Page 88 of Sass

He looked as happy as I’d ever seen him and I couldn’t help but smile. “Great name. And good for you.” I pulled up our accounting software, ready to get to work, but Drew was still standing in the doorway, shuffling from foot to foot. I put down my pen and sat back. “Okay, come on, spit it out.”

He sighed. “I just want to say thanks... for everything. I know it was you who talked Rhys into taking me on at the start, and now you’ve done this. I—” He swallowed hard. “Well, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate everything you’ve done. You guys saved my life, but especially you. You never once questioned what I was doing. You just believed in me, and then you helped me try and do what I needed to. I can’t thank you enough, especially after my parents... well, you know. Anyway, I just wanted you to know how grateful I am.”

I blinked, not sure what the hell to say, because... shit. And I wasn’t sure I could speak past the choking lump in my throat anyway. In some ways, teenage Drew had reminded me of myself at that age, and so I’d simply acted on instinct, knowing what it meant to walk away from your family, for whatever reason, and wanting him to have some of the support that hadn’t been there for me.

“Well, I, um... thanks,” I finally managed, unable to hold his gaze, which was a first. “But we would’ve been stupid not to grab you while we could. You’re smart and hardworking and you have a natural flair for fashion. You’ve earned your way here, Drew. This was never about charity. And as for the other, I just gave you a little push, that’s all.”

“It was more than that and you know it,” he insisted. “You guys are family to me. Hell, you and Rhys were more parents to me than my own, right from the first day I turned up in your back yard. Advice, support, acceptance, a push in the right direction, a safety net when I needed it. You were there for me when my parents weren’t, and I won’t forget it.”

My heart hammered in my chest as I tried to process his words.Parents?“You’re most welcome, but we’re not special. Lots of others would’ve done the same.”

He snorted and shook his head. “But that’s just it.Theydidn’t.Youguys did. Family is about being there for someone when they really need it, right? That’s when it counts. And you guys did that for me. That’s all I’m saying.”

I wanted to argue that being family, being a parent, was about so much more than that. But his words resonated so deeply with my own experience that I knew he was right. I didn’t care about anything my parents had said or done before everything was blown to pieces. Sometimes they got it right, sometimes they didn’t. What mattered was that they weren’t there when it really counted, and that changed everything. It erased everything else, and I would never, ever repeat that mistake, be it with a boyfriend, a friend, a workmate, or... a kid, like Drew had been, like... Susie.

“Oh, and one more thing.” Drew watched me from the doorway, a nervous, almost shy smile tugging at his lips.

I arched a brow. “There’s more?”

Drew’s cheeks flamed and his words came out in a garbled rush. “Gary’s taking me to lunch this week. Just thought you might like to know.” And then he turned tail and was gone from my office in a puff of smoke and hormonal angst, leaving me to stare at my computer screen, grinning like a loon and wondering what the hell had happened to my life in the space of a few short weeks.

Because Drew had been right about that part too. Apart from a quick trip to my apartment for clean clothes and a bag of toiletries, I’d been all but living with Leon for two weeks—minus theall butpart. Weekday nights we spent at the flat, the weekends at my apartment. So yeah, there was that.

For two weeks, we’d lunched together every day and cooked together at night. Then we’d watch a movie, talk until midnight, or maybe share a bath if we were at my place. I’d curl up on the couch and listen to Leon play his guitar, and we’d fuck like bunnies in bed. Sometimes, at work, I’d catch myself humming the songs he’d played the night before, and the whole thing was so fucking domestic it made my teeth ache and my heart tingle with something suspiciously like contentment.

I was a walking fucking stereotype and I tried really, really hard to be pissed at that, but somehow, I wasn’t. Because through it all, I’d begun to realise something kind of important.

I might actually be... happy.

Happy.

A groan broke my lips. The word no longer caught in my throat like a shard of glass but that didn’t mean I trusted it. The loved-up couples I’d mocked so furiously for years might actually have a point.Happydid indeed appear to be something entirely different from blissfully fucked senseless. Who’d have guessed?

I slumped in my chair and watched Drew open the store for the day. Good for him taking a chance. Whereas me? None of this had been in my life plan. I hadn’t seen the inside of a club in so long my favourite barmen were texting their condolences, and most of my so-called friends had stopped texting me at all.

So much for being friends. The ones who hadn’t given up on me were cautiously happy, but in a way that said they were hanging around to cushion the inevitable fall when I finally came to my senses. Others danced around my social media with careful comments about missing me and how things weren’t the same.

No shit, Sherlock. Tell me about it.

I spent half my Leon-free time planning how I was going to extricate myself from the mess ofusand the other half counting down the hours until I could lay eyesandhands on him again. Because the trouble was, I just fucking liked being with him. There. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.

Ilikedhim. I more than liked him.

And oddly enough, we did fit. Just like Leon kept telling me. But we fit like a cactus in a bowl of water. My prickles to his welcoming gentle hold. No pressure. No filing the sharp points. He took me as I was, adjusting to my temperamental whims and, strangely enough, seeming to enjoy it. And I added a touch of much-needed unpredictability to Leon’s life, or so he said. Personally, I think he just liked the sex. We both worked crazy hours and we didn’t give each other beef about it. Leon made sure I ate and slept and all that healthy stuff—herding me from my office when I lost track of time—and I did the same for him.

No one had ever done that for me. No one had ever cared enough. My friends loved me at a distance when I was in amood, leaving me alone until it was safe to approach. Leon simply barrelled right on through all those warning bells and held me, letting me snark and rant and rail at whatever injustice happened to be foremost in my mind. Then he’d kiss me, and sometimes more if it was needed, and my world would calm, the battles fading against the one bright spot that was him. And I lived to fight another day.

And every time Leon reminded me how we fit—which was legion—I still laughed like he was crazy, because admitting he was right came with a whole lot of conversation I wasn’t quite ready for. Not that Leon was pushing me for any decision about us. He wasn’t. Another huge point in his favour.

My phone vibrated on the desk and Leon’s sexy face lit up the screen, making me smile. He looked fucked out and happy, as well he should. I’d taken the photo the night after my first Harley lesson. The night I’d watched him playing with Susie, his niece—no, his biological child—and wondered for the first time if maybe I wouldn’t be so bad as a parent, after all.

I cleared my throat and answered in my best porn-star voice, “You’ve reached Dial a Dick. We cater to every need, big or small or uniquely shaped. How can I help?”

Leon’s laughter rang in my ear, and I grinned at the welcome sound. He’d been too quiet lately, as the days counted down to Caitlyn’s anniversary, the following Wednesday. It was going to be a big day for him. He’d taken Tuesday through Thursday off work, but he’d also stopped talking about it or responding to any of my questions with more than an offhand “I’m fine, it’ll be fine.” All of which worried me.

And I had no idea if he wanted anything frommeon the actual day. Iwantedto be there for him, was desperate to, but he hadn’t asked or even talked about options, and I had no idea what the fuck to do with that. All I knew was that I didn’t want to push. I was so crap at this relationship shit.

“Uniquely shaped, huh?” He laughed again and I pictured his grey eyes dancing. “Do I even want to know?”

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