The Long Way Home (Corps Security #6)(28)

We both look away and down at Riley when she climbs up his body. Pretty normal for her morning, wanting to climb to the top of her very own giant. She makes it to the middle of his chest before she needs help to make it the rest of the way up. He hooks her under her arms, and before she can even get one full stream of giggles out, he has her placed on his shoulders with his hands around her ankles to keep her safe.

I hold back a laugh when she bends down over the top of his head, curling her little body around him until she can peek at him from her perch.

A crazy mess of brown curls, a big loopy smile and giggles that rain down on him.

“Morning, my giant,” Riley says, parroting the almost curt tone that Drew uses on others. She’s taken to mimicking his tone a lot lately, only she does it in a few different ways and always mixes them up to catch him off guard.

It never fails to make me laugh when I hear her trying to mimic his tone. She’s been trying to echo the exact way he speaks for a while. It’s probably the most adorable part of our day, hearing her try to be gruff and hard. Drew doesn’t speak often, or say a lot. That is, outside of the walls of one of our homes. He chooses the words he says and delivers them, that’s all there is to it. Those words he does say, well, you can guarantee they’re important.

And those carefully chosen words that he gives us?

Those matter the most, to him and to us.

“Morning, bean,” he replies in a low drawl. As a matter of fact, to the point, nothing else given. That’s just him.

I can see her smile grow before she answers.

“Away we go, giant! Carry us onward! It’s time for the quest for knowledge.”

My head jerks slightly, not noticeable to Riley, but Drew catches it. He quirks his brow to give me a look that says it all. We both are two grown adults who rarely take orders from anyone. I would go as far as to say that he likely never takes orders. However, it isn’t lost on me that both of us unquestioningly follow her marching orders when it comes to Riley. I give him a small shrug, a bigger smile, and we follow.

The breeze hits my skin, cooling off the heat that the sun had given me just moments before. The sun feels unusually bright today, giving a heat to my skin that is much-needed since the chill has started to move into the city’s air. It’s the time of year when there’s a good bit of people out enjoying the nice weather. A little more than you would normally see during the hot days of summer. Everyone wants to soak up these remaining days before it’s too cold to.

Bikes cycling, people running, and various activities going around the park. There isn’t a time of day when you don’t see picnics, various small groups playing sports, and people like us milling around. It won’t be long before winter creeps its cold claws back into our bones, and the parks become hard to enjoy. Those cold days make walks like this harder to fit in, us switching over to my car. I soak in these days when I’m able to walk Riley to school—and the shop—instead of being stuck in a vehicle. There’s nothing like walking the city of Boston when the weather cooperates.

Riley’s little voice comes through my thoughts, and I give myself a little mental shake to snap out of these daydreams. When I hear her call the coffee shop her “work,” I can’t help my soft snort. Drew looks over, his eyes over where his leg is resting, hiding the smirk I know is there, and I can practically see the remark he wants to jest toward me dancing in his eyes.

“Don’t you think, Livi?” Riley says.

I look up from his beautiful eyes and give her my attention, the heat growing on my cheeks. “What was that, bean?”

“You’re silly,” she starts, giving a bell of giggles after. “Don’t you think my giant would be better at games than you?”

“Hey now!” I exclaim with mock shock.

She laughs harder.

“Why would he be better than me, little miss?”

“Because he’s a boy. Lewis is a boy, and he’s really good at Mario Kart. I bet Mr. W would be good too, even though he’s real old.”

“That’s not nice, Riley.”

“Why? He says it all the time.”

“She’s got you there,” Drew adds, giving me a wink.

I narrow my eyes at him, and the two of them laugh.

“Well, just because he says it doesn’t mean you need to repeat it, Riley.”

“Okay,” she chirps, then goes back to leaning over Drew’s head. “Did you know I have a TV and some games at work? If you come early today, I can show you how to play, and you can play instead of Livi. She doesn’t like games that much because she always loses. Did you play games when you were little like me?”

“Not the kind of games you have now. Didn’t have much of that fun stuff when I was little.”

“Why?”

“Grew up when there wasn’t tons of those games you play. Most kids were playing outside with sticks and rocks, basketball and baseball. That kind of stuff.”

She leans up and I watch her face as she ponders his words. She looks at me and gives me a wink. I swear, this girl.

“Well … we can teach you. You’re a boy, and you’ll be able to beat Livi real quick. She can do other stuff, and we can play. Lewis is my friend at work. He’s really good at games, too. Sometimes, when there aren’t a lot of people there, which is like never, I get to play with Lewis, and he teaches me tricks. Do you know Lewis? Cuz he’s real nice.”