Road to Absolution by Piper Davenport Page A

looking for me! I should
be down there with him—” I ranted as I fixed my hair, “—not up here letting you
paw at me.”
    “Paw at you?”
Carter laughed. “I haven’t even begun to paw at you.”
    “Carter, shush.”
I closed my eyes, my body thrumming with desire. I couldn’t wait for him
to paw at me for real.
    “Cassidy Eleanor
Dennis.” I felt Carter’s hand on my waist and looked up at him.
    “What?” I
whispered.
    “You’re a great
mom. There isn’t a person in the world who would argue that point. And I know
Payton and Dani enough to know that they would make sure Maverick’s safe and
happy, regardless of if it’s for a minute or a year, so that text was a
courtesy text. Not a ‘get down here right now’ text. Hawk would have said
something different if it was.”
    “You think so?”
    “I know so. They
may be loose with their opinion of me, but you, they love.”
    “I think they
like you just fine, but yeah, they like me better, which is why I was warned.”
    “Figured.” He
smiled and leaned down to kiss me quickly. “Now, let’s go find Maverick.”
    I nodded and
followed him downstairs.

 
    W E ARRIVED IN the common room to find
Maverick playing pool with Hawk, Booker, and Lily. “Mom!” he called. “I’m
winning.”
    “Wow, kiddo,
that’s awesome.” I grinned and made my way to him. I cocked my head and asked
Hawk and Booker, “You’re not turning my kid into a shark are you?”
    Hawk chuckled
and Booker shrugged.
    “I can’t be a
shark, Mom,” Maverick said. “I’m a human, but did you know that sharks have to
keep swimming or they die?”
    “I think I heard
that somewhere.”
    His eyes went to
Carter, as though just noticing him, and they widened before tugging on my
hand. I leaned down and he whispered in my ear (loudly), “That looks like Uncle
Carter.”
    “That’s because
it is.” I smiled and straightened. “Maverick, meet Carter.”
    Carter hunkered
down beside him, which was good, since he was four times the size of Mav. “Hey,
buddy. Your mom’s told me so much about you.”
    Maverick stuck
his hand out and shook Carter’s hand, just the way I’d taught him, and I had an
immediate moment of pride in my son.
    “I’ve seen your
pictures and my middle name is Carter,” Maverick said. “Are you really a
pilot?”
    “I was. I don’t
get to do it as much as I’d like to anymore, but yes, I still fly.”
    “That’s okay,”
Maverick said. “Mom doesn’t dance as much as she’d like to anymore, except when
she’s dancing with Kevin, but sometimes she dances in our living room. Maybe
you could do that too.”
    I bit back a
giggle at my son, the encourager, trying to help Carter find a way to do what
he loved.
    “It’s your turn,
Maverick,” Lily said. Her little voice incredibly sweet and adorable. I
wondered if I should talk to Payton about a marriage contract.
    “Thanks, Lily,”
he said, and chalked his cue like a professional.
    Carter stood
close to me, his front touching my back as we watched Maverick try to maneuver
a stick taller than him on a table he could barely reach.
    “Who’s Kevin?”
he whispered.
    “A friend.”
    “A dancer.”
    I smiled as
Maverick set up his shot. “Yeah. We take a ballet class together a couple of
times a month.”
    I felt Carter
relax. “So, he’s gay.”
    I snorted. “Not
even close.”
    Carter’s body
locked again, but before he could say anything further we heard a femine voice
call, “Ace?”
    He and I turned
as one to see the woman he’d been making out with earlier standing next to one
of the sofas.
    “Yeah, Lis?” he
said, his voice somewhat irritated.
    “Can we talk?”
she asked.
    “Be nice,” I
whispered, and turned back to the pool game.
    “Yeah,” he said,
and walked away.
    * * *
    Ace didn’t want to talk to Lisa. He
wanted to stay and watch the game with Cassidy, but he supposed he owed Lisa
some kind of explanation.
    Following her
down the hall and into one of the meeting