AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Otter snorts. “He said I better treat you good because if there’s ever a moment you’re single, he’s snatching you up and not letting you go.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“Well, you know that’s not happening, right?”
He arches an eyebrow. “Oh I know. But now Isaiah does too.”
“What about—” I’m interrupted when my phone vibrates from my pocket. The screen is lit and showing I have a new picture message. I open it up and see Mrs. Paquinn has taken a picture of Ty, curled up in the bathtub in his PJs, looking like he’s sound asleep, his face lined with worry. Just thought you should know, the message reads. I can handle until tomorrow.
Crap. I show it to Otter, who immediately grabs me by the hand and pulls me back to the table. “Sorry, guys,” he says as he grabs our coats.
“We’ve got to cut this short. Emergency back home.” The tone in his voice lets them know he’s serious. The guys immediately jump up and hug the both of us, asking us to let them know if there’s anything they can do. I scowl at David as he hugs Otter longer than he should until Otter pulls away and takes my hand again. Isaiah asks me to text him later and tells me he’ll see me next week. We’re out the front of the club before I can even think.
“Are you sure you’re okay with us leaving?” I ask him in a small voice.
“I know you haven’t seen your friends in a while. I feel bad making us leave early.”
Otter puts his arms around my shoulders and pulls me close, leaning down to kiss my forehead. “You’re kidding, right? Bear, we have to go take care of Ty. There’s no place else I’d rather be. Don’t feel bad. I don’t. We gotta stop by the hotel and grab our shit and check out. Text Mrs. Paquinn and let her know we’ll be home in less than two hours.”
Then something else hits me as we reach the car, and he unlocks and opens my door for me. “Otter?”
“Yeah, honey?” That word again. Fuck.
“You were saying something… in the bar. Before Jordan grabbed you.”
Shut up, shut up ! “What… what were you going to ask me?”
He watches me for a moment as he waits for me to get in the car. He closes the door behind me and walks slowly around the front of the car, his brow furrowed. I’m terrified at what he’ll say when he opens the door, and it’s the longest five seconds of my life. I lean over and unlock the driver’s door of his Jeep, and then his hand is on the handle and it pulls up and the door opens, the cold pouring in, and he sits down and closes the door behind him. He puts his hands on the steering wheel and exhales and opens his mouth and says, “Let’s just focus on Ty for now, okay? Let’s go home and take care of the Kid. It’s not important.”
But it is important, I know it is. But do I say anything? Do I insist? Of course not. I just nod. And look away.
Eventually, though, somewhere outside of Portland, as we drive in silence through the dark, he reaches over and grabs my hand and doesn’t let go.
“I DIDN’T mean to cut your trip short,” Mrs. Paquinn says as she opens the door at one in the morning. “I’m sorry if you thought I did.”
“It’s fine,” Otter says in reassurance. “We were ready to come home.”
She smiles. “Did you have a nice time? I’m told at those bars they have men who dance around in cages with dollar bills around their privates and not much else. Sounds like my version of heaven.”
“We had fun,” I tell her, itching to go down to the bathroom and wake up the Kid. “A little loud, but it was fun.”
“We’re homebodies,” Otter says, raising my hand to kiss the knuckles.
“Especially when the Kid needs us.”
“He’s just worried, I think,” Mrs. Paquinn says quietly, no recrimination in her eyes and voice. “Not that it’s founded in anything, but… I think he’s just in a fragile place right now. Probably overwhelmed with all the change that’s occurred in his life.” I try to protest halfheartedly, but Mrs. Paquinn silences me with a gnarled raised hand. “It’s not a bad thing, Bear McKenna; how can it be? All that you two have received in these last months is a blessing, and you’ll never hear me say otherwise. Tyson is an old soul: he might portray strength, but he’s still made of glass and must be handled as such. But he could not be in better hands.” She raises her hand, and it shakes as it touches my cheek gently, and all I can think of is—
bear-rick
—getting down the hallway as fast as I can, to scoop him up and let him know that I will never let the earthquakes get too strong. “Now,” Mrs.
Paquinn says, “I will leave you to it and will see myself out.” She starts to protest as Otter hands her a wad of bills for her services, but he ignores her and opens her purse and puts it in her pocketbook for her. She kisses us both on the cheek and steps out into the night. I watch until she’s safely in her car and on her way before shutting the door behind us.
“You want me there with you?” Otter asks me.
I don’t even have to think about it. “Yeah. He needs to see us both, right? It’s not just him and me anymore. Or even you and me. It’s the three of us, and he needs to understand that. Let’s just get him out of the bathtub, and we can talk tomorrow.”
