Chapter Twenty-Eight
Blake
“W hat do you mean Zippy is missing?” I slowly ask the three young boys who are all grinning from ear to ear.
Mikey—the oldest and the mastermind behind every prank—shrugs, but the challenging glint in his eye tells me everything I need to know…
These little shits hid the dog.
I’m sure that they wouldn’t have purposefully put Zippy in danger, however Mikey’s only eleven. So I can’t say he, or his younger brothers, make the most informed decisions either. Not to mention, their dear, sweet mother Erica loves this dog more than anything. Arguably more than her own children, but that’s just my own assumption based on the fact that they’re terrible.
“We don’t know where he is,” Mikey states, his voice dripping with faux innocence. “We were looking for something in the shed and he must have followed us out there.”
Narrowing my eyes at them, I do my best to hide the sense of satisfaction I feel when his younger brothers, Shawn and Luke, take a step behind him. “What were you looking for in the shed, Mikey?”
That makes the boy show actual fear for the first time, because we both know exactly what they were looking for.
Christmas presents .
It doesn’t matter that we’re still about two weeks out from Halloween. He knows his parents start buying the presents as early as July, even if he doesn’t fully understand the financial situation, or why they start so early. And I know as well as he does that Erica is going to be pissed if he finds their hiding spot for the third year in a row.
“Uh…” He scrunches his face, trying to think of any possible excuse. “We were… looking for… Zippy!” Rolling his eyes at me, as if I’m the idiot here, he adds, “Obviously.”
Bending down to look him straight in the eye, I switch to my ‘stern voice,’ as the youngest, Luke, likes to call it. It’s the only way they know I mean fucking business. “If Zippy slipped past you out the door, why would you have been out there looking for him?”
His mouth slams shut for a long second before he lets out an exasperated sigh. “Can you please just go find him? In the shed ?”
“I swear to God, Mik—”
“You shouldn’t use God’s name in vain,” Mikey scolds, shaking his head at me like a disappointed Sunday school teacher.
Taking a deep breath and closing my eyes, I count to ten. My family isn’t particularly religious, outside of my maternal grandmother, but the Paulson family are active members of their church. I do my best to be respectful when I’m in their home, but it’s hard when you’re dealing with a little gremlin. Looking at the three of them, I offer an apologetic smile. “You’re right, Mikey. I shouldn’t have said that, and I’m sorry. If you have something planned in the shed—something sticky, or dangerous, or just plain stupid—you’re going to be in a lot of trouble. I’ve always had a lot of patience with you three, but including an animal in your pranks is not okay.”
With another eye roll, Mikey just demands again, “Go to the shed.”
“Fine,” I snap, catching the youngest child Luke’s guilty smile before I turn toward the door that leads to the backyard. I’m suddenly concerned about what these little shits planned this time.
As soon as I step into the dark space, Mikey slams the door shut behind me. I whip around but can’t see anything in the pitch black. I only know it’s him because he’s at the age where his voice is starting to crack—or in this case, his laugh. Poor kid .
That sympathy is short lived though. It dies a fiery death in my soul as soon as I jiggle the knob only to find that the door is jammed by something on the other side and Mikey yells, “Find Zippy!”
“I’m going to kill him,” I mutter and twirl around.
Using the flashlight on my phone, I tentatively begin to look around. It goes without saying that Zippy is more than likely not in here, but Mikey’s a tenacious kid. He’s not going to let me out of here. I could call their parents. Though it’s been a few months since Kevin and Erica have been able to afford a date night, so I don’t want to ruin that for them.
And it can’t be that bad, right?
Without really thinking about it, I take a step forward and call out, “Zippy?” Immediately, I regret my choice to just play along when my foot lands on something. “What the fu—ahhh!”
Someone jumps up from behind me and grabs onto my shoulders. A high-pitched scream rips out of me as I try to untangle myself. “Let! Me! Go!” I helplessly scream, before I trip over myself and crash to the ground. Reaching for my phone that slid across the floor, I wince in pain when I try to scoot myself closer.
The pain is bad enough that I temporarily forget about being attacked. Using my other leg, I push myself close enough to grab my phone. As soon as I do, I shine the light at my ankle, and tears fill my eyes when I see the golf ball sized lump already growing on the side. As the first tear slips over and the pain starts to throb, I raise my camera light to the giant skeleton standing at about seven feet tall.
I recognize that damn thing instantly. Anyone who’s ever been to the haunted house the construction company hosts every October would recognize that decoration. Kevin’s worked there as long as I can remember, and I guess he’s also the keeper of haunted props.
“Oh my God,” I quietly seethe. Swallowing down the tears, I start to dial before I think about what I’m doing. “Mikey! Get your ass in here now!”
The door flies open, presenting three startled boyish faces. “Blake, are you okay?” Shawn starts walking toward me. He’s easily the sweetest of the three, but as the middle child, he’s usually outvoted.
As he kneels next to me with tears in his eyes another voice pulls me back to what I’m doing. “Hey, Storm Cloud,” Adrian easily greets. “How’s babysitting? I’m just getting home from the gym, but I thought you’d be busy for a wh—”
“Blake?” Shawn asks again, this time his voice is watery.
I run my hand down the side of his head and do my best to not let my own tears be heard in my voice. “It’s okay, buddy,” I whisper. “Adrian—”
Not doing a very good job of composing my emotions, Adrian cuts me off, “Blake? What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“I’m sorry, Blake.” Mikey drops next to me. “It was supposed to be funny. I didn’t mean for you to get hurt.” He hiccups, growing more emotional by the second too.
“You’re hurt? Where are you?” Adrian demands.
“I’m okay,” I tell Mikey then I add in a louder voice to Adrian, “I’m okay. I fell down and I twisted my ankle… really bad.” More tears slip down my cheeks as the pain grows, but it makes all three of the boys start to cry in earnest too. “I need your help. Please. ”
“Send me the address, and don’t move.”
B y the time Adrian finds the four of us in the shed, it’s probably one of the most pathetic sights he’s ever seen.
After we all sobbed for about five minutes, Mikey pulled himself together well enough to run into the house to grab a bag of ice, and a couple of water bottles. Shawn is across from me, doing his best to sit still while my ankle rests on his knee and he holds the ice for me. Luke is still crying hard enough to warrant him sitting in my lap, even though it fucking hurts every time he moves. And as a five-year-old, that’s about every twenty seconds.
But it’s the helpless look I give Adrian as his eyes find mine, that really completes the scene. I’m sure my face is puffy and pink from crying, and I haven’t even attempted to fix my hair. I felt it snag on the skeleton’s fingers on my tumble down, but it’s been the least of my worries. Until now.
“Hi,” I quietly squeak.
“Hey, pretty girl.” My heart melts, not truly realizing how comforting his endearments are until now. Crouching down, he quickly introduces himself to the kids and gently extracts Luke from my lap. “What happened?”
My eyes cut to Mikey, who visibly gulps and shrinks down. “It doesn’t matter how, but I fell down.” I watch his gaze move to the giant skeleton still lunging forward behind me. His eyebrows tick up and a small smile plays at his lips.
Apparently that’s all the encouragement Mikey needs, because he leans forward and adds, “I pranked her.”
“ Mikey ,” I scold. “And what had I said just a minute before I walked into this shed?”
“You said I better not have anything ‘sticky, or dangerous, or just plain stupid’ planned. You didn’t say anything about something scary .”
Adrian snorts. Throwing a quick scowl his way, I turn back to Mikey and gesture toward my ankle. “What do you call that?”
He looks me up and down with a judgmental expression. “Being clumsy.”
Adrian doesn’t try to stop the laugh that falls from his lips. He’s fully and shamelessly enjoying the show between me and the little pain in my ass. Which reminds me…
“Did I ever mention who the Paulson boys’ grandma is?” I ask Adrian dryly.
Luke perks up at the mention of the woman who spoils them rotten. “Grandma Polly! Let’s call her.”
“No.” I shut that down as soon as possible and ignore his bottom lip sticking out.
“Polly?” Adrian asks slowly. “As in…”
He trails off as I nod slowly. This time, he actually falls back on his butt from laughing so hard. It’s that deep, rumbly sound that sends a rush of warmth through me every time. “The one and only.”
“ Polly Paulson ?” he laughs.
Shaking my head, I tell him, “Polly Livingston. Their maternal grandmother.”
“I’m starting to understand why people love the whole small-town thing.” The ever-present hint of amusement twinkles in his eyes adding another layer of comfort to this moment. “What do you say we get you out of here?”
Nodding, I gently pull my foot from Shawn’s knee and offer him an appreciative smile.
“Can you stand?” Adrian asks gently. The three boys peering over his shoulder look hopeful, but Adrian’s expression says he knows the answer. He is only asking to be polite.
I know the answer too.
Though I attempt anyway. Offering him a hand, I brace the other on the ground and try to keep my right foot in the air as I pull myself up. Hissing out a pained breath, I drop back to the ground and rub at my wet cheeks.
“This will be quick, but it might still hurt a little,” Adrian warns, a second before he slips an arm around me, the other under my knees, and lifts me in the air. I gasp in surprise and throw my arms around his neck. The sudden movement does cause a sharp pain to burst in my ankle, but it numbs to something more bearable by the time he’s standing at his full height. “You good?”
The low, concerned note to his voice sends a rush of heat through me. It’s not the safe, comforting warmth of his laugh. No, this is burning hot and settles right between my legs. Looking up at him, with an expression equivalent to a lovestruck fool, I slowly nod and, not so subtly, nuzzle closer into his chest.