you figure that?”
“Well, you were the one who initiated that kiss, so it’s your fault.”
He kicks over the engine. “I only started it because how the fuck could I not, so technically it’s your fault.”
I thread my fingers through his hair at he nape of his neck and laugh at him while he reverses out of the garage.
“Maddox didn’t answer?” he asks as we drive to our therapy session.
“No. And he didn’t reply to my text. I hope he’s okay.”
“He’s probably with his mates.”
“Yeah, maybe.” I change the subject, wanting to keep this morning for us. I’ll think about Maddox after our session. “What are your thoughts on salsa dancing?”
“I’ve never thought about it.”
“Right, but what do you think about us taking a class?”
He eyes me. “I’m thinking my dick’s gonna be in your mouth a fuckuva lot more if I have to take that class.”
My face breaks out in a huge grin. “I accept.”
“Fuck.”
“I’ll find us a class.”
His phone rings and he puts it on speaker in the car. “What’s up, Memphis?”
“Hi, Memphis,” I say.
“Hey, Birdie. Winter, quick question: How many sausages do you want me to pick up for the barbecue tomorrow?”
“I’ve got no fucking idea,” Winter says. Glancing at me, he says, “How many?”
“Get a hundred,” I say. “We’re better off having too many than not enough. And you guys will eat them during the week if there’s any left over.”
Winter’s holding a club barbecue tomorrow. It’s to celebrate the club battle being over, but mostly, he just wants to bring everyone together for some fun. There hasn’t been a lot of that for a while.
“No,” I say to Memphis, “we don’t need anything else. I picked everything else up already. Oh wait, can you get some plastic forks. I don’t think we have any left from the last barbecue.”
“I’m on it,” he says. “See you guys tomorrow.”
“Memphis,” Winter says, “make sure the kitchen’s clean for the morning.”