Chapter 26

TWENTY-SIX

Canyon

"Wow, who pissed in his corn flakes?" I ask, a little irritated at Joel's attitude.

She rolls her eyes. "They have a leak in the bathroom, and he's mad that I can't get someone up here right this minute to fix it."

"You want me to take a look?"

"No. Not with that attitude. The hell with him. It's not the end of the world if my plumber can't come until morning."

"Well, let me know if you ever need me to look at stuff. I'm pretty handy."

"Thank you."

"Are you ready to go?"

"Uh, let me grab my purse. I put it down in the kitchen." She disappears and comes back holding a little silver bag.

I take her hand, and we walk out to my car. There's no mistaking the yelling coming from next door, and I grimace.

"He sounds even grumpier than me."

"I've never heard them fight like that," she says with a confused look on her face.

"All because of a leak?"

"Apparently. I like having the income, but sometimes I wish I didn't have tenants," she says once we're in the car. "There haven't been a lot of issues, but it seems like they're constantly calling me for something lately. The light in the fridge is out. An outlet suddenly stopped working. A leak. A screen in one of the windows went missing… sometimes it's weird how everything seems to go wrong at their place but nothing at mine."

"Maybe it's time to cut them loose. Keep the place to yourself for a while."

"Yeah, maybe. It's nice having that income to pay the property taxes, but we'll see. I'll reassess in a few months. Their lease is up in January, so maybe I won't renew it. But I have to give them three months' notice if I want them to leave."

"Maybe by then we'll both be ready for something new."

"What do you mean?" she asks.

The next words that come out of my mouth are probably just as shocking to me as they are to her. "I'm going to need a house. Now that Ally's with me, it feels like the condo is too small. And, you know, depending on how things go, maybe we'll want to buy something together."

She doesn't respond for a long time.

"Or, you know, maybe not," I say after a moment, feeling like an idiot.

"Sorry, I think you just shocked me."

I chuckle. "Yeah, I was a little surprised too. I've been thinking about buying a house, and now you're thinking about doing something with your living situation—why wouldn't we talk about making that change together?"

"Because we've been in each other's lives, like, barely two months!"

"Yeah." I stare at the road ahead. "Is it weird that it feels like longer? Like we've been together for years instead of weeks?"

"I know what you mean. I thought maybe I was just a romantic fool. But you feel it too." She sounds cautious but simultaneously pleased. As if she's been struggling the same way I have.

"Do you think you're falling in love with me?" I ask, trying to keep my voice light. "Because I kinda keep thinking maybe that's what I'm feeling. That's what this thing between us is. The problem is that I've never been in love before, so I don't know what it's supposed to feel like."

"I've been telling myself it's too soon and that I'm an idiot," she says. "But yes, it feels a little like that. And I have been in love."

"So…that's what we're feeling?"

"I can't speak to what's in your heart," she says softly. "For me, most of my regrets in life have been the things I didn't do, and I refuse to do that again. I knew there was a huge chance you were going to break my heart, but I decided it was worth the risk. You were worth the risk."

"Every time you say shit like that, I fall a little harder," I admit, reaching over the center console for her hand. "What do you see in me, Saylor? Seriously, why would you put up with my grumpy ass?"

She laughs. "There are so many wonderful things about you, Canyon. How can you even ask me that?"

"Aside from my athleticism and my looks, I've never had a single person tell me I'm a good guy. Hell, my own sister didn't believe me when I told her what her boyfriend was doing—she turned it around on me. What does that say about who I am?"

"Nothing. All it says is that she was young and immature. The man I know is kind and generous, loving and thoughtful. Yes, you can be a little surly sometimes, but there's no rule that says you have to be happy twenty-four seven. You make me happy, and that's all I care about."

"It's what I care about too," I say slowly. "Making you happy is one of the few things that genuinely brings me pleasure. Almost everything else is just background noise."

"So this is love lite," she says quietly. "You know, it's not the full-blown, full-fat love. And it's also not the zero-fat friends-with-benefits version. It's a lighter, softer kind, where we're still figuring out what kind of love diet we're on."

"I don't want to be on a diet with you," I say, "but easing into it makes a lot of sense."

"We have Ally to think about, and we're going to be apart a lot in the coming weeks because I've got all that work stuff coming up."

"I remember."

"And you have to be either with the team or with Ally, so let's see where this goes between now and when the season ends."

"That sounds perfect."

Just like her.

* * *

We have a fantastic evening, talking and getting to know each other, getting to see different sides of each other. I'm a lot more relaxed than usual, which is nice.

Usually I'm all over her, but tonight I takes my time, making love to her like it's the first time all over again. Except gentler. More in tune with our souls than our bodies, which is an interesting turn of events.

And I'd be lying if I said I don't like it.

"I was thinking we should spend more time together at the house," I say before we doze off.

"Your place, you mean?"

"Yeah. Ally needs to get used to having you around, you know?"

"I think she's going to be resistant to any woman that comes in as a potential mother figure. She sees Stevie as a big sister, so she's safe. But me? She subconsciously thinks I'm going to replace her mom, and she's going to push back against that as hard as she can."

"Yeah, it's one of the things we need to talk about in therapy, but I just haven't had time. I make the time for us to go together, and Ally will be going on her own as well, but there are only so many hours in the day. Even when I'm traveling, it's hard to find a time that works for both the therapist and me."

"It's not going to happen overnight," she says softly, curling against my chest. "We have to be patient."

"Patience is not a virtue of mine," I mumble.

"Mine either, but we don't have a choice with Ally. She's the child. We have to be the adults."

"You do know who you're talking to, right?"

She lightly pinches my thigh. "Yes. I'm talking to her uncle and guardian."

"Yeah, yeah." I wrap my arms around her tightly.

"What time do we have to get up?" she asks. "Should I set an alarm?"

"Nah. I'll wake up by seven. I rarely sleep late unless I've had a lot to drink and that wasn't the case tonight."

"Okay. I usually can sleep in, so wake me up when you do."

"Oh, I will." I reach down to cup her bare ass. "I like morning sex."

"Me too."

It's hard to keep my eyes open when we're together like this, and I drift off without a second thought.

The next thing I know, a phone is ringing, startling me awake.

Saylor turns over and fumbles for it.

"It's Stevie," she mumbles.

Crap .

"H-hello?" She answers on speaker.

"Hey, it's me. Is Canyon with you?"

"Yeah. What's wrong?" I ask automatically.

"I just picked up Ally from her sleepover. She's pretty upset."

"Oh, shit."

"She said she tried calling Canyon for half an hour."

"Shit." I realize I've left it in the living room. "Ally okay?"

"I don't know yet. But she sounded upset."

"All right, I'm on my way." I sit up. "Is she at your place, Stevie?"

"I was planning to head to your condo. Ally said she has a key. I can stay with her until you get there."

"Thank you," I say before disconnecting.

There's a moment of frustrated silence.

"Dammit." I lean over and lightly press my lips to hers. "Sorry about this. I better go see what happened."

"Of course. Do you want me to go with you?"

I hesitate. "You should go back to sleep. No need for both of us to be up at—" I glance at the screen of her phone. "Three fifteen in the morning."

"Call me tomorrow, okay? Let me know what's going on."

"I will." I kiss her again. "Tonight was a great night, though. And I'll make it up to you."

"You don't have to make anything up to me. Go take care of Ally."

"See you later."

I head out to my car feeling grumpier than usual. And worried. And stressed.

So much for morning sex.