Page 72 of Fighting a Riot

His brows drew together. “Those happen in basketball. What are you on about?”

I resisted rolling my eyes. “Yes, but I was engaged until a month ago.”

One of his brows arched. “Check your dates, woman. Been almost eight weeks by my count.”

“Yeah, but—”

He shifted up on an elbow. “I’m not likely to offer you marriage and I don’t want kids. But I can’t stand not having you close to me.” He stared into my eyes. “What’s with that look?”

I tried to clear my expression. “I respect waiting to have kids, but why are you so firm about it?”

He fell to his back. “Not getting into that now, but you should know going in where I’m at.”

“It’s just… not exactly sad to me, but you’re such a great person. A child of yours would be just as great, if not even greater because they’d be raised by you.”

“Not happening, princess. Now, get some more sleep. You need it.”

“Get up, princess! We’re running late.”

I rubbed my face. “What are you talking about? You forced me to call in sick to work. I don’t have to be anywhere today.”

Yak stood at my side of the bed. His head moved in the barest hint of a nod before he dropped his hands on either side of my shoulders and lowered his lips to give me a forehead kiss.

A curl of excitement shot through me. That kind of tenderness was wholly unexpected.

He straightened. “I know that, but I have a surprise for you.”

My eyes widened. “Really? I love surprises… but you don’t sound that excited about this.”

He shrugged. “Let’s just say…this could go really fuckin’ great or not great at all.”

“Sounds intriguing. Let me get dressed.”

I came out of the bathroom after brushing my teeth and changing into my jeans and a flowy navy blue blouse. Yak stood right outside the door. He brought his hands to my cheeks, slid them along my jawline to tilt my head, and then he lowered his lips to mine. I expected a quick and light kiss. Instead, his head slanted and his tongue darted out making me open my mouth. I slid my hands around his waist and down to his ass. I tried to return his kiss, but it became clear he was trying to communicate something and I let him have his way with me. It wasn’t a hardship because this kiss topped any I’d had before it.

When he stopped and withdrew his lips from mine, my eyes opened, and I focused on his handsome face. “What was that all about?”

“Just showing you where I stand.”

A shy smile quirked my lips. “I like how you showed me.” Then, I blurted, “You know I have cancer, right?”

He chuckled. “Heard something about that, sweetheart.”

“Things aren’t going to be easy for me for a while, you know. Like, I’m gonna have zero hair soon.”

He nodded. “You’re not gonna scare me away, Nora.”

I nodded. “Good to know, Noah.”

For some reason, that made him growl and he kissed me again.

Half-an-hour later, Yak swung his car into a small strip mall with a Mexican restaurant on one end and a small pool supply place on the opposite end. In between them were three other businesses, one of them appeared to be a hair salon.

I gave him some side eye. “Are we here for chlorine?”

His grin started out fake, but softened to a genuine smile. “No. We’re going to my barber shop.”

The familiar smell of hair products hit me when Yak guided me inside the ‘barber shop’. I wasn’t about to tell Yak his barber was working in a hair salon - even if that salon was as hip and edgy as they came. The walls were painted a muted gray and various rock posters hung on the walls. The lobby felt like a club, while the florescent lights in the back allowed stylists to work their magic. A lengthy strip of LED lights ran along the entire room where the wall met the ceiling. Those lights were a pale blue enhancing the subdued nightclub vibe.

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