Page 75 of Down & Dirty

Sky gave me a dry look as we landed back in the living room. When she turned her sweet smile back to my father, his eyes sparkled under the attention. “It seems plenty warm to me.”

This whole scene was utterly surreal. But the pleasure of it was rushing through me so hard, not even I could talk myself out of just enjoying it.

And in that house, with all the memories it brought up, that was saying something.

CHAPTER 25

SKY;AR

When Jacob insisted upon cooking us dinner, Cory looked like he was speaking in tongues. I got the impression he wasn’t much of a cook before now and even though there was amusement in Cory’s eyes, there was something else too. I just couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

“So, you’re close with your folks, then?” Jacob asked me, his eyes on the pot he was stirring on the stove.

“Yes. We’ve always been pretty tight anyway, but when I took the job helping Ronnie, we all sort of banded together to form a team.”

“That sounds nice,” Jacob said, but his tone was colder.

Cory’s eyes were fixed on the beer bottle in his hand, picking at the label like he wasn’t entirely comfortable with this conversation. Considering how rarely he talked about his family, and that I’d never seen them at a race, this might have been a sensitive topic. So I decided to change it.

“That’s a nice bike upstairs. Have you been working out on it long?”

At the abrupt shift both Ellis men whipped in my direction. Cory was laughing again and his father glared at him for it.

“A few months.”

“That’s great. I wish my dad would take better care of himself. It’s pulling teeth just to get him to eat vegetables. Ronnie is exactly like him and I have to work twice as hard on Micah after he spends the weekend with them.”

Jacob’s expression lightened again. “How old is your boy?”

“He’ll be six next summer.”

He stopped stirring and turned toward me. “That’s a great age.”

His smile was genuine, but there was a sadness in his eyes as he glanced quickly in Cory’s direction. Cory was looking down again. I wasn’t used to this quietness from him.Was I doing something wrong?

When Jacob turned back to the stove, I tapped Cory’s knee and silently asked if he was okay.

He let out a breath, straightening in his chair, before he shook his head and whispered,sorry.

“You should have seen Sky when she was that age, Pops. She used to ride, and I bet a hundred bucks she would have kicked Mack’s ass if they’d raced each other.”

“Why not your ass?” I asked, shoving his elbow off the table.

He and his father were both snickering again, and I tried to relax. It seemed like there was a lot that went unsaid around the Ellis boys, and I was going to have to pay attention or I’d be the one setting off a landmine I didn’t even know was there.

Jacob moved to the kitchen island, chopping veggies for a salad. “You were a little hellion, huh?”

I shook my head, hating being put on the spot to talk about myself. “I did all right.”

Cory scoffed. “Ronnie’s told me about her wall of medals back at their parents’ place. She did more than all right.”

Hearing that Ronnie had talked to Cory about my riding had me feeling a little more love for my baby brother. It also sent my blush raging, and Cory’s smile only grew when he saw it. His eyes beamed with pride as they trailed over my features, and even if he wasn’t touching me, it felt like a caress.

“As you can tell,” Jacob said, his gaze on me, “no one lacks for pride in this house. You might as well own up to yours.” He winked at me, and it was the cutest thing I’d ever seen.

“How much longer till we eat?” Cory asked, swallowing down the last of his beer.

Jacob looked at the pot on the stove, and then the clock on the wall. “Half hour or so.”

---