Riley pivoted, swinging one leg over the bench to mirror his position. “That phone call I got yesterday, when you dropped off Jo, was my mom. She’s in California, where her latest ex dumped her off with nothing.”
“Do we need to go get her?”
This was his immediate re
sponse. No questions. No details needed. Just an unequivocal offer of help. Was it any wonder she’d wanted so much to depend on him growing up? Looking at him now, Riley realized exactly how easy it would be to slide back into that expectation. That solid dependability was beyond seductive. She wanted to frame his face in her hands and brush her lips over his, just for making the offer.
To keep from giving into the urge, Riley curled her fingers around the edge of the bench between them. “No I already sent her money for a bus ticket last week. Which she blew instead of coming home like she was supposed to. Yesterday she called asking for more money.” She took a breath. “I cut her off. Told her to find some kind of short-term work to earn enough for a bus ticket home. I just left her out there, Liam. Entirely on her own.”
“Good for you.” His easy conviction surprised her.
“Really?”
“Your relationship with your mama has always been wonky. She never really had to take responsibility for anything because you did it for her. This will push her to do that.”’
“But what if—” A dozen disaster scenarios rolled through her mind, each worse than the last.
“Has she texted or called to say she’s in trouble?”
“No. She says she’s found a job.”
“Well, then she’s doing exactly what you told her to do. What’s the problem?”
Riley knit her fingers together and twisted. “As you said, I’ve always taken care of her. What if she can’t make it on her own? If anything happens to her, I’ll never forgive myself. Weird as our relationship is, she’s all I’ve got left.”
Liam folded her hands between his to stop their wringing. “You’re doing the right thing, Riley. And unlike some people we know, your mama has no problem asking for help if she gets in over her head.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Ha. Ha.”
He grinned and chucked her lightly under the chin before sliding off the bench. “C’mon. You’ll feel better once you work some of that tension out of your system.”
“Yeah, about that. I’m pretty sure even my hair hurts from that sledgehammer. It took me nearly an hour of yoga this morning just to unkink my back.”
“All the more reason to get moving before you knot back up again.”
She followed him over to the mats, pulling her arm in a cross body stretch that left her hovering at that threshold between pleasure and pain, until the muscle finally released. She shifted to the other arm, then bent at the waist to touch the floor, stretching out her back and hamstrings.
Liam made some sound behind her.
Spreading her legs slightly, she peered at him between her knees. “Did you say something?”
“No. Just muttering to myself.”
Was he redder than he had been a minute ago? Had he been checking out her ass?
Straightening, Riley moved to the center of the mat. “Instruct me, oh Obi-wan.”
He was all business as he came to join her. “Okay, to start, let’s review the release you tried on me.”
His hand clapped down on her shoulder from behind. Riley grabbed his wrist, pulling him forward and ducking.
“Stop.”
She paused, his arm slung around her neck. The hand attached to the wrist she still held dangled dangerously close to her breast.
“Do you know what you’re doing wrong?”
“Um.”