AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You're not seriously considering takin’ advice from Rogue?” He stares at his old lady as if she’s crazy while I try to hide my smirk behind my hand.
“Well, nothing else is working, and you have been very considerate of my condition lately.” Grace clears her throat awkwardly.
Rogue’s lips immediately pull up into a smile when Grace loads her cannon with ammunition.
“Who’d have thought it? Brax Marshall agentlelover,” Rogue rests her hands on his shoulder and whispers in his ear, getting him even more frustrated.
“I amnota gentle fuckin’ lover,” he growls through his teeth.
“I think it’s cute.” Rogue squeezes his cheek between her thumb and finger before he shoos her away and grabs Grace’s hand.
“Come on, we're goin’ home.” He marches his old lady out the garage at a pace that’s far too fast for her to keep up with.
“Don’t forget to jizz, Casanova,” Rogue calls after them, making that popping noise with her finger again before she snorts with laughter.
“You’re somethin’ else, you know that?” I shake my head and laugh too.
“That’s why I’m your best friend.” She tugs at my beard as she passes me and gets back to work.
“I guess it probably is.” I chuckle some more.
“Are we ever goin’ home, Mama?” Charlie asks when I’ve finished reading him his bedtime story.
“I don’t know, hunny.” I kiss the top of his head, wishing I had more answers for him.
“I like it here.” He smiles up at me with such a bright beam on his face that I can’t help smiling a little myself. “I like Skid too,” he adds.
“Skid’s a nice guy.” I nod my head and agree.
During the time we’ve been here, Skid’s been great with Charlie. I’ve let them bond because I trust everything Skid’s told me, but what I heard today when me and Grace walked past the garage window unnerved me. Skid hasn’t even told his mom that Carly’s dead. It’s been five years, I can’t even imagine how he’s kept that pretense going for that long.
“Is Skid gonna be my dad?” Charlie's question quickly shakes me out of my thoughts.
Charlie’s never asked questions about his father before. I’ve often wondered why since he’s a naturally intuitive kid. I figured maybe he sensed it was bad and didn’t want to hurt my feelings. If I’m honest I’ve always been happy to avoid the conversation, but right now, with his curious little face looking up at me, I can’t avoid it any longer.
“I think he’d be a real cool one,” he points out with a hopeful smile.
“Not all kids need to have a dad, sweetheart.” I feel my eyes start to sting with tears when I think about the monster who I need to protect him from.
“I guess not.” Charlie looks a little disappointed as he rests his head on the pillow.
“Get some sleep, little man.” I kiss him one more time before I get up off the mattress, flick off the lamp, and turn on his night light, before heading back into the living room where Skid is resting on the couch.
“Green eggs and ham again?” Skid holds out a beer for me.
“You got it.” I manage to forge a smile as I take it and immediately place it back on the coffee table.
“What’s up?” Skid must sense something’s off when I sit down beside him, he frowns as he reaches forward and places his own bottle on the table.
I could lie and say nothing, but there's so much stuff going on in my head I need to at least let some of it out.
“I think you're hiding something from me.” I stare back at him. Skid’s a shit liar, his eyes give him away and right now I really need some honesty.
“It’s been a month since Tripp left to scope out the village and no one’s said a damn thing. What happened?” Skid’s avoided this subject every time I’ve tried to bring it up. I won’t let him do that tonight.
He closes his eyes, and the long, heavy sigh he makes confirms that what he’s about to tell me isn’t good.
“Tripp has been checkin’ the place out, he can’t just do his thing whenever we need him to. He can deactivate whatever it is that's keepin’ us out but he needs to know when the safest time to do it is.”
