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“No way,” Seth said.
“No, he’s actually right. They say it’s not possible. But it totally tickles when I pumice them. Do you need anything, bud? Want me to tuck you back in?”
“No. I’m okay. Is Seth okay?” he asked, voice low, so just the two of us could hear.
“He is. I’m gonna take care of him, okay?”
“Okay,” Isaac agreed, nodding, then making his way back upstairs.
“Okay. Tissues. And… ice,” I said, rushing back through the house and to the kitchen.
I didn’t find tissues, but there were napkins and a nice soft ice pack.
“Here, I’ll pinch. You wipe and ice,” I said as Seth angled his head back slightly, letting me pinch the bridge of his nose as he held the pack to the tip. “Is it broken?”
“No.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“Maybe we should get it checked out.”
“No. It’s not broken,” he said, giving my leg a reassuring squeeze.
“But…”
“It’s been broken twice,” he cut me off. “I’d know. It’s not. Just a dramatic bleed,” he said.
“God, I’m so sorry,” I said, feeling damn tears burn my eyes again.
“Oh, none of that,” he said, giving me another squeeze. “I’m fine, babe.”
“I almost broke you,” I said, blinking hard to try to clear my eyes.
“Let’s play it off as a sex injury and move on,” he said, getting a strangled little laugh out of me.
“Is that how you’re going to play it off to your friends?” I asked.
“To them, it is a tickling injury,” he told me. “So… feet are a hard no,” he said as the blood finally stopped, so I let him go to drop down and snuggle in.
“Hard, hard no,” I agreed. “I’m sorry you had to learn about it that way, though.”
“Hey, it’ll make for a good story. And probably a decent black eye,” he said.
“Oh, no!”
“Babe, biker,” he said, tapping his chest. “Remember? Bruises are fine.”
“Yeah, but not when they come from your…” I trailed off, not sure what to call myself.
“Girlfriend?” he supplied. “Potential girlfriend?” he added, just in case.
“Something like that, I guess,” I agreed, feeling a strange flutter in my stomach, something that I thought was lost to adolescence, an innocent, sweet thing that I figured the reality of life had hardened me too much to ever feel it again.
“And, hey, my aunts have bruised the shit out of my uncles in the past,” he said. Then, likely thanks to my horrified look, added, “They all spar together.”
Right.
He’d mentioned his aunts owning a self-defense gym.
He had an interesting family, that was for sure.
“I think you better get to bed before I accidentally injure you anymore,” I said.
“Won’t consider coming with me yet?” he asked.
“I’m afraid I won’t hear Clara,” I said. “And if the kids get up looking for me…”
“Hey, it’s okay,” he said, reaching to grab my hips, pulling me in. “I’m not pressuring you. I was just asking. See you in the morning?”
“Yeah,” I agreed, leaning into him, arms going around him even as his went around me, squeezing me tight.
“Goodnight, babe,” he said, pressing a kiss to the top of my head.
“Goodnight,” I said, giving him a smile before going up the stairs.
I climbed into bed and got under the covers before all the thoughts came rushing in. And the worries with them.
About how the kids would handle a new man in their lives.
About what it meant for me to be with someone new.
Not just mentally and emotionally, but all the ugly details.
Like eventually having to tell him.
About my past.
About how it might come back to haunt me still.
And, by extension, Seth.
I needed to make the next step I’d been putting off.
Just in case.
To protect all of us.
I needed to get a gun.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Lana
I would make a terrible criminal.
I mean I guess, technically, I was officially a criminal.
It had always been the plan.
You know, ever since I left, anyway. Knowing full-well that we would be found, that I would need to be able to protect us. To whatever end.
The first part of the plan had been to learn to use a gun.
The second part was to obtain my own gun.
One that didn’t necessarily trace back to me.
A black market gun.
I couldn’t claim to have known much about such things before, but after downloading a specialized browser, and doing a simple search, I was both fascinated and horrified about how easy it was to find that kind of information.
Guns, drugs, and even exotic animals that weren’t legal to own could be found with a few simple clicks.
But, well, I was a mom.
With a very, very limited babysitting window.
Meaning all of two hours, tops.
Layna and Seth’s sister Kit were watching the kids for me at Seth’s place.
It was all just the perfect situation. Layna had wanted to show the kids—especially Clara—to Kit. Then I’d casually mentioned needing to run an errand. And the girls had been quick to jump on it for me.
