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“Everything’s fine.”
“That’s what I needed to hear, Grimm. I got to head further south, gonna stay with the Dallas Charter for a few nights.”
“I’ll tell the others,” I assure him without asking him why, if he wanted to tell me he would.
“How’s Rogue?” I swallow nervously when he asks, there’s only one way I can see this going and it doesn’t matter how far south he’s going, it won’t be far enough not to drag him back here to have it out with me.
“Yeah, I got to talk to you ‘bout that.”
“Jesus, what’s she done now?” I hear the groan in his voice.
“It ain't so much of what she’s done, it’s…”
“Don’t tell me you let Squealer get to her.” His tone gets stern.
“Not Squealer.” I scratch the back of my head, wondering how much more awkward this can get.
“Troj?” He breathes heavily.
“Try again.”
“Thorne. Fuck, I knew she’d be drawn to that—”
“It’s none of them, actually,” I interrupt him hastily, and it must give me away.
“No…” I take the low chuckle he makes as a good sign. “You gotta be kidding me.”
“You’re not mad?” I check because I never saw this coming.
“I knew one of you would fuck up eventually,” he admits.
“So that’s it? No warning, no threats?” This all seems way too fucking easy.
“Grimm, that girl comes with her own warning, you saw what happened to the last guy who pissed her off. If you’re brave enough to take that shit on, then you don’t need to worry about me.”
“I like her, Skid.” I don’t know why, but I feel the need to tell him that. I want him to know that this isn’t something I gave in to easily. That I, at least, tried to resist. I did all I could to prevent it from happening, but now it has, there’s no going back. Deep down, I’ve always known it would be that way.
“Like her, like her? or like her, like you like the others?” he asks, sounding a lot more serious now.
“Like her, like I never knew I was capable of liking anyone.” I hear the weakness in my voice and it makes me so angry at myself. “She ain't like the others, not at all. She’s been staying in my cabin since she came here, I even let her touch me.”
“Okay, cool it, I may be okay about it, but I don’t want the fuckin’ deets. Grimm, you know what the girl means to me. She’s hard fuckin’ work but I’ll always be looking out for her. Way I see it, now I got someone else invested in her welfare who will help me do that.”
He’s right about that much. I’ve never really bought into the whole brothers, not by blood thing, but I feel like me and Skid have something that binds us together now.
“I appreciate you understanding.” I’m still shocked at how okay with this he’s being.
“Grimm, if the last few years have proved anything to me, it’s that if something feels right you have to go for it. I wouldn’t have let anyone tell me I couldn’t be with Carly. How could I expect you to be any different?”
Hearing him say his dead wife’s name reminds me of everything he’s been through. It’s understandable why he avoids this place now.
“You focus on Chop, I’m taking care of Rogue,” I assure him.
“Don’t get distracted, Grimm, there’s a shit storm brewing, I can feel it. She may seem like she’s invincible but these friends of Eddie’s are the kind of people who are gonna want her to pay for her actions.”
When I get off the phone I sit in silence for a while, I can see my father looking at me now. Watching, waiting, willing for me to fuck up and lose control. My chest feels like it’s tied up in knots and that he’s the one pulling at the ropes. He wants me to self-destruct. But I’ll keep a handle on it all. I’ll protect Rogue from the part of him that festers inside me.
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