“Sorry,” Ryan winced. “You okay, sweetheart?”
“I’m good. What are you guys up to?”
Waving us to follow him, he said over his shoulder, “I’ve got the spare keys you gave me, so you can let it lock behind us.”
As we got to the top of the stairs, he went to pick her up, but I got there first and lifted her bridal style.
“I can try to go down them,” she offered gently, wrapping her good arm around my neck.
“The hell you can. Until they’re off, and probably for a while after that until I’m sure you’re going to be okay, I’m carrying you.”
Smiling at me, Ryan shook his head. “You guys are too cute. Never thought I’d say it, but I think you might well be the fortune to each other’s cookie.”
Laughing at the comparison, I filled him in on the first night I’d brought her here.
“I had to give her a piggyback because we couldn’t find another way to carry her that didn’t hurt. I swear I freaked out on every step that I was going to jar her or hurt her.”
“It did hurt,” she said. “I just wanted to get it over and done with, so I said I was okay.”
I paused mid-step and glared at her. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“Because it didn’t matter what way we did it, and I was tired and over it. Plus, my head felt like someone had hit it repeatedly with a sledgehammer.”
“Don’t do that again. If—God forbid—you ever get hurt again, we try everything until we find a way that doesn’t cause you even more pain, even if it means getting a hotel room for the whole of your recovery time.”
Blinking at me, she eventually nodded. Ryan, though, looked at me like I’d solved one of the most complex and impossible equations to exist.
It was as we got to the door, he finally mumbled, “Now I feel like a dick.”
The comment didn’t make sense until I saw Sam standing in front of a car with a massive red bow on it.
“I apologize. He refused to get a subtle one, and ended up buying a shit ton of velvet fabric and tying it himself.”
I couldn’t turn to look at Ryan or even laugh at what he’d just said.
Why?
Because they’d bought her a Mini. A two door Mini.
“Is that…” Sasha gasped, wiggling to be put down. “Did you guys get me a car?”
Holding his arms out, Sam yelled, “Sure did, sweetheart. It’s the new Mini Electric.”
“Ah, fuck,” I muttered under my breath.
As she hobbled over to it, Ryan came up beside me and stood watching her with his arms crossed over his chest. “You’ve got summer break coming up, and we’re hoping she’ll come home for it.”
Glancing at him, I waited until he looked at me so he could see how serious I was. “Sasha gave me the names this morning. Just trust me when I say I’m working on it.”
“Don’t do anything illegal, son. We’ve upped security, and the police are just waiting for the little bitches to step out of line again.”
Smirking at him, I raised an eyebrow. “Marcus’s best friend is a whizz on the computer. He’s currently finding information on them that we can use. I’ll pass it all over as soon as he sends everything through to me, but it might take a while for him to get everything we need. I’m going to make sure Sasha’s gets her life back.”
Ryan looked shocked at the news, but then Sasha squealed as she opened the driver’s door and he was distracted.
Or so I thought.
“Yeah, I’m thinking you guys are perfect together. I’ve said since the day she was passed to us that no man or woman would ever be good enough for her.” He went silent for a moment but then looked back at me. “I was wrong. Really fucking wrong.”
“When she graduates, I’m bringing her home, Ryan. I started college at seventeen, and anything I want to advance on for my career I can do at home. I’ve looked into her course as well, and the same thing goes for her.”
I swear, tears appeared in the man’s eyes before I’d finished telling him I was bringing her home the first time, but by the time I finished, they were close to spilling over.
The moment was ruined by Sam yelling, “Now you guys can drive back in this instead of that big truck. It’ll be more economical, and you’ll have everything you need because it’s got all of the extra features they had available.”
My head snapped around to stare at him in horror, hoping he was joking. From the look on his and Sasha’s faces as they pressed the buttons inside, he wasn’t.
“Please tell me this is a big joke.”
Clearing his throat, Ryan said, “’Fraid not. Sasha’s terrified of flying, so we had to drive her here when she transferred. Google maps says it’s thirty-two hours, but it took us six days because Sam can’t follow a simple navigation system.”