Page 76 of Escape

Erica walked up to our table with our pizza, so it gave me the time I needed to pull myself together.

When she walked away, I said, “Speaking of better futures, will you tell me about more of your buddies from work? I love hearing all of those stories with happy endings.”

“I can do that,” Huck confirmed as we each took a piece of pizza and set it on our plates. “But first, I need to watch you take your first bite in years. I want to know what you think.”

Never wanting to do anything to disappoint him, and being eager to taste some fresh pizza, I lifted the slice to my mouth, took a bite, and dropped my head back with a moan. “Oh my God, it’s so delicious.”

I chewed with my eyes closed for several seconds before I brought my attention to Huck. His eyes were dancing, and I was convinced it was the happiest I’d ever seen him. “You like it?”

“I love it.”

He laughed and took his own bite. After he swallowed, he said, “Let me tell you about Kit and Maxie.”

For the next little while, I listened intently while Huck told me about three more of his coworkers, Kit, Jax, and Jake. I still couldn’t believe there were so many people who worked at Harper Security Ops. But that didn’t matter so much. I loved hearing about how they’d all found their happy endings despite facing some kind of adversity.

It gave me so much hope about where my future would take me. I could only hope that wherever I wound up, Huck wouldn’t be too far away.

Before I knew it, Erica had returned with a box for the pizza we were going to take back to Huck’s place, along with the bill. As he handed her his debit card, I said, “Thank you for bringing me out for lunch today. I enjoyed having the extra time out of the house, and of course, the company was wonderful.”

Huck smiled at me and returned, “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself. And if you truly do want to have more time out of the house, I’ve got something in mind.”

My brows shot up. “Oh?”

“Jesse and Sawyer are getting married in a couple weeks,” he shared. “I would love to take you to the wedding with me.”

Warmth hit the center of my chest and spread out as those butterflies returned to my belly. “You want me to join you at your friends’ wedding?”

He nodded. “I do. You’ll have quite a few more rehab appointments before then, so I’m hoping you feel stronger by that time. And I think we already have such a great time together. I just figure it’ll be a lot of fun.”

I didn’t need to think twice about it.

Sure, I could have sat here and made assumptions about why Huck invited me to go with him and questioned what it all meant.

But the reality was that I was trying to get my life back on track and do things that made me happy. I didn’t doubt I would have the time of my life if I went with Huck to the wedding.

So, I didn’t hesitate.

I sat up taller in the seat, beamed at him, and declared, “I’d love to go to the wedding with you.”

His grin grew as he reached across the table and gave my hand a squeeze. “We’re going to have the best time.”

“I can’t wait.”

And I couldn’t.

There had never been an instance when I was with Huck when I didn’t thoroughly enjoy myself and make some kind of lasting memories.

I knew this wedding would be no different.

TWENTY

Josie

It had finally happened.

I was standing in Huck’s kitchen, first thing in the morning, and I was alone.

It had been a few days since I’d gone to my first therapy session. Since then, I’d gone to both another shoulder rehab appointment as well as a therapy session.