I took two deep breaths to pull myself together, but kept my face firm in his neck when I started, “Uh… Ren—”
“Smithie’s got an issue and you’re dancin’ for him,” he stated matter-of-factly.
I blinked against his skin.
Then I pulled my face out of his neck and stared at him.
He didn’t look happy. He didn’t look pissed, but he didn’t look happy.
“You’re on that case and you come home from work, baby, I don’t wanna know,” he stated.
Was this Ren?
Or was there another dimension, and the Ren from that dimension slid through?
“Do you feel okay?” I asked and he grinned.
Then he said, “I shouldn’t. I got shit sleep. And last night, I also got calls from both your brothers, up in my shit.”
Uh.
Say what?
Ren kept going.
“Then I got a call from Daisy, up in my shit. This means I got a call from Marcus, also up in my shit. And this morning I got a call from Shirleen, again, up in my shit. And last I got a call from Smithie, tellin’ me you’re workin’ a case for him and he would not be happy if I got up in his shit. Then I hauled my ass over here to sort our shit. Now, you gotta call and let whoever know I’m gonna be at the rehearsal dinner tonight, because I missed dinner with my woman last night and that shit isn’t happening two days in a row.”
Our first semi-official date was going to Luke and Ava’s rehearsal dinner.
How freaking cool was that?
I didn’t tell him I thought that.
I muttered, “I best call Tod.”
“And don’t bother calling Daisy. She already sent your bags back to my place.”
God.
Totally loved Daisy.
“Last,” he went on, “you gotta be a badass and call me Zano, that’s cute. I like it. But if things are deep with us, shit’s raw, emotional or important, I’m Ren. I’ve asked a lot from you Ally, and you from me. But you’re not a badass with me. You’ve let me into that place in you that you don’t give anybody. So you don’t put up that shield to hold me back when shit’s important. You’re you. You’re Ally. And I’m Ren.”
This kind of weirded me out how much he’d figured out about me.
I also didn’t share this.
I whispered, “Okay.”
“Okay,” he replied.
“Can I ask what my brothers said to you?”
“No,” he answered. “Just know those two men love you. They’d break important alliances to take your back. And they’d likely lay their lives down for you.”
Those must have been intense conversations.
Nevertheless, I already knew all that.