After Leanne had done what she could to smooth things over with Larry and Judd, she went searching for Ethan. She found him outside sitting on a concrete wall and approached him from behind. As she stepped in front of him, she smacked him in the shoulder. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Hey!" Ethan exclaimed, rubbing the spot where she'd hit him.
"You punched a terrified father!"
Ethan hung his head in shame. "Wasn't my best moment," he admitted. "I snapped."
Leanne threaded her fingers through his hair, then slid her hand down to cup this jaw and forced him to look at her. "You're not the kind of guy that snaps. What happened?"
"He pissed me off."
Exasperated by Ethan's evasiveness, Leanne decided to address the other issue that was bothering her. She lightly stroked her thumb across his cheek as she said, "I heard about what happened with Rox. You were a real hero with those cops, but you could've been killed. What's with the death wish?"
"I don't have a death wish."
Leanne quirked one eyebrow. "Being a superhero can cost you," she warned him.
Ethan grinned at her as he wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her closer until she was standing between his legs with her hips nearly touching his. The sudden change in position forced Leanne to drop her hand from his face to his shoulder and bring her other hand to his chest to keep herself from falling into him. Once she had regained her balance, Ethan joked, "Then why did I buy the cape? I should return the cape. They told me I can return the cape."
"Hilarious," Leanne groaned in frustration.
The irritation in her voice caught Ethan's attention. He took a minute to carefully study her expression and his smile turned into a frown as he realized that she wasn't really annoyed or even angry. When he finally recognized the emotion in her eyes, he stammered, "You, you're scared."
"No, I'm worried. We both agreed to be more careful, but you've either forgotten or you just don't care."
"I care."
"So, you've forgotten?"
"No."
"Then what happened, Ethan?"
"I don't know," Ethan answered, his shoulders sagging. "I got out there and it was like a war zone. I just did what I was trained to do."
Leanne ran her hands over Ethan's shoulders and around his neck to gently play with the hair at the nape of his neck. "You're not in a war zone anymore," she reminded him in a soothing tone.
"I know."
"You can't be reckless. You have a family now."
"I know."
"We're a little mismatched and more than a little damaged, but you're a part of it and we need you to be safe."
"I'm sorry, Leanne. I wasn't thinking. It won't happen again."
"Ha! You mean you won't actively seek out dangerous and potentially deadly situations? I don't think you can help it. You're an adrenaline junkie."
"It's who I am."
"And I don't want you to stop being who you are. I just want you to be more careful."
As Leanne spoke, Ethan slowly rose to his feet. He kept his arm locked firmly around her waist to keep her from moving away as he lowered his mouth to hers. Right before he kissed her, he said, "I will. I promise."