Chloe’s hand squeezed his.
“Then give him space, Judge,” Tom said. “But also, when the time is right, stop doing it. My take, you’ve been doing that for a while, and he isn’t real happy about it.”
It hadn’t taken him long to realize why Chloe was as incredible as she was.
And now, all of it was sitting at his table.
Judge nodded again.
“I need more wine, Mom, you need more wine?” Chloe asked, he knew, because she knew he wasn’t enjoying this conversation.
And pure Chloe, she allowed it long enough he got what he needed.
Then she put an end to it.
“I could use more wine,” Genny answered.
That was when three chairs pushed back.
“Notre chevaliers,” Chloe murmured.
“Hmm,” Genny hummed smugly into the last few sips of her glass.
The men decided nonverbally who’d go get the wine.
Then Judge went and grabbed another bottle.
Chapter 16
The Visit
Alex
I sat next to Rix as he drove us up to Flagstaff, trying to hold on to how I’d been feeling, happy to chat while I watched the scenery sliding by.
But we were nearly in Flag.
Which meant closer to meeting his parents.
Which meant I was getting nervous.
The drive had started out fun.
It wasn’t the first time I’d been in his truck with Rix driving, but this time, I asked him to show me how the hand controls worked.
He did, and it was cool, something I told him.
I also told him it was even cooler how good he was at it.
“Gotta admit, babe, it isn’t second nature yet. I still instinctively wanna use my feet.”
I got that.
But it made sense he couldn’t after he explained that, no matter how state-of-the-art his legs were, the loss of the touch factor, that sensitivity, made it not safe for him to use his feet.
And we’d had that discussion too, about how state-of-the-art his legs were, how much he could do on them, but how they had limitations. We’d talked about this last night on his deck, both of us on the cushion on his bench seat, me between those legs, my back to his chest, his arms around me, both of us staring at the stars, my favorite place to be—and now that included being under them with Rix.
While we were discussing his driving, he shared, “I’ve read up on a lot of shit, including what they’re doing with bionics, and I don’t know. When you’re like me, you don’t want your hopes up about this kinda thing, but they’re making some serious advances. Less than twenty years ago, we didn’t have a fully functional artificial heart. Now we do. Cochlear implants. Prostheses with sensory feedback. It’s some serious cool shit.”
“Your legs as they are are pretty awesome, though,” I told him.
His head ticked, then he grinned. “Good insurance, and a mom having a mouth on her, I got top of the line.”
Regardless of his grin and the outcome, that upset me. “They tried to short you?”
“Insurance will do what they can to pay as little as they can for what you need.”
“But your mom stepped in?”
“You know that famous scene with Shirley MacLaine at the hospital in Terms of Endearment?”
Sensing what was coming, I started laughing. “Yes.”
“Child’s play.”
I kept laughing.
But I was happy for him.
Not that his mom had to step up. Not that she had to go through that, or he did.
But that he had someone who did that for him.
We talked more about his legs, his rehab, how awesome his physical and occupational therapists were.
And why, recently, he seemed to be using his legs with greater frequency.
“I need to get more used to ’em, babe. They’re life. Gotta admit, I’ve been a little lazy with that. But also, I met this chick. Beautiful eyes, great head of hair, tight pussy. She’s active, and I need to keep up with her.”
That made my belly flutter, my clit tingle, my cheeks get warm, and again, I laughed.
I’d also leaned across to him and kissed his bristly jaw.
After I did that, I didn’t pull fully away before I stroked it.
“Shoulda shaved,” he muttered as I did.
I stopped stroking but still didn’t pull away. “Your mom likes you clean-shaven?”
“She likes me, she doesn’t care about my beard.” He glanced at me. “Do you like a man shaved?”
I sat back and looked at the road, saying, “I like you.”
He reached out and trailed a finger down my upper arm then put his hand back to the wheel.
So yeah, all good.
But we were now on the outskirts of Flagstaff, and very close to me meeting people who thought I was “perfect” for Rix.
Therefore, obviously, I needed to be perfect for Rix.
The problem with that was, I was a long way from perfect.
“Babe,” Rix called.
“Yes?” I answered the landscape.
“What’s on your mind?”
A lot was on my mind.
I’d only met the parents of one boyfriend, for one.
For another, that was because I’d only had one longish term boyfriend (and that term lasted only four months before we broke up, so that wasn’t long-term at all).