Page 63 of Snap

She laughed, low and deep in the back of her throat. That did not help my cock to stay under control.

"You're welcome. I fully expect you to call me out if I am a brat."

I gave her a mock scared face. "Not sure if I'd dare. You have some pretty sharp fingernails."

I smiled but swallowed it down. "If we keep talking like this, I'm getting into big, hard trouble."

I casually dropped one of my hands in front of my groin.

She leaned forward and glanced down speculatively. "Sorry, not sorry."

"Would you two get a room?" Hawk said from the other side of me.

"Good idea," I said. "I'm sure no one will notice if I leave." They absolutely would and I'd be in a world of trouble. Rubie's absence wouldn't go unnoticed as well. No, we'd have to wait.

"What are you doing after this?" I asked.

"Are you asking me out?" She raised one of her cute, red eyebrows at me.

"It would seem like it," I agreed. "That depends if you plan to say yes or not."

"I might say yes, but you have to ask me first." The sides of her mouth turned up in a sly smile.

"Rubie, will you?—"

"Okay, everyone look this way," the photographer called out in a sign-song voice that suggested he spent a lot of time photographing school children. Young ones.

I sighed, but did as I was told. The longer we took to settle down and pay attention, the longer this photo session would take. Not even Bam would drag it on any longer than it needed to be.

The flash went off several times. The photographer moved back and forth, capturing different angles and all that stuff I wouldn't pretend to understand. If he noticed anything untoward about the front of my pants, or Rubie’s and my entwined fingers, he gave no sign. He didn't seem to zoom in on us in any way.

I couldn't rule out the possibility he was told not to give either of us special attention. Carson Thomas, or the Rapids’ staff, might have made it a condition of the photo session taking place.

The thought made me uncomfortable, but I appreciated it. The last thing I wanted was to have my relationship put under the microscope. There was plenty of time for that later. It was inevitable, we both knew that, but for now we just want to enjoy what we had. And hope we didn't, somehow, screw it up.

Again.

CHAPTER 20

RUBIE

"So this is where you live?" I looked around the modest, single story home.

Ollie's face turned slightly pink. "It's nothing fancy," he mumbled.

I put a hand on his arm. "It's lovely. It is. It feels like a home."

The whole place would probably fit in my father's kitchen, but it was a hundred times more welcoming. The furniture, though worn in spots, was tasteful and looked comfortable. They seem to say, ‘sit on me, eat popcorn, drink wine and watch movies.’

I'd like to do all of those things, but that wasn't the plan today.

"Mum wants to meet you." He'd looked nervous before. Now he looked like he was ready to run out the door and disappear into the twilight.

"I want to meet her too," I said. The woman who raised him must be a special person.

Although, by that logic, the person who raised me must be special, so that theory went out the window. Still, I wanted to meet her.

Ollie took my hand and pulled me gently towards the kitchen. "Mum, this is Rubie."