Shit.Axel remembered Brynn’s very specific instructions that that information had not come from her.
“I’m at the theater working when you guys have rehearsals. I’ve seen you two hanging out.”
“Oh, yeah. I forgot.” Ryder’s brow relaxed. “I never see you there.”
Nope, you don’t.
He’d done his damnedest not to interact with Brynn, but it wasn’t so easy since his job was literally to keep tabs on her. He’d limited the times they spoke to once a day, sometimes twice. Usually it was just a “hi” in passing when he “accidently” ran into her coming back from his run and she was returning from her morning walk. From nine to three he had a clear vantage point into her office from windows inside the theater, and the halls were monitored by security cameras. And he made sure to keep his distance in the afternoons in the theater when she was rehearsing with the kids.
“I try to stay out of the way.”
“Hey.” A sweet, familiar voice sounded.
Axel’s heart was already racing when he looked up and saw Brynn standing in the driveway. The sun was setting behind her and she looked like an angel sent from heaven. An angel that was wearing cutoff denim shorts and a white tank top with her hair piled on top of her head. She looked adorably sexy. He was beginning to suspect everything on Brynn was sexy and he wanted to pick her up, take her upstairs, and strip her out of those damn shorts.
“Time for dinner, Ry. Wash up.”
“We’re almost done,” Ryder answered and turned his back on his mom.
“We can finish tomorrow. I think my back is done for the day.” Axel was feeling every one of his thirty years. The work he was doing at the theater was a killer on his lower lumbar, which hadn’t been the same since he’d landed on it after being blown off his feet by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. “Thanks for your help today, man.”
“No problem.” Ryder slapped Axel’s hand in a hybrid handshake-high-five and started to walk out when he looked over his shoulder. “Hey, are you hungry? We’re having pizza.”
Axel’s eyes darted to Brynn’s to see if she had any reaction to her son’s invitation. Her lips pursed and her cheeks flushed. He wasn’t sure if her response meant that she wanted him to join them or the opposite.
But it didn’t matter either way. The night she’d asked he’d intended to decline, but found himself accepting. Tonight, he didn’t make that same mistake.
“I have some leftovers I want to eat before they go bad. But thanks anyway.”
Ryder nodded and Axel watched the two of them walk inside the house. An all too familiar hollow feeling settled into his chest. He was afraid he might’ve lied to Ryder about life not being like Jerry Maguire, because he sure as hell felt incomplete without Brynn.