After becoming an adult and working hard to take care of herself, it felt wonderful to be able to stay with someone like Aiyana, who was so nurturing. It wasn’t as if her own mother could offer her a soft place to land during this difficult time. “Looks delicious. Thanks. Would you like me to set the table or do something else to help with the meal?”
“If you could get them on the griddle for me, that’d be great. I’ll go roust out the boys. It’s harder to get them up than you might expect.”
Emery buttered the griddle Aiyana had already plugged in and chuckled as she listened to the ruckus going on upstairs.
“Right now,” she heard Aiyana say. Then either Liam or Bentley responded, with a big measure of complaint, “It’s Sunday! Why do we have to get up so early?” And she said, “Because we have work to do.”
Emery was being so careful to pour the batter such that the pancakes wouldn’t fuse together that she didn’t hear Dallas enter the room behind her.
“Morning,” he said.
She whirled around, holding the spatula she planned to use to turn the pancakes. “Oh! You startled me. Good morning.”
Her pulse picked up, but she knew it wasn’t from being surprised. Just having him so close did that. As much as her mind insisted on continuing to call him a friend, her body had no hesitancy claiming him as a lover.
He was wearing a pair of jeans that fit so well she couldn’t help noticing, and a plain gray sweatshirt. “Sleep good?” he asked as he went over to pour himself some coffee.
The air felt pregnant with all the things they were attempting to ignore. Last night had been... Memorable. That was probably the best way she could describe it. They were good together in that way. There was a palpable energy sparking between them even now, but she wasn’t about to address what’d happened. She was going to pick up and move on, exactly as she had after Thursday. “I did. You?”
He didn’t answer, but he smiled as he sat down with his cup, and Emery used the few seconds she had before Aiyana returned to take stock of the injuries to his face now that it was easier to see the bruising. “You look better than I thought you would.”
He took a sip of his coffee, drinking it black. “That fight last night was nothing.”
“Your mother won’t think it was nothing when she sees your face.” Emery bit her bottom lip as she considered how Aiyana might feel at learning her son had been hurt trying to protect her. She didn’t want Aiyana to regret being kind enough to take her in. “What are you going to tell her?”
“That some jackass at the bar picked a fight with me.”
She felt a wave of relief. “You won’t mention me?”
“I don’t see why I’d need to.”
Their eyes met and held for several seconds, and she knew that, like her, he was probably remembering their time in his bed, especially when his eyes ran over her before returning to his coffee. “I appreciate that,” she said.
“Dallas!” Aiyana yelled as she crossed the living room on her way to the stairs that led to his room.
He cleared his throat and looked toward the door. “Right here.”
“Oh. Good. You’re up,” his mother said, even though she hadn’t quite reached the kitchen. “Are you hungry?”
“Do you have to ask?” he replied. “I’m always hungry.”
She stopped as soon as she crossed the threshold and saw his face. “What happened?”
“I got into a little scuffle last night. That’s all.”
“That’s all? You’re going to look like you’ve been mugged in my wedding photos!”
Emery winced and opened her mouth to explain what really happened. After what Dallas had done for her, she couldn’t let him bear the brunt of his mother’s displeasure. But Dallas shot her a quelling glance. “If you think I look bad, you should see the other guy,” he joked.
Frowning, Aiyana lowered her voice. “You know better than this...”
He arched his eyebrows. “This one couldn’t be helped,” he said, suddenly serious and surprisingly firm.
The edge to his voice indicated he wouldn’t be questioned, and Aiyana backed off. “Okay. You’re an adult now. I’ll stay out of it. Just tell me this—is the other guy okay? He isn’t in the hospital, is he?”
“He might be,” Dallas allowed.
Emery was shocked by his honesty, but continued to turn pancakes on the griddle as she heard Aiyana say, “Oh, Dallas.”
Emery couldn’t withstand the disappointment in her voice, couldn’t let him take the blame. He didn’t really deserve it. “It was my fault,” she admitted. “Some guy was bothering me, and when Dallas tried to get him to stop, he started a fight.”
Aiyana’s expression immediately relaxed. “Oh, that’s different,” she said, putting a reassuring hand on Emery’s arm. “Don’t worry. I just panicked for a second. If there’s a fight around, somehow my son always finds it.”
“That’s not true,” Dallas argued. “At least not anymore. It’s been years since I’ve been in a fight.”
Her face took on a sardonic expression. “I guess I’m still traumatized.”
Liam and Bentley came thundering down the stairs at once, shoving each other as they entered the kitchen, each fighting to be first.
“Hey,” Dallas barked when they bumped the table, causing his coffee to slosh over the side of his cup.
“Sorry, bro.” Liam pushed Bentley off him since Bentley had landed in his lap. Then he leaned forward to get a better look at Dallas’s face. “Whoa, what happened to
