Page 141 of Still Bruised
“If you want to call what they serve here food, you go for it—but if you want somerealfood, we’ll go get it for you. Cross town or not.”
Mia turned to look at him, grinning. “I lied. How can I not love a man who would go get me contraband after having another man’s baby?”
They both giggled at that.
“Want some egg rolls, too?” He seemed to recall her loving those.
“Yesssss,”Mia hissed. “And some of those rangoon things. With the cream cheese in them.”
“You got it.”
Mia grabbed his arm before he slipped away. She eyed the scar on his wrist before her gaze popped to his. Tears shone in her eyes again.“Jude.”
Jude held her stare, not sure what to say.
“When?”
“A long time ago,” Jude replied.“I survived.”
Mia fought her tears, gently rubbing her thumb over the scar. She took his other hand and eyed that scar, too. When she looked up at him, he saw her sorrow. “We lost a lot of time, hmm?”
“Luckily, we have a lot of it left.”
Mia kissed the back of his hand. “Why don’t you get something for Roan, you, and Ant, too. We can have our own Thanksgiving dinner right here, right now. I’m feelingawfullythankful tonight.”
Jude grinned. “Now,that’smy kind of Thanksgiving.”
Mia smiled. “Hurry back. Momma’s hungry.”
Jude walked over to Anton and whispered Mia’s request in his ear. He rose and finally handed Toni over to Roan.
“You had me at Egg Foo Young,” Anton said. He eyed Roan. “Want some beef lo mein?”
“Oh, god,yes,”Roan said. “Please. The food here is the worst.”
“We’ll be right back,” Jude said before he and Anton left. “If you let the cousins in, make sure they leave when we get back. They’re not invited to our Thanksgiving dinner.”
“Thanksgiving?” Roan grinned. “You got it. Just the family for dinner.”
Once in the elevator, Anton eyed him. “So?”
“I’m pissed I waited so long to talk to her.” He smiled at Anton. “We’re all good.”
“Finalllllly,”Anton said.
Jude had felt so isolated from his friends—and it was for nothing. Had he just faced Mia instead of ignoring the problem, he’d have saved himself a lot of heartache.
Avoidant Attachment Disorder.
Seemed his therapist might know a thing or two.
“Instead of running, you fixed a relationship. I bet there are other relationships you could work on, too. One in particular comes to mind.”
“Maybe. Although I sense he might’ve moved on already.”
Anton sighed. “Stop making excuses and talk to him.”
“Maybe,” Jude muttered.
