Chapter Forty-Two
Shane
The knock on my door Sunday afternoon surprised me because the person I’d been expecting today was already at my apartment.
After the last few days of craziness, I was almost scared to hope it’d be who I wanted it to be. When I opened my door and saw Brooklyn standing on the other side, beautiful as ever, I fought back the urge to haul her into my place and lock her in, and went for grabbing and kissing her breathless instead.
The dazed look on her face sent satisfaction through my veins, and I tried to convince myself the weird tension that’d been hanging over us since Tuesday didn’t exist. “God, I’ve missed you.”
She curled her hands into my shirt, my Brooklyn there in my arms for a couple of awesome seconds before the serious version that’d ruled the past few days took over. She opened her mouth, but the loud throat-clearing that reminded me we weren’t alone made her whip her head toward the kitchen, and she quickly dropped her hands to her sides. “Sorry, I should’ve called.”
I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and guided her to my side so she wouldn’t act on her obvious urge to flee. “Brooklyn, I want you to meet my mom, Tammy Oliver. Mom, this is Brooklyn. The girl I was telling you about.”
Brooklyn blinked at me as if she was surprised I’d talk about her. Clearly she didn’t understand what a big role she currently played in my life. What a big role I wanted her to play, for longer than a summer. Which meant I needed to tell her, and I planned to as soon as we got a chance to be alone.
She shook off her surprise and extended her hand to my mom. “Nice to meet you.”
Mom sandwiched Brooklyn’s hand in both of hers, squeezing affectionately instead of shaking. The woman fell for people right on the spot, and thanks to my going on and on about my girl, Mom had already been a fan before the official meeting. “I was hoping I’d get a chance to meet you soon. Shane’s told me so much about you. About meeting you at the gym and how you helped him land this fight, something I’d also like to thank you for. He told me how pretty and smart and funny you are, and his entire face lit up when he told me how lucky he feels to have found you.”
If embarrassment meant lighting up, my face would be a neon billboard now. “I also mentioned that I was trying to play it cool so I didn’t scare her off, but evidently you have selective hearing.”
“Guilty as charged,” Mom said with a laugh, and Brooklyn smiled, then immediately appeared conflicted about it. Or about me. Shit, I didn’t know, and it was driving me crazy. She’d insisted on giving me space so that she “didn’t get in the way of my training.” Something else was going on, though, and I intended to find out by the end of the day. Maybe then I could actually focus on something besides how everything seemed off with us the past few days, all her thinly veiled excuses leaving me confused and frustrated.
“Dinner’s in the oven, and I’d love if you joined us.” Mom ruffled my hair like I was a kid, the fact that I’d been far past that when I’d come to live with her notwithstanding. “I worry that Shane doesn’t get enough good meals. I don’t care how much protein his shakes have, growing boys need real food.”
“Pretty sure I stopped growing years ago, and if I’m not careful, I’ll be too heavy at weigh-in.”
Mom swiped a hand through the air. “Poppycock.”
Brooklyn smiled at my mom, then aimed that thought-destroying smile my way. “Poppycock, indeed. I’m going to have to start using that word more. It’s totally underutilized.”
I moved my lips to her ear and whispered, “Half of the word’s been underutilized lately.”
She didn’t miss a beat. “Yes, poppies really should make up more bouquets. And there are also almond poppy-seed muffins, which are my very favorite muffin.”
I hooked my hand on her hip and pulled her back against me. “Oh, you want to talk favorite muffins?”
A grunt escaped me as she elbowed me in the gut.
Mom raised her eyebrows. “Are you being the gentleman I halfway raised you to be?”
“No, ma’am,” I said. “But fortunately for me, Brooklyn likes her guys a little rough around the edges.”
My girlfriend shook her head. “Oh my gosh, your cockiness knows no bounds.” She moved to help my mom grab the dishes out of the cupboard. “I’ve tried to teach him some humility, but it didn’t stick.”
Mom sighed, nice and loud. “I tried, too, but alas…” Her happy demeanor filled up the room and infected me as well. She loved fussing over me, and worried far too much, despite my repeated assurances that I was good. I could tell she was already seeing visions of Brooklyn and me as a couple, playing house and doing all of the domestic things I never thought I’d do. Mom deserved to be happy, and I’d do whatever it took to not burst her bubble, even though I feared we’d both be disappointed in the end.
We piled food onto plates and then sat in the living room to eat. I used to go over to Mom’s place for these dinners, but for a big part of last year she’d hardly left the house, so she insisted on coming over here to help with her “cabin fever.” I think she also wanted to check on me, make sure I had enough groceries and that I was truly doing as well as I told her I was.
“So, obviously you’ve seen Shane in action,” Mom said.
Brooklyn nodded and then flashed me a teasing grin. “He was a little rusty at first, but we’ve been getting him in fighting shape.”
“Oh, good. I was so glad when he landed a position on Team Domination, with the chance to be trained by Blake Roth. I told him over and over that he shouldn’t take a break from his career on my account. I almost didn’t tell him when I got the cancer diagnosis because I feared it would affect his fights, and when I was going through the worst of it, he dropped everything to be there for me.”
A lump rose in my throat as I thought of those awful days when she’d been so pale, dark circles under her eyes, hair falling out in clumps. I’d taken care of her the best way I’d known how, and the entire time she worried about me, and what I was giving up to help her out, when she’d given up so much just so I’d have a home and a family, even if a non-conventional one.
Brooklyn’s heavy gaze bored into me, and I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to hold back if I looked at her, but then she squeezed my hand, and I couldn’t not look at her. “I didn’t know,” she said, then returned her attention to my mom. “Are you…?”
“Cancer-free for four months now. I have to take a pill every day, but I got a boob job out of the deal—something I’m sure Shane would love for me to never mention again—so in the end, it all worked out.”
How did she always remain so damned optimistic? Her shitty husband was gone more than he was home, their marriage in name only. Instead of sticking by her side through the hard times, he’d left her alone to deal, and the only reason I hadn’t confronted him was that she’d made me promise I wouldn’t. It was damn near impossible to refuse a sick woman’s wish—especially when that woman was my mom—but sometimes I regretted making and keeping it. When you cared about someone, you stuck around, end of story.
“I’m so looking forward to his first big fight on his way back to the top.” Mom patted my cheek, again with the kid gestures that I secretly loved. “You bet your ass I’ll be as close as I can get to that cage, cheering just as loud as I possibly can.”
Were those tears gathering in Brooklyn’s eyes? If I wasn’t afraid she’d clock me for it, I might tease her for getting teary over a sappy story. This time I squeezed her hand, and she leaned her head on my shoulder, and all was right with the world.
“It’s going to be an exciting fight, and I have no doubt he’s going to win,” Brooklyn said. All positive, so I’m not sure why my first thought was wondering why she didn’t tell Mom that she’d be cheering right along with her.