Page 84 of Safe With Me

Mike tensed behind me at the same time my stomach dropped.

“I hoped she didn’t see what was scratched on the door,” Mike said after she left. “I tried to block her view so she wouldn’t see, but?—”

“It was scratched in deep with big letters. Hard to miss.”

“Still, I wish she wouldn’t have said it like that.” Mike frowned as his gaze drifted to the door.

“It’s fine. I just apologized for acting weird the night you came to get me. She may be putting two and two together, which you even said was a good thing, so people know to watch.” I kissed his cheek. “All good. Does your mom know I’m coming?”

“I texted her that I was bringing my girlfriend, yes. So, I’m sure she’s going to hit you with all kinds of questions.”

“And that’s fine, especially if it gives you a break.” I slid my palm against his.

“I had a feeling about this,” Mary said, setting the coffees on the counter and waving her finger between us. Her smile was wide and, to my surprise, genuine. “You make a nice couple.”

“Thank you, Mary,” Mike said, digging into his wallet and tossing a ten-dollar bill on the counter. “I think so too.”

“I’m still getting used to hearing you call me your girlfriend,” I said, raising a brow at Mike after we strolled out of the coffee shop.

He picked up my hand, lacing our fingers together as we headed back to the office.

“You’re whatever you want to be called, as long as it means you’re mine.”

“I am,” I said, stepping in front of him to wrap my arms around his neck. “And I’ll fight whoever I need to for you.”

He laughed, running his thumb along my bottom lip.

“Back at you. And don’t you forget it.”

18

MIKE

“Does she do this a lot?”Lila asked as we drove out of Kelly Lakes. “Come in unannounced?”

“Not a lot. Once every six months or so. It’s been a while since I’ve gone to see her, so this is both a visit and a punishment of sorts.”

I loved having Lila with me, but the usual knot in my stomach whenever I saw my mother had now doubled in size. When I’d told my mother I was bringing my girlfriend, I could tell she was already on the offensive, peppering me with questions about how long we’d been together and where I’d met her.

I’d said I’d run into her when she’d first come into town, and she was my neighbor. It was a wimpy kind of cop-out, skipping over details like how I’d found Lila on her way to see Claudia, my stepmother’s best friend and Lila’s almost-cousin, and how she’d moved to Kelly Lakes to work for my father.

I’d figured it would give us maybe a good twenty minutes of tense pleasantries before she went after both of us.

“You’re not supposed to dread seeing your own mother, but I do for a lot of reasons. Whenever she comes in, it fucks with my head for a day or two. If I’m not quite myself, it’s not you.”

“I hate that she puts you through this,” Lila said, kneading the back of my neck. “My parents mostly ignored me, so I’d learned to live without their support even before the Ted fiasco. But what you’re describing is just fucking awful.”

The knot in my stomach grew even tighter when I took the exit for Glens Falls.

“Again, sorry for what you’ll have to see and what she’ll say to you once we tell her about the Russo connection.”

“Stop saying sorry. I’m ready,” Lila said as we pulled into the parking lot. “Stalkers after dark may still frighten me, but this, I can more than handle.”

She leaned over the console, cupping my cheek before pressing her mouth to mine. Her pillow-soft lips relaxed and excited me enough to almost forget the usual disaster of dinner with my mother.

“Again, you’re incredible,” I told her.

She lifted a shoulder. “I’m here to support myboyfriend.” She brushed her lips over my jaw. “Ooh, I like that. Sounds nice.”

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