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Lolo giggled, and I looked at her to see her making heart eyes at Dayd.
“So what is this?” Wake gestured with his fork filled with food before shoving it into his mouth. “Are y’all dating?”
“Yes,” Lolo answered at the same time Dayd said, “If that’s all right with you, sir.”
Wake sighed as he took another bite of food, then looked between the two of them before saying, “You break her, Dayd, any more than she’s already broken, and I’ll find a way to kill you and hide your body in such a way that I never see another day in a prison cell.”
“Daddy!” Lolo cried as she pushed on his arm.
“Understood,” Dayd replied solemnly. “I won’t hurt her, sir. I know what that’s like. We both do. And I’ll never do it. Not ever.”
I felt my chest squeeze.
The two of them definitely had their work cut out for them. They were hurt, and healing, but they still had a long road ahead of them. But if anyone could do it, it was the two of them.
“Now, why did you ask about Ms. Graydon?” Dayd asked, ever the worrier. “I want to be prepared. I have her for zero period every day.”
My stomach sank at that. “We’ll talk after dinner.”
Dayd’s eyes narrowed, but he understood the finality in Wake’s tone. Especially when he gave Bowie a quick glance, then shook his head.
Dayd quieted, and together, we enjoyed a dinner filled with a lot of laughter and teasing.
And not once did I feel like I didn’t belong.
CHAPTER 17
I don’t judge anyone. I judge everyone.
-Wake’s secret thoughts
WAKE
I woke up to something pressed against my side.
Which was a completely foreign and weird feeling.
Even after being married to Amber for years, I never cuddled with her. Never wanted to cuddle.
But Dutch, on the other hand, was all soft and snuggly and the moment she fell asleep in my bed and rolled over practically on top of me, I didn’t push her away.
I liked her there. Sweatiness and all.
Her straight red hair was everywhere. Pressed against my sweaty neck, in the crease of my armpit.
Yeah, we were both going to need a shower.
Especially after what we’d done last night. Also, what I was about to do this morning.
I yawned as quietly as I could, yet the movement and the noise still caused Dutch’s eyes to crack open slightly. Like a disturbed cat that was annoyed that she’d been woken.
“What time is it?” she grumbled darkly. “And why is my hair being pulled?”
I grinned. “I’m fairly sure it’s because it’s stuck between my chest and my arm, right down the crack of my armpit. We’re gonna need a shower.”
She grumbled something under her breath but didn’t bother to move.
I grinned and turned my face so that my nose was buried in her hair.
Strawberries.
Today she smelled like strawberries.
Yesterday, she’d smelled like honey.
“Why does the smell of your hair change so much?” I wondered.
“When I was younger, my dad always used to make me use this really shitty shampoo that smelled like baby powder. Ever since I could afford to buy my own stuff, I’ve gone out of my way to buy any and all brands, just so I can have whatever I want. Needless to say, I change the smell of my hair so often because I don’t stick with a certain shampoo more than twice in a row,” she mumbled, her soft breath fanning against the hair on my chest.
“Your dad sounds like a real asshole,” I grumbled. “Is he still alive?”
She shrugged. “Last I heard? Yes. But I don’t go out of my way to ask about him anymore. If my mom volunteers the information when I actually answer her calls? Then I’ll know. But mostly, she knows that I won’t talk to her if she mentions him too much.”
I turned then, rolling over until she was pressed beneath my body.
She stared at me owlishly for a few long seconds before she said, “I have to go to work.”
I looked across the room at the alarm clock that was sitting on my dresser.
“You don’t get there until eleven on Tuesdays,” I said. “And since today is Tuesday, and it’s only eight, we have plenty of time.”
She looked at me with wide eyes as she said, “You really did have someone spying on me, didn’t you? I know I haven’t seen KD around lately. So, which one of your MC was it?”
“My MC?” I asked in surprise. “I don’t have an MC.”
Her brows rose to her hairline as she said, “You’re joking, right?”
I frowned. “No.”
“Wake,” she snorted. “You literally ride around with all these ex-cons at your back, and think you’re not in a motorcycle club? Wake. Wake. Wake. You’re delusional. They all fall over your every word. I watched y’all at the rodeo a few weeks ago. They were at your back nearly the entire time, observing the crowd as if they were waiting for someone to harm you. Then, when Sheriff Graydon came up and started giving Bain a hard time, you and the rest of your ‘brothers’ were all over him. Last week, I heard Edith Barnes comment about wanting to make y’all’s vests.”
