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Chapter Twenty-Two

Zag

“Add some pepper. It needs some more flavor.”

Tess picked up the pepper shaker and shook it over the pan.

The oven beeped, and Meg grabbed a hot pad. “I’m going to take out the roasted vegetables out of the oven. Make sure you keep stirring the beef tips.”

Tess moved to the side of the stove and kept stirring while Meg pulled the large sheet pan out of the oven.

So far, things were going okay.

Meg had been given the heads up that Tess didn’t talk much, so that wasn’t an issue. Meg liked to talk, so it wasn’t that hard for her to fill the silence.

I was seated at the kitchen table with my dad, Frost, and King. Luna and Easy were in the living room watching a movie.

Not as many were here as I was worried about.

Six was better than the whole showing up.

Tess had talked a little bit and had stuttered each time, but Meg didn’t care. It didn’t make her skip a beat during her story about the shitter races on the lake, and Meg had asked if she had been to them.

The more I sat at the table and slowly watched the anxiety build in Tess, the angrier I got at all of the people who had been in her life that never helped her. Never loved her for who she was instead of what they wanted her to be.

Meg was the last person who would ever make someone feel uncomfortable, but I could tell that Tess was not having a good time.

“Luna,” I called.

“What?” she grumbled.

“Come here.”

Luna grumbling under her breath was pretty normal for her, and she walked into the kitchen. “Is dinner done?”

“Fifteen minutes,” Meg called. “Why don’t you come and take over for Tess for a bit. I bet her arm is about to fall off from stirring the beef tips so much.”

Luna rolled her eyes. “I would th–.”

Meg turned from the stove and gave Luna a death glare.

Luna’s tone lifted, and she pasted a smile on her face. “I would think that is a good idea. I remember when you taught me how to make enchilada sauce.” She shook her arm. “I felt it for days.” She walked over to Tess and bumped her out of the way. “I’ll take that.” She grabbed the spoon from Tess and smiled.

Tess gave her a pained smile.

That was is.

“Go easy, son,” dad whispered. “I don’t know what is going on, but we can all see the pain in her eyes.”

This wasn’t what I wanted. I didn’t want Tess to be miserable.

Tess grabbed the dish towel and wiped her hands.

“Did we bring beer?” King asked.

Meg looked into the bags she had by the front door. “I must have forgot it. You’re gonna have to go without, or someone is going to have to go get some.”

“We can run to the store to get some,” I volunteered. I jumped up and reached for Tess. She grabbed my hand like it was a lifeline, and I pulled her to my side. “We can be back before dinner is done.”

King tossed a fifty on the table. “You know what to get.”

I had been doing beer runs for the club since I was old enough to pass for twenty-one. I grabbed my keys off the hook by the front door and hollered we would be back.

“Zag,” Tess hissed.

I dragged her to my bike and threw my leg over the seat. “Get on.”

“Zag,” she protested. She moved to my side and looked down at me. “We can’t leave. That’s our house.”

I grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into my arms. “What did you just say?”

She furrowed her brow. “We can’t l-l-leave.”

“After that,” I whispered.

“This is our...” her words died. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

I pressed a kiss to her lips. “What if I wanted you to mean it like that? Would that be so crazy?” Tess and I had started at ten, and there weren’t any reasons why we needed to back it down to a one. I was thankful we didn’t have to go through the awkward dating stage and possibly miss out on each other. I wouldn’t wish getting kidnapped by a crazy lunatic to anyone, but it seemed to be working for Tess and me. We were able to dive headfirst into each other and not play games.

She shook her head. “That’s crazy, Zag.” She closed her eyes. “We’re both crazy.”

I caressed her cheek. “I kind of like crazy. I think it suits both of us.”

She leaned in and pressed a kiss to my lips.

“I was worried about you in the house.”

Tess leaned her forehead against mine and closed her eyes. “That was s-s-stressful, Zag,” she whispered.

“We could tell.”

Her eyes popped open. “We?” she gasped. “Did s-s-someone say something t-t-to you?”

“Just my dad, babe. He could tell something was going on.”

“Oh god,” she moaned. “I was t-t-t-t-t–.” She clamped her lips together and let out a strangled scream.

I chuckled and squeezed her waist. “You probably don’t want to hear this, but you are kind of cute when you get frustrated.”

She enunciated each word carefully. “I was trying not to act like a spaz.”

“Spaz?” I asked. “Babe, you weren’t a spaz. He could just tell that you weren’t comfortable. Your eyes gave you away.”:

“My eyes?”

I nodded and pressed another kiss to her lips. “Your eyes give you away. You may have a smile on your face, but your eyes can show how uncomfortable you are.”

She sighed and sagged in my arms. “I wasn’t uncomfortable. I was just sort of stressed out trying not to stutter, and then in the back of my head, I was telling myself not to be stressed because when I’m stressed, then my stutter is ten times as bad.”

“Babe.”

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