Wild Side (Rose Hill, #3)(51)

I settle for splaying my fingers and pressing my hand against his heart. Then I try his move on for size, letting my thumb rub lazy circles against his jacket. My shoulders feel tight for a moment, as though bracing for him to shake me off or give me a dismissive eye roll and tell me he doesn’t need any coddling.

But he just sighs.

“Was it bad?” I pry a little further, not sure if I want to know the answer.

“Hmm. Not all bad. Mostly just unstable. I got juggled around a fair amount, which was tiring. Constantly navigating new household dynamics as a teenager was not ideal. It got better when I found wrestling at a small gym. Had to lie about my age to train, but at my size, it wasn’t a hard sell. The only bad part about it was that working out so much made me hungry all the fucking time. Pretty sure all my first paychecks went straight to food, which I’d hide in my room so that none of the other kids would come and swipe it.”

He chuckles over the last few words. But I don’t. I think back to that night I heard his stomach growling and the carbonara I whipped up for him. Part of what I love about being a chef is feeding people. Providing nourishment is my way of showing I care.

I loved cooking for Erika. She always ate with such gusto. Watching Milo lick his fingers clean after my from-scratch mac ’n’ cheese feels like winning Olympic gold for me. And seeing my friends laughing, talking, and savoring a meal made from my recipes at our wedding is a memory I will cherish forever.

It’s with those images in my head that I promise myself to never let Rhys go hungry again.

“I’m glad you told me. Milo is lucky to have you in his life.”

I hear him swallow and see him nod from the corner of my eye. Something tells me he doesn’t open up often and is realizing how much he let out in his valiant attempt to make me feel better. Now it feels like my opportunity to return the favor.

With one hand still holding him, I point up to the sky. “That cloud looks like Cleocatra.”

Rhys groans, but I detect humor in the sound.

“And if you squint, that one looks like you petting her.”

“Weird. Because I would never pet her.”

I snort. Liar.

“Plus, that strip of cloud is way too long to be my arm. It looks all stretched out.”

“You’re right. Maybe that’s Terence petting Cleocatra.”

His head snaps to the side, and our gazes collide. “Who?”

“Stretch. From bowling.”

Violence flashes in Rhys’s eyes, and it makes my stomach flip. That he goes from soft to feral so effortlessly shouldn’t be this exciting for me. But here I am. Lusting. Like the fucking mess I am.

“If that guy pets my cat, I’ll tie a knot in his scrawny arm to match the one in his neck.”

I grin. “Did you just say your cat?”

Now I get an eye roll and a small head shake. “Whatever.”

“Are you jealous?” I tease.

“No.”

I raise a scrutinizing eyebrow at him as Milo stirs on his opposite side, arm reaching over Rhys’s chest.

He doesn’t look at me when the next words leave his lips, but they still send my stomach flipping again all the same. “But now you know I could tie a knot in his neck, and if he talks to you like that again, I will.”

We fall into silence, staring at the sky above us. Minutes later, he breaks it with, “That one looks like Erika. The plant.”

“Oooh,” Milo’s sleepy voice chimes in unexpectedly. “Hi, Mama.”

I smile, even though it hurts. It’s nice to think that we can see Erika anywhere we choose to look. We pick out shapes in the clouds for I don’t know long. And when we go home that afternoon, I get busy cooking the boys what Rhys declares is “one of the best meals he’s ever eaten.”

And I make way too much.

Just in case he’s hungry again later.





CHAPTER 24


Tabitha





GROCERY SHOPPING. IT’S OUR FIRST MUNDANE OUTING AS A newly married couple. It should feel low pressure, but instead, I feel like everyone in the store is staring at us as we approach the front doors.

Word about Erika’s death has officially spread. The whisper network in a small town is both fierce and effective, which means news of our nuptials has also spread. Especially because my parents paid for the announcement to be in the Rose Hill Gazette.

They’d told me about it this morning and I’d cringed, but they’d been so happy that I’d done my best to play along at being flattered by the attention.

Rhys had sat in the chair across from me with a knowing smirk on his face that made me want to either kick him or pounce on him.

I start out of the memory when his big, warm palm lands on my lower back, ushering me into the grocery store ahead of him. Peeking back at him, I see Milo up on his shoulders, bouncing happily with a plastic dinosaur clenched tight in one hand.

“Giddy up, Ree!”

Rhys’s lips twitch. “Not in the store, buddy. After.”

Undeterred, Milo kicks his legs. The ones that end up gripped in both of Rhys’s hands. “Go neeiiigh like a pony, Ree!”

Rhys groans and shakes his head, but it’s good-natured. “Not right now.”

Milo’s face scrunches, red splotches forming on his cheeks as his fingers curl into fists before he lets out a shrill, “Right now!”