Page 65 of Throttle Therapy

“What?”he asked again, this time the look in her eyes was different that just moments ago.

“I love you.”

He opened his mouth to say something but didn’t know what to say.That was the last thing he’d expected.Instead he leaned in and brushed her lips with his.

“Bout time you came around.You planning to be here for a bit?”

Jenna nodded.“It’s going to take another hour or so to finish all these.And I want to be here just in case.”Her gaze flicked toward the hall where he could hear Joker talking to Lacey in her bedroom.He’d just been in there and knew they were working on assembling a bookshelf she’d asked for.

“Good.I’ve got to run an errand for Hex.I should be back before long but if you need anything, call.”He kept eye contact until she nodded.

“We’ll be fine.I’m good.Lacey’s doing better.Joker’s here.She’ll be fine.”

“It’s not just her I’m worried about.”He couldn’t help but remember the last couple of nights when he’d woken in the middle of the night to find her curled on the far side of the bed, crying.He’d pulled her into his arms and done his best to reassure her.Without her telling him what was wrong, he couldn’t be certain what was driving her to the midnight crying jags, but he suspected she needed to vent some of the emotions she couldn’t let her sister see.She had to let out the stress and trauma of the last week, and she hadn’t learned to channel that into aggression like he had.These days he vented that aggression at a heavy bag, but more than once he’d wished he’d been on the gulf with Joker, and they could have made those fuckers suffer a little before making them shark bait.

“I’m good.I promise,” she said, not looking away.“Do what you need to do.We’re adjusting but we’re doing okay.Besides, don’t think I don’t know you’re making a prospect sit outside whenever you’re not here.”She went up on her toes and brushed a kiss across his lips before dropping her arms and turning back around to her cookies.

“All right, darlin’.I’ll take your word for it.”He headed for the door, taking his bike key off the hook next to the door on the way out.He hadn’t lied, not exactly.He was doing something for Hex.But it was mostly for him.He was picking up the things he’d asked to have made for his girls.

Roadkillpulledhisbikeup outside the house almost an hour later and killed the engine.After pulling two boxes from his saddle bags, he carried them inside and found the house filled with the scents of fresh cookies and something else.It smelled like Jenna had started something for dinner too, but all he could be sure of was it was some kind of meat.

“Jenna?”he called as he kicked the door shut.

“Yeah?”her voice came from somewhere down the hall.

“Can you and Lacey come help me with something?”He didn’t need their help but wanted to surprise them with what he’d brought them.

“We’ll be right there.”

He set the flat box on the sofa where Jenna usually sat beside him when they turned on the TV in the evening.And the larger box in the old recliner that had been here when they arrived, as Lacey had taken to using it.

“Hey,” Jenna said, coming in and looking around.“What do you need help with?”she asked with a frown.There was nothing new in the room but the boxes.

A moment later Lacey appeared behind her.

“What I need, is for the two of you to open these.”He motioned to the boxes.

Jenna frowned.Lacey’s eyes lit up.As many packages as had come in, the girl still hadn’t lost the excitement of opening one to find out what was inside.

“What did you get us now?”Jenna asked with a scowl.

“You’ll have to open them to find out.I will say, I ordered these before everything happened.I just had to wait for them to be finished.”

“Which one’s mine?”Lacey asked.

He tilted his head to the larger box in the recliner.She hurried over and opened the top.He watched as the teenager frowned as she looked into the box.

“What is it?”Jenna asked.

“Clothes, but not something I remember ordering,” Lacey said.

“Pull them out and let us see,” Jenna prompted.

She pulled out a black t-shirt and held it up by the shoulders so they could see it.As she lifted it, the shirt unfolded, revealing the words ‘Savage Blood’ on the back.

“I didn’t order any plain black shirts?”She looked up at Roadkill, confusion clear on her face.

“Turn it around,” Jenna said.