Wild With You (The Connor Family 2)

"I wanted to smack him and kiss him at the same time." I smiled at the memory. “He’s a great man. And I love him so much.”

"Not saying he shouldn't have talked to you about it, but damn. If that doesn't spell love, I don't know what does," Val said.

I nodded, deciding to hang onto that. "I should talk to him, but I'm... not sure how to go about it."

"Hell no!" Val exclaimed. "You're not talking to him until we get you to relax. Your back and shoulders are stiff."

Both my sisters were studying me, and then they hugged me tight at the same time.

"A Connor sandwich?" Annabelle asked, finally walking up to us. "Shit hit the fan, huh?"

"Yep," I said once my sisters gave me room to breathe.

"Well, let's see if the pretties I have here will get your mind off it."

"I know what we can do afterward," Hailey announced, holding up a finger. "We should head out for chips and guacamole."

Val nodded. "That's a plan. But first, let's part with our hard-earned money and buy all these pretty things. Nothing helps blow off steam better. I already want three scarves.”

"Hey, how about a tattoo too? We can hit up a parlor around Venice," Hailey suggested.

I glared at her. "No need to get crazy. I'm not letting anyone come near me with a needle."

Annabelle surveyed the three of us, raising a brow. "Do I need to worry about you girls?"

Hailey waved her hand in dismissal. "Not at all. We've got a brother with a badge he's very fond of. If things escalate, it's his brotherly duty to save us."

Chapter Thirty

Graham

I was giving Lori a few days to calm down, some space to think everything through. The conversation in the car had gone to hell, and I didn't want to repeat the experience. I'd said some goddamn stupid things. The more I thought about it, the more stupid they sounded.

Simply put, Saturday had not been a good day. Years ago, when I'd made that deal with Dad, I thought it was the smart thing. He'd be set up financially and wouldn't be around to cause trouble. But trouble seemed to find him anywhere. Clearly, my way of solving the issue had just swept the problem under a rug.

I saw that now, and I was going to make some changes. I didn't know what they entailed yet, but I was working on it. The phone call with Nana had made me question myself and the way I handled things.

Hearing Lori question me as well didn't help. It wasn't an excuse, but it was the truth. Had I been wrong to give that jerk a check without talking to her first? Sure. I'd known it was a bad idea while I was signing the check.

He might come back for more in the future. Lori was right about that. The last thing I wanted was to disappoint her, or make her unhappy. I'd gone through that with my divorce already. I needed to explain all this to her.

I loved Lori fiercely, but she had to understand one thing about me. When something bothered the people I loved, I took care of it. Simple as that. I'd always done it, and I wasn't going to apologize for it. I hoped Lori would see that. If not...

There was no altern

ative. I refused to lose her. If she didn't understand, I'd explain it to her until she did. Whatever it took. I admitted my technique could use some refining, and so did my communication skills, but I wasn't going to lose her or Milo over this. Just the notion made my chest twist.

In any case, we still had things to work through if her first conclusion had been that this was too much for me. She'd seemed past logical reason at that point, but her words had to be based on an underlying fear.

On Wednesday I headed to the club early. The team was coming back from their away game later today, and I wanted to prepare a pep talk. We'd suffered a brutal defeat, which was an especially tough pill to swallow after a string of victories and the celebration on Saturday. I wanted the guys to know I believed in them despite that.

The mood was grim when I entered the club. The usual chatter coming from the PR and marketing department was a whisper. I poked my head inside to greet them.

"Come on, chin up. It was just a defeat. We'll get back on our feet in no time. Amber, do you have time to go out to the stadium and double-check if everything is ready for tonight?"

The stadium was rented for a concert this evening, and I wanted to verify for myself that everything was running smoothly.

"Sure thing." She rose from her seat, smoothing her palm on her belly.