My eyes slide away, and I feel my cheeks heat. Colt’s low curse brings my attention back to him. His eyes are hard, shoulders bunched so tightly I can see the lines of them through his hoodie.
“He’s already asked.” He says, voice hoarse.
“Yes. He asked me today.”
A rumble of sound comes from Colt, but he nods and steps back, letting me into the seat. He closes the door softly, and I take a second to catch my breath. What was that? Why did he seem so upset? It’s none of his business if I date, so why the third degree? Exhaling, I shake out my shoulders and switch to Mommy mode. Spinning in my seat, I turn and scream.
Looking back at me, crammed shoulder to shoulder, are four grown adults and my little angel. Mia, in her pink car seat, beams at me. On either side of her, Declan and Ransom. In the backseat, Micah and Holly. The formerly spacious minivan suddenly feels like a clown car.
“Um. Hello.”
“Hi, Mama!” Mia says, full of sunshine and smiles. “We buy bikes!”
Declan and Ransom are smiling and nodding, and suddenly I’m nodding too. Because why the hell not?
“Ok.”
When we pullinto the Target parking lot, a big truck pulls in next to us. Out spills Kade, Jonas, and Zach.
“What exactly is happening?”
Colt smiles tightly, his eyes still guarded. “Mia told you. Buying bikes.” Then he swings out of the car to grab Mia as she nearly levitates with excitement.
“Go, Horsey!” Mia yells, grabbing his hand and tugging him towards the store. The guys run to catch up, Holly falling into step next to me. She’s smiling and shaking her head. “It’s probably better to let them run off some steam before we catch up.”
“Run off some steam?”
“Yea, they’re here to buy bikes, but I doubt they’ve been to Target in a decade. They’re going to be all over the place in there.”
“That’s so weird to me. I mean, how do you not go shopping?”
“I didn’t get it either, at first. But their athletic clothing comes from specialty stores. They get their suits custom-made, and none of them know how to cook, so they’d get takeout. Everything comes to them. Micah loves going to the grocery store with me, but it’s so distracting. I swear a toddler would be easier to manage than he is.”
I laugh, imagining Micah running around the grocery store, tugging on Holly’s hand every two minutes, begging for treats.
“So,” she says, voice turning teasing. “What did we see back there? Who was that guy?”
“Another nurse. He works in radiology.”
“And…?”
“And he asked me out.”
Her eyes widen and she pulls me to a stop just inside the doors, forcing the people behind us to stop suddenly. “What did you say?”
I pull her to the side. “I said yes,” I admit with a wince.
“I don’t understand. I thought you and Colt…” she trails off, frowning.
Grabbing a cart, I turn and head into the store, waiting for her to catch up before answering. “I tried, Holly. I did what you suggested. I tried to make more time for us. He took me to the gym, and that night he let six men beat on him. That’s not a promising sign.”
“Did you talk to him about it?”
“Yeah,” I say with a sigh. “He got triggered by something. He begged me to stay his friend. He made it clear how much we matter to him.” I blink quickly. “He’s such a good man, and I know he loves us. Being loved by him, even just as a friend, is pretty damn great.”
She puts her hand on my arm. “I think you’re wrong. You didn’t see him, Evie. When you came out of the hospital with your friend, Colt growled. Actually growled. He shot out of the car so fast he was a blur. He pulled himself back, but he looked like he wanted to storm over to you and claim you.”
“Stop,” I whisper. “You have to stop. My heart can’t take this. I can’t get my hopes up again. It was too hard of a fall last time. Jeremiah is a good man. He likes me. He asked for a date. It’s simple. And I could really use simple.”