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“But I didn’t even get to the good bit where I threaten to kill her.” She giggles, as I rush her through the kitchen and out the front door.
“Rogue, can we have a little bit of sensitivity, just for fuckin’ once?” I hiss under my breath once we’re outside and the door is shut.
“You know me, I like people to know where they stand from the get-go, that way they know what’ll happen if they piss me off.” She checks her nails like she’s sharpening her claws.
“Well, it ain’t necessary.I’mthe one who hurther, okay?” I scrub my hand over my face and it hurts even more having to say it out loud.
“Skid, you’ve never hurt a person in your life,” she giggles back at me. “Well, except for the people you’ve killed and kicked the shit out of…” Her menacing grin has me pulling her further away from the door.
“Will you keep your damn voice down?” I whisper-yell at her again. Sure, Addison knows we’re outlaws, but I don’t want her hearing that shit and I sure as hell don’t want Charlie to.
“I guess what I’m saying is that I, erm… I don’t believe you. C’mon, Skid, you’re not the kinda guy who goes around breaking hearts.”
“Well, I did, okay? And I won’t do it to her a second time. I’ll figure shit out, make sure they're safe, and then things can go back to how they were.”
“You mean with you wallowing in grief.” She bites back at me sarcastically.
“Rogue, I’m not what’s best for them. I’m just tryin’ to make good on somethin’ I did wrong.”
“I wish you saw yourself the way the rest of the world did.” Rogue doesn’t come back at me fightin’ like I expect her to, she just shakes her head at me sadly as she backs off my porch. “I came here to tell you to take the day off, Squealer’s gonna cover you. Guess you can start ‘figuring shit out’.” She air-quotes the last three words and rolls her eyes before turning around and going toward her cabin.
Addison is up and making breakfast when I go back inside, and when I see Charlie eagerly waiting at the table, I smile at him and take a seat next to him.
“Mom, when I’m older will I have all that hair on my chest?” he asks, staring at the black hairs that stick out over the v in my shirt.
“Maybe.” She shrugs, then blushes a little when I catch her staring at them too.
“Can I get these too?” He runs his little finger over the tattoos on my bicep and makes me chuckle.
“You're far too young for those.” Addison places a coffee in front of me, in a way that’s so familiar it reminds me of how things used to be between us. I used to visit her every morning to make sure she had what she needed. She’d always make me breakfast, and we never ran out of things to talk about. Now, as she sits opposite me, I have no idea what to say to her.
“So, your friend’s nice.” She blows the steam off her coffee and smiles at me over the rim.
“Rogue’s a little overprotective, she takes a lot of gettin’ used to but she’s got her heart in the right place.”
“She cares about you, it’s good to see.” She nods.
“She’s also got things covered at the garage so me and you can figure out how to sort out this situation.”
Addison looks at Charlie to remind me that he’s there.
“You’re gonna have to tell me what happened back at the house so I can repair the damage.” I talk in code, and when I notice her starting to tremble my arm automatically reaches across the table to steady her.
“I know.” She looks up at me with a smile on her face, one that would be a lot more convincing if she didn’t have tears in her eyes.
“But first, we gotta eat.” I look to Charlie, who seems to agree with me.
After we’ve eaten, I text Nyx and call in a favor, Ella comes to collect Charlie for a few hours, and although I can tell Addison was doubtful about letting him go, she puts on a confident front for his sake as he leaves. Now that it’s just the two of us again, everything feels a little more intense. Having her get in my bed last night was a bad idea, it gave off the wrong signals. The natural instinct I got to comfort her made me lose sight of all that.
“You wanna take a walk?” I suggest, figuring it’ll be easier to hear what she’s got to say away from the confines of these walls. “It’s a nice day out.”
Addison doesn’t answer me straight away, she just stares at a spot on the wall like she’s in some kind of trance. The fact she’s avoiding telling me frustrates the hell outta me and it has to end.
“You ready?” I move to stand in front of her, holding out my hand, and she looks up at me with those same scared eyes she had all those years ago when I took her to the doctor’s office for her first appointment.
“Okay.” She blows out a breath and lets me lead her outside.
“Pretty cool, huh?” I try to sound upbeat as I drive Addison back to the house. Her eyes haven’t moved from the sonogram picture she’s holding in her hands, and she’s barely spoken a word.
