Page 32 of The Tides Between Us

Her eyebrows pulled together.“What about your brother?”

“He may or may not know about you already,” I told her with a wink. “Plus, the two of you kind of know each other.”

She looked even more confused.“How?”

"He’s the Orchid City Vipers’ team doctor.”

“Adrian Parks?”She spelled his name out with her fingers. Her eyes widened and her mouth formed an O shape.“Makes sense now.”

I smiled at her while giving my head a subtle shake. Holding my hand out to her, I waited as I motioned toward the bedroom door. I wasn’t sure if this was a good or bad idea, but there was no way around it now. I couldn’t sneak her out without my brother seeing her… and I wasn’t so sure I wanted her to be a secret.

Giana slid her hand into mine, lacing our fingers together. I gave it a small squeeze in reassurance and led her out of my bedroom door and through the house. The smell of taco seasoning and lime filled the air as we headed toward the kitchen. Adrian loved to cook, so I wasn’t surprised to find him making dinner already.

“What’s up, Aid?” I said to my brother’s back as he hovered over the simmering pots and pans on the stove. Giana held on to my hand tightly.

He glanced over his shoulder to me and his eyes widened slightly as he noticed Giana standing beside me. I was sure it was a sight to be seen. The two of us both wearing my clothes, along with our hair still damp from the shower.

“You remember Giana, right?”

Adrian turned around slowly, wiping his hands on the apron he was wearing. I stifled a laugh as I read the saying on the front.I’ll feed all you fuckers.He looked between Giana and I with a smile. “Of course I remember her.” He looked to her with a softness in his gaze. “I hope you like tacos.”

She nodded, her smile matching his as she released my hand.“I love them,”she signed to him.

“Perfect,” he responded before turning back to the food he was cooking.

My eyebrows were instantly pulling together. “You know sign language?”

Adrian didn’t bother looking at me. “Of course I do. I’m well versed in many languages.”

I moved to the fridge to get Giana and I both a bottle of water, but when I turned around, I found her wandering over to my brother. Confusion laced itself within my expression as I watched the two of them.

“Do you need any help?”she asked him.

He nodded. “That would be lovely.” He handed her one of the spatulas and showed her what he was making before he glanced over at me again. “Dec, why don’t you go ahead and set the table for the three of us?”

I mumbled something unintelligible under my breath, huffing in annoyance as I watched my brother and my girl cooking together. Was she my girl? Fuck, I didn’t know if that was even a real thing. But it felt like it. In my mind, in my eyes, she was mine and no one else’s.

It didn’t take long before the three of us were seated at the table and fell into comfortable conversation as we passed the food around to make our own tacos. Adrian asked Giana about her job, telling her that Nico mentioned some of her work to him. He was genuinely intrigued and there was an ease between them that brought me a sense of peace.

I hadn’t made the wrong decision, after all.

After dinner, Adrian bid us both a good night before he disappeared into his study. He claimed he had some work to do before heading to bed for the night, but there was a part of me that knew he’d be sneaking off to Pier Six at some point. He had a habit of doing it after leading me to believe he was in for the rest of the evening.

It wasn’t my business. What he did was his choice and it didn’t concern me.

Giana and I cleaned up the table from dinner and she helped to load the dishwasher while I put stuff in the fridge. It was bizarre and so extremely domesticated. Yet it just felt… right. As we finished up, she turned toward me and I leaned against the counter, studying the freckles splayed across her cheeks.

“It’s late,” I murmured, my eyes finding hers. “I suppose I should probably get you home.”

She took a step toward me. Then another. And another. She closed the gap between us and was standing directly in front of me. Her hand reached out to cup my cheek before trailing her fingers along the side of my jaw.“Is that what you want to do?”

“Fuck no,” I admitted as I reveled in her touch. The warmth of her fingers against my skin. “If I had it my way, you’d be staying with me tonight.”

“What if I told you I didn’t want you to take me home?”

My breath lodged in my throat. “You want to stay with me?”

She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and nodded. I straightened my body upright, pulling her flush against me. My hand slid beneath her chin, tilting her head back to look at me. My lips gently grazed hers before I pulled back again to look into the stormy depths of her irises.

---