I can’t say I blame him as her eyes tell me how truly sheltered she is. And I’m fulfilling my duties with little remorse. That call will result in someone being put in harm’s way. I did what I had to do.
“You want to eat now?” We say at the same time.
We laugh. I’ve found we’ve been doing that more often. Speaking each other’s thoughts and finishing one another’s sentences. I narrow my eyes for a second as I think on this.
Eva is taking up a place in my heart. Each day, more and more, I see her in my life in a permanent way. When I wake, she’s the first thing I seek out.
Eva’s cheeks glow and she ducks her head. “Let me feed you,” I say. “We can take a dip after.”
“A dip?” she says with wide eyes as she snaps her head back up.
“You’re not afraid of a little water, are you?”
The defiance that sparks in her eyes reminds me my Eva may be all kinds of innocent, but she’s a Lost Soul deep down at heart. She’s Cage Kennedy’s girl. Blood or not, Cage taught her to be tough and fearless.
“I don’t have anything to swim in,” she says thoughtfully, but with that confidence I love to see.
“Yes, you do. You were born with it.”
“You want to skinny dip?” she says, the doe-eyed look returning.
I lean in and kiss her lips. “I plan to do more than skinny dip. I want to hear your voice echo off the walls of the cave behind that fall.” I nibble her soft lips for good measure.
The look of lust in her eyes when I pull away gives my naughty girl away. My jeans tighten. If her stomach didn’t pick this very moment to growl, I’d forget about lunch and take her straight to the cave.
“Later,” I say and wink.
***
I brush my finger over Eva’s hair as she rests her head in my lap. We’re digesting our meal and enjoying the quiet. I’ve been running what I’ll say to King over in my head.
“Hey, Owen,” Eva says softly, causing me to look down at her and come out of my thoughts.
She’s watching me closely. I move from her hair to trace her full lips. As if I’m prying the words out, she slowly opens her lips.
“You’re older than me. Do you remember my mom or Cage?”
I smile at the fond memories that surface immediately. “Yeah, I remember them. Rose was like the mother I never really got to know and Cage, he was the only real father figure I had. I owe everything to him,” I reply.
I think back to when Rose sat me down and talked to me about the birds and the bees. She had started to notice the club bunnies taking interest in me. Cage’s old lady told it straight.
“Don’t stick your dick in anything you can’t pull yourself out of. Handsome young boys like you and King, headed for great things, these women will eat you alive,” she had said that day.
I chuckle at the memory. I should’ve listened more closely. I never got mixed up with the club bunnies, but Mags was ten times worse.
“What?” Eva asks.
“Just remembering something your mom said to me. She was full of wisdom. I see why Cage was crazy about her. She never minced words. It was what I loved most. She called me on my shit,” I say fondly.
“Yeah, she had a way with words. She made everyone feel special. I guess you can say that about them both.”
She’s right. It was a gift they both had, just in different ways. Cage guided you to where you needed to be. Rose had a way of telling you the truth about where you were going.
I think back to Eva’s graduation from high school. The way she didn’t look like a girl celebrating a great accomplishment at her BBQ. I felt then she might be missing her parents.
My heart aches for her. “You do know they would be proud of you. All you’ve done and how far you’ve come?” I say thoughtfully.
She doesn’t answer right away. When she does, the longing is clear. “Yeah, but that doesn’t keep me from wanting them here so I can hear it for myself.”
Damn, what do I say to that? If I could trade my lost and broken soul for her to have them back, I would. Not being able to do anything tears me up as much as hearing the pain in her voice.
Eva breaks into my musing again. “Sometimes, I wonder if Cage would have seen something different in me and pushed me in a different direction,” she says.
“You know, darlin’. I don’t think he ever pushed any of us into anything. He only pointed us in the right direction. You have natural talent. I’m sure Cage would have placed you on my doorstep sooner or later.”
“I remember when he first started coming by the house to see Mom. He would bring me Legos. I was obsessed with the things. New books and Legos,” she says thoughtfully with a wistful smile.
The air turns thick with melancholy. I hadn’t noticed I allowed both of our thoughts to become heavy. Looking at my watch, I see it’s been almost an hour since we finished our lunch.
A lot of time to let the shadows try to creep in. That darkness will sneak up on your ass in a heartbeat if you’re not careful. I’ve had less of those moments with Eva around. I make it my business to pull her back to the light she is. This conversation will only weigh on a day that’s been going great so far.
“Eva,” I say to get her to turn toward me. When she looks at me there’s so much emotion on her face. “Cage lived life to the fullest. I remember he laugh hard
