Page 105 of Laila Manning
“Don’t.” He took a deep breath and pressed his lips to mine, gently, as if he was savoring the taste on his tongue before he rested his forehead against mine with his eyes closed. “I just needed a moment with you.”
“You can have more when we get back.” I kissed him again. “Just like this.”
“I’ll meet you in town after therapy.” He kissed my nose with a soft smile. “We’ll grab dinner, okay?”
“Really?” I asked excitedly, trying not to sound like a teenager getting asked on a date. He was usually just so busy, and I was busy with Kade most days now, too. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.” He pulled back and let his hands fall from my body. “Just the three of us.” He gave me one of his earth-shattering smiles that only I saw, “If you’re a good girl, I’ll even buy you ice cream for dessert.”
“Pfft,” I rolled my eyes as I took a step back, feeling playful. “Being good is overrated.”
“Careful, Dove.” He warned and then waved. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”
“See ya.” I waved and walked to the front of the barracks to find Kade leaning against my new car.
Zeke surprised me with it last week, and at first, I refused it, but when he pointed out how many appointments and things Kade would need from me, there was no denying that I needed to be able to get him from point A to point B without ordering a car every time.
It was a Subaru, pearly white and, honestly, the cutest car I’d ever seen before. It wasn’t flashy or over the top, but it was the top-rated in safety, and I loved that even more. Especially now that I was responsible for Kade’s safety.
Elora had called it my new mom mobile, and she had no idea what those words meant to me. She didn’t know about my forced hysterectomy years ago.
She didn’t know about the dreams I’d never experience firsthand.
But in a way, Kade was giving me some of that. Even if I had no idea how to raise an almost teenager, I would figure it out for him.
And he had no idea how to be a son, letting someone mother him and parent him to keep him safe and healthy, but he was trying to figure it out too.
“Shoot, I forgot my helmet.” Kade joked when I got to the car, and I glared at him as he got in.
I had my driver's license, but I hadn’t had many years behind the wheel before I was taken, and to be honest, I was rusty.
I was trying nonetheless—for Kade.
Because he needed me, and I would rather walk into that brothel than let him down. Ever.
Hours later, I waited for Kade to get out of his session, flipping through a magazine when he came out of the room. His eyes were red-rimmed, but he was smiling at his therapist, Andy, when he walked him over to me.
We both saw therapists at the same clinic, which made it nice for lining appointments up as well as updates and progress checks, though Kade just started.
It seemed like he liked the two different therapists he worked with in tandem, and I was happy if he was comfortable and happy.
“You ready?” I asked, standing up to throw my purse strap over my head.
“Yep.” Kade said with a confident nod. “I’m starving.”
We walked out the front door to my car, “Well, lucky for you, Zeke’s buying, so you can get whatever you want.”
“Fuck yes!” He fist-pumped and then his shoulders rose to his ears as he sank into his seat. “I mean, heck yes.”
I rolled my eyes, chuckling to myself. “How was your session?” I asked, turning out into traffic and heading towards the restaurant I picked and texted Zeke to meet us at earlier.
“I don’t know.” Kade said, looking out the window. “I don’t know what to say all the time.” He sighed, and I peeked over at him. “Turns out I’m fucked up from more than just the—” He didn’t say the words, but I knew he meant the kidnapping. “Life fucked me over far before all that.”
“Hey,” I reached over and took his hand, “Same.”
He looked at me and gave me a gentle smile. The day I found him in Zeke’s arms, crying his little eyes out, I gave him a condensed and mostly child-safe explanation of what I’d been through. I told him of my parent’s death, and my own kidnapping and exploitation.
I told him how Zeke, Jed, and Ryker rescued me. I even told him that Diesel and the Reapers were there too, just how they were for his own rescue.
