Page 74 of Justice for Radar

I looked over at him and met his eyes and he smiled, pressing with his thumb and fingers to either side of my spine, massaging my neck until tingles swept up my scalp and I sighed, letting go of some of the tension in my posture.

“You good?” Atlas asked me.

I nodded faintly.

“That just feels so good,” I answered.

“Yeah, she’s all kinds of tight,” Radar said with a wink which immediately made me blush a furious pink which made the four men at the table burst into laughter.

“You’re the worst,” I grumbled which just made them laugh harder until I couldn’t fight off the smile it infected me with.

“You’re so wonderful,” Radar said, and I glowed from that praise as the waitress returned to take our order.

* * *

“You, okay?”Radar slipped up behind me in my kitchen and put a hand to my lower back, a gentle and supportive touch. I loved how he stepped into my, how he made it so the query was just for my ears and how the tension just drained out of me momentarily giving me a bit of relief from the knotting along my spine.

“I’m okay,” I whispered, shaking the aluminum foil skillet thing over the burner. I was making popcorn, the rest of the boys in the living room, as we were all settling in to watch the movieThe Alamoon whatever streaming service, we could bring it up on and rent it from on my big living room smart television.

“You sure?” he asked and he gave me a look like he didn’t believe me. I smiled and nodded.

“I’m sure,” I murmured. “I’m just not used to being around this many people for this amount of time. I like my solitude and wish it was just me and you.”

He smiled then and asked me, “Don’t I count as people, too?”

I looked at him and felt my lips twitch as I fought not to smile and said, “No. You don’t count as ‘people.’ You’re something different. I don’t know how to explain it.”

He touched the side of my face and ran his thumb back and forth over my cheek.

“I think I get it,” he said, nodding. “And I promise. I promise to get you some alone time just me and you and soon.”

I nodded.

“Guess Collier and La Croix are staying another night?” I asked. He nodded.

“Just want to make sure you’re covered until the rest of my club can get here.”

I blinked.

“Uh, do what now?” I asked.

“Yo! How’s it coming?” Atlas called from the living room and I rolled my eyes.

“It’s not like microwave popcorn!” I called back. “It’s not done in three minutes!”

“Should have just let me get the popcorn in the bag,” he groused.

“You flavorless heathen!” I cried. “Popcorn always tastes better from the stove!”

“There’s no difference that I can tell.” Collier sided with Atlas and I looked at Radar.

“You see? Exhausting,” I said and rolled my eyes.

He laughed and called back into the living room. “Motherfuckers! My woman’s from corn country! She ought to know!”

The pan gave its first pop and I jumped with excitement and called out, “Ooo! Here it goes, won’t be long now.”

Radar winked at me and I felt lighter than air.

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