He braced instinctively. Couldn’t help it. Didn’t want the kid close, not now, not with his nerves flayed raw and his head on overdrive.
Oliver slammed to a stop in front of him, clutching something in his hand. “I drew you and Cinder.” He thrust a crumpled page at him.
His heart did something stupid in his chest. He took the paper, expecting a crude stick figure drawing. What he got was… surprisingly good. Cinder’s eyes were the right color, that deep whiskey brown. Oliver nailed his favorite black T-shirt, his short hair, and his charcoal-gray cowboy hat. The kid had even included the tattoos on his arms and the occasional cigar he indulged in.
He almost smiled.
Almost.
“Thanks,” he managed, voice rough.
Oliver beamed like he’d just won a medal. “You like it?”
“It’s… accurate.”
“He likes it!” Oliver shouted, all but bouncing on his feet. The kid was like a wind-up toy, and Ghost didn’t know how Jax and Nessie kept up with him.
Jax and Bear crossed the road, their dogs following. Cinder let out a huff of disdain and went inside through the dog door. He wanted more than anything to follow her, but Naomi had looked like she meant her threat of murder if he set foot back inside before sundown.
Before he could answer, Greta’s Jeep pulled to a stop beside his truck in a cloud of dust. She jumped out, all long legs and determined energy, her strawberry blonde braid swinging as she gathered a bag of groceries from the passenger seat. “Why are you still here? Whatever Nomi threatened you with, she wasn’t kidding. So, shoo!”
Jesus, the woman was the human equivalent of high voltage—loud, bright, and allergic to standing still. Being in her presence felt like he was standing too close to a spotlight, and he didn’t like it.
“Woman says ‘shoo,’ you don’t argue,” Bear said.
Greta eyed him as she approached.
“Look at that. Sasquatch actually speaks.”
“What’s Sasquatch?” Oliver asked, and Jax swore softly under his breath, no doubt picturing the kid’s next hyper-fixation.
“It’s a really big, hairy animal that lives in the woods and doesn’t like people,” Greta said. “Sometimes it’s called Bigfoot.”
Oliver’s eyes went wide. “Does it eat people?”
“Only the annoying ones,” Bear rumbled, eyes narrowing on Greta.
Oliver tilted his head back to stare up at Bear with wide-eyed fascination. “Are you a Sasquatch?”
Bear didn’t blink. “If I was, I couldn’t tell you. It’s against Sasquatch code.”
Oliver opened his mouth, probably to ask what Sasquatch ate for breakfast, but Jax swooped in and snagged the kid by the hood before he could fully launch into his new obsession. “Go in and see if your mom needs help, bud. I have chores to do.”
“Aww! But Ghost just came outside for the first time inforever,and I wanna show him the secret handshake we made up!”
Christ. There was a handshake now?
Ghost tried to sidestep toward the door, but Oliver was quick for someone with shoelaces flapping. “Wait! Gotta do the handshake, you promised.”
He didn’t remember promising, but the kid was looking up at him like it was a sacred oath, so Ghost gritted his teeth and let Oliver take his hand.
The handshake was elaborate. Too many steps, too much flair. Halfway through, Ghost lost the thread, but Oliver nudged him with a grin and guided him through the rest. Slap, fist bump, finger snap, elbow tap. At the end, Oliver beamed like Ghost had just performed on Broadway.
“There,” Oliver declared, “now you’re part of the club. Only people who know the handshake are allowed.”
Ghost wasn’t sure what the club was or why he’d just gotten drafted, but the pride radiating off the kid was almost claustrophobic.
“Great,” he said. He tried to sound like he meant it. Didn’t want to be the guy who crushed a kid’s spirit for no reason.
