Page 92 of Waiting for Acceptance
He sighs, shifting the conversation. “Look, you don’t have to worry about me, and neither does Lauren. You and I can be friendly, and everyone can play nice, but I believe that trust and respect are things to be earned, not expected.”
“I agree, no one should blindly do either of those things if it hasn’t been earned, but what do you mean by hurt heragain? When have I hurt her?”
He shakes his head. “I don’t feel like the details are mine to discuss.”
The fuck?
“Then I’ll talk to her about it.”
“Good.” His tone is clipped, like he doesn’t want to discuss this any further.
“But let’s get one thing straight.” His eyes meet mine through the mirror we’ve been communicating through. “I wouldneverintentionally hurt her. And I plan to apologize my ass off for whatever I did in the past to hurt her, if necessary. I’m crazy about her. So much so I’m actually scared to tell her for fear of running her off.” I see him smirk, exhaling in a way that could be interpreted as a laugh, causing me to relax a little bit.
“Good. Then you and I shouldn’t have any problems. Sorry, for the hazing,” he mumbles the last part as he turns the volume up on his radio and I laugh.
“Sorry about that. Let’s go, I’m fucking starving.” Sawyer climbs in and slams the door shut.
“Yes, dear,” Tank jokes, and while the two of them go back and forth talking about god only knows what, all I can think is…what did I do to hurt Lauren?
“Max? Is that you guys?” I hear a voice call from somewhere in the house. I look over and see him smile, then a second later tiny little footsteps come barreling down the hall.
“DADDY!” Max scoops up the little blonde-headed girl with a big ass grin on his face.
“Hey, my little sunshine.”
“I’m still a little salty that she took my nickname.” A grown-up version of the little girl rounds the corner, smiling up at Max before tucking herself beneath his arm.
“You know you’re my Sunshine, first and forever.” I look over at the little girl, who has her head bashfully resting on Max’s shoulder and smiles. She buries her face in her hands and her mom laughs.
“You two, get a room.” Tucker groans dramatically, hugging the woman. Then he growls like an animal and takes the little girl out of Max’s arms.
“How’s my favorite little monster doing?” He tickles up and down her back, making her giggle before disappearing further into the house.
“You must be Fitz, I’m Shane, Max’s wife. It’s nice to officially meet you.” She smiles, extending her hand, and I quickly understand where her nickname stems from.
I smile, shaking her hand. “Pleasure to meet you.”
“Lauren and the other girls are in the kitchen stuffing their faces with chips and queso, you’re welcome to some if there’s any left.” She laughs.
“Thanks.” I walk in the same direction Tucker went, finding the kitchen full of laughter and baby giggles. There’s another little boy hanging on Tank’s arm like a spider monkey, and a baby sitting in the lap of who I recall to be Ruby, Tank’s wife.
“Get in here, Lucy. Make yourself at home.” Tank’s overzealous welcome makes me want to roll my eyes. The other dark-haired woman slaps his arm, and Lauren turns around with a frown on her face, then smiles when she sees me, waving me over to her.
“Fitz, this is Ruby, Taylor, and Leah.”
“Hi,” they all basically say in unison.
“Tucker is holding Cece, Max and Shane’s baby girl. That little guy there is Poe, Tank and Ruby’s youngest son, and this is Hendrix, their oldest.”
“Nice to finally meet everyone.” I nod, catching a glare from Hendrix.
“How do you know Aunt Lauren?” Hendrix asks.
“She and I work together and we’re uh…dating.” I look at Lauren and see her grinning, seeing how uncomfortable I am trying to answer that question with a child.
“Dad, is that the bastard from Aunt Lauren’s work that made her cry?” My eyebrows jump to my hair and the room falls silent. Not even the kids are making noise, which just makes it more dramatic.
“Hendrix!” Ruby scolds him, as Tank wraps his arm around Hendrix to cover his mouth with his hand.
