Leave a Trail (Signal Bend #7)(35)

You understand?”

She hugged him again. “I love you.”

“I love you, too, little one.” He squeezed her hard. “Okay, let’s get you set up.”



oOo



After everything was unloaded, Adrienne went out to the truck with Show. He gave her another long, hard hug. “You be careful. And you come to me. Right?”

“Right. But I won’t need to. He’s better. He loves me.”

With a long, deep breath and a longer sigh, Show shook his head and got into his truck.

When she got back into the main house, Beth was leaning against the front desk. She gave Adrienne an appraising look.

“That go okay? Show’s been kinda bristly lately. I’d say he don’t much like this plan of yours.”

“It’s fine. I’m all moved in, and Show and I are good.”

“Well, that’s fine, then. You want some lunch? I made chicken salad.”

“With the raisins and cashews?” Adrienne’s stomach rumbled approvingly.

“Only way I make it, cutie. And there’s fresh bread if you want a sandwich. Come on. You can help me plan the weekend breakfast.”

Living in the B&B was going to be pretty great.



oOo



After that nice lunch, Adrienne went back to her borrowed apartment and looked around. It wasn’t a big place—a galley kitchen with a bar counter for eating, a small sitting room, a bedroom, and a bathroom.

Her dorm at Columbia had been about the same, except with extra bedrooms for her suitemates. But the scant few pieces of furniture she now had made it look palatial. It even echoed.

As much as she liked it here, it was really a short-term solution. The only entrance required passing through Shannon’s office, and she was right in the middle of the B&B’s hubbub, so it wasn’t a huge step forward in terms of privacy. But it gave her a minute to think. Until she had some kind of idea what she wanted—some kind of idea that went beyond the name Badger—a short-term solution was best.

There was a knock at the door. She crossed the room and opened it to find Badger himself, smiling sweetly at her. “Hey.” He stepped in, making her step backward, and put his hands on her waist, kicking the door closed as he came into the room. His mouth was on her fast and hard, and he pulled her close, his hands sliding under her top.

When she understood that she felt a little scared, she pushed at his shoulders and turned her head out of the kiss. “Badge—wait.” Heedless, he moved to nip at her throat. She tried again. “Badger, please.”

He stopped and lifted his head. “You okay?”

“Can we talk?”

When he nodded, she took his hand and led him to the loveseat.

“Is something wrong?” A deep crease furrowed his brow. Most of his bruising had healed, leaving faint traces of greyish-blue and green over his nose and under his eyes. He had a part through one eyebrow. A new scar. So many scars he had.

“Nothing’s wrong. I just…need to talk to you about something.”

“Okay. Did Show say something?”

“No. Or—yeah, but it was okay. He said he was making some room for us.”

Badger grinned. “That’s good. That’s great. So what’s wrong?”

She could feel her cheeks flame and knew that she was blushing. Embarrassment about that made her blush more. Badger cocked his head and brought a hand to her face, brushing his thumb over her hot cheek. “Babe?”

She liked that he’d starting calling her that. It felt possessive, in a good way. Like what they were doing was real. Finding courage in a deep breath, she said, “I’m…I’m kinda…um…I’m sore. I think I need a break.”

“What?” Realization dawned; it was like watching a movie on his face as it happened. “Oh. Oh, f*ck.”

He let go of her hand and stood.

“It’s okay, Badge. I’m okay. I’d just like to slow down a little. Please don’t be mad.”

Standing in front of her, he looked down. “Mad? I’m not mad—not at you. I’m mad at me. I told you I wouldn’t hurt you. Fuck, I’m sorry.”

When he started to walk away, she reached out quickly and grabbed his hand. “Sit down, Badger. It’s okay. This is why I didn’t say something sooner. I didn’t want you to get upset.”

He sat, but he looked distraught. “Sooner? How long have you been hurting?”

Since they’d started, but she didn’t want to say that. Her silence, though, said it for her.

“Fuck.”

“I love what we do. Really love it. And it stops hurting in the middle, when…you know. But it’s a lot, and it’s new. I just need like a day off or something. But I want you with me. Is that okay? Would you stay even if we didn’t…?”

He nodded and pulled her close. “God, yes. I love you. I’m so sorry.” But she’d seen something in his eyes before he’d tucked her under his chin.

“Can I ask you something?”

His chin rubbed against her head as he nodded. “Sure.”

“Does sex help you?”

He went still for a couple of seconds before he responded. “What?”

There was some kind of danger in pursuing this topic, she knew. Not that he’d hurt her, but that he might pull away. But they had to talk. He was so tormented. Even though what they had was new, they had to talk about this. In fact, they had to talk because what they had was new. She didn’t want to start off by hiding and burying things. So she pushed gently on his chest and sat up.