The dog met my gaze this time as we entered a silent conversation. “The dog had a name, but that was from his old life. I think he’d like a new one.”
Jamal’s eyes turned as big as saucer plates this time.
An hour later,I was smashing buttons on the handheld controller like my life depended on it alongside Mama Jean while Jamal stroked the dog and coached us from the sidelines.
“No, you’ve got it in reverse, press the left trigger—left trigger!” Jamal cried at me.
The dog let out a yip of encouragement.
“Ha-ha, you can’t catch up now,” Mama Jean cackled as her purple car on the television screen peeled away from me.
I gritted my teeth, hit the left trigger and got my virtual car on the track again. I couldn’t believe she actually ran me off the road.
“I’m coming for you, old lady,” I growled.
“Age before beauty, young man,” she shot back, while sticking a tongue out the side of her mouth in concentration. “Know your place.”
“What in the hell is going on here?” A voice cut through the din of game play. Mama Jean found the pause button before I did, and we all turned toward the front door.
“Hey Mom,” Jamal chirped, as if he didn’t notice her stormy expression or the way her hand gripped the door jamb until her knuckles turned a light color. “Xander got us a dog.”
Either Miranda was having a stroke, or… well it didn’t look like anything else could be happening based on her twitching expression.
Yeah, I was definitely getting stabbed.
Chapter 14
The Beast
“You—” Miranda pointed at me.
“Me?” I gestured to myself.
Mama Jean shot me a pitying glance before getting to her feet. “I better check on dinner.” I automatically reached out a hand to help steady the older woman, but she shooed me away.
“Come here,” Miranda said between gritted teeth.
Jamal made an ‘oo’ sound that gave me the distinct impression he knew I was in trouble.
I dutifully set the controller down on the glass coffee table and crossed the distance to Miranda who yanked me the last foot onto the front stoop, shutting the door behind us.
As we made our way onto the concrete stoop, the intense heat of the sun immediately engulfed us. The angle of the sun's rays seemed to intensify the temperature, almost as if it were purposefully cooking us. The moment our feet touched the stoop, the searing heat penetrated through our shoes and into our skin. It felt as if we were walking on a bed of hot coals.
I was about to ask if we could go back inside, but Miranda’s eyes snapped at me with an almost tangible whip of irritation. I shut up and took an involuntary step back.
Normally she had a protective shell around her, but right now it was as if walls shot from the ground to dizzying heights, protecting all parts of her, with a crocodile infested moat to boot.
“What are you doing here?” she asked in a hushed whisper, fist clenched on the doorknob. “We’re not supposed to meet for hours at Sinopolis, and I come home to find you ingratiating yourself with my family.”
A sharp pang of disappointment pierced through me, a physical ache that lingered. It was like a punch to the gut, realizing that she didn't want me near her family.
Not that I could really blame her. I wasn’t exactly a stable, family kind of guy.
I tried to shake off her unwelcome demeanor. “Like Jamal said, I brought a gift.”
Miranda opened her mouth but was cut off from whatever she’d been about to say.
“Hey Miranda,” a deep voice off from the left interrupted.
