Chapter 12
CHAPTER TWELVE
R arity…
I tried to give him some space and stay on my side of the bed, but it wasn’t exactly comfortable, two people on a full. It was hard not to touch.
“Come here,” he said. “Turn over.” I did as he asked and turned over. He turned, too, to lay flat. He pulled me up against him and said, “Lay your head on my shoulder.” I did, carefully, my body coiled tight with the awkwardness of being cuddled up to a stranger I barely knew.
I mean, he was older – a lot older than I thought. Forty-two, I thought to my twenty-four. It took me an embarrassingly long time to do the math right in my head and I felt myself shift and even quite possibly pale when I realized eighteen.
He had been eighteen when I’d been born …
He was closer to my mom’s age than mine, my mom being forty-nine.
But he didn’t look forty-two. I wouldn’t have put him a day over thirty-five.
What does it matter, Rarity? I asked myself silently. It’s not like you’re going to hook up or whatever. You’re just feeling a little bonding from going through the same trauma. No big deal.
“You’re thinking awfully hard,” he murmured. “What’s up?”
“You’re really forty-two?” I asked, and he chuckled.
“Yep.”
“That means you were eighteen when I was born,” I whispered.
“See, I told you I was old enough I could be your daddy.”
I snorted. “Still could be if that’s your kink,” I joked.
He was entirely too silent, and I sat up sharply. He snorted and shook with silent laughter. I laid back down and muttered, “Asshole,” which just made him shake with laughter more.
I couldn’t keep a smile off of my face if I tried.
“What were you even doing when you were eighteen?” I asked, curious, after we’d both stopped our giggle fits.
“Enlisting in the Army before I’d even fully graduated high school,” he said, heaving a big sigh. “I wanted to get out of my small town and travel the world.”
“Bet your parents were proud of you,” I said demurely.
He snorted.
“Mom was pissed . Dad was proud, though.”
“Why was she mad? Afraid of losing you?” I asked.
“No,” he said. “She wanted me to take up the family business, get my dad closer to retirement.”
“Did your dad want to retire?”
He chuckled. “Not even close,” he said. “Mom was always super overbearing and wore that man down. What she wanted, she got, and I was done. I was eighteen and so close to freedom I could taste it. So, I grabbed on with both hands and held on like a motherfucker. Blew that town and everyone in it and blazed my own trail.”
“I could never ,” she said softly.
“Why not?” he asked.
“My mom may be a helicopter parent sometimes, but she loves us so much . It would kill her if I bounced. And I couldn’t leave her with Caden, Aden, and Braden. They’re a handful on a good day.”
“Are you serious?” he asked.
“What?” I rolled my head on his shoulder to meet his downward look.
“ Caden, Aden and Braden ?”
I snorted and fought not to giggle.
“How many fuckin’ ‘ Live. Laugh. Love,’ signs would I find if I went through this house?” he asked. I snorted and clapped both hands over my nose and mouth to keep from laughing too loudly.
I looked up at him in the blue glow from the television that still played, and he grinned down at me.
He was achingly handsome, but no way. Not only was he forty-two to my twenty-four, but he was also a Royal Bastard. I could never!
“At least three,” he said judiciously.
“Nailed it,” I said, counting in my head and coming up with… yeah, three.
“Unbelievable,” he said and chuckled.
“My mom believes in holding on to positive vibes,” I said.
He nodded and asked, “Is she a hippy chick?”
I thought about that for a minute and said, “No, I don’t want to say hippy chick, more like a little sage and hood and wish a muthafucka would.”
He wheezed, and I put my hand over his mouth. His lips were soft, the faint stubble growing rough against my palm.
“ Mm, mm-mm mmm, mm-mm-mm, mm!” he said against my hand, and I didn’t get any of that.
I moved my hand and asked, “What?”
“You gotta stop making me laugh,” he said with a grin, and I scoffed.
“I can’t help it if I’m a funny bitch.”
That touched off another set of snorting and giggling.
“You’re something else,” he said, and it sounded like praise the way he said it. I felt a glow suffuse me, and I cuddled a little closer. His arm tightened around me vaguely, and it was nice. Warm and cozy.
It was a weird sensation. Felt good. Safe. Like I hadn’t felt safe since my dad had been around. That part weirded me out a little bit, but not, like, enough to move away or anything.
I closed my eyes and listened to the droning announcer’s voice narrating the show, but didn’t pay much attention to anything he was saying.
Instead, I was fixated on the warmth of Striker’s hand smoothing up and down my arm as he closed his eyes, too.
* * *
“Rarity!” my mother called and I jumped out of bed, my feet hitting the floor as she tried my doorknob. “Why is this door locked?” she called out, bewildered.
I went and cracked it open, standing in the way. “Jeez, Mom, I don’t know. I’m twenty-four and trying to spend some quality time with my vibe and didn’t want you walking in?” I rolled my eyes. I knew I was flushed with embarrassment at having to lie, yet again, to my mother, whom I loved and adored, but for real – I didn’t want her stressing any more than she already did.
“TMI!” she cried. “TMI! I don’t need to know these things!”
I snickered and asked, “What’s up?”
“I’m heading into work. Grandma and Grandpa will be home sometime today. Are you good to watch the boys?”
“Of course!” I said, then asked, “They up?”
“Not yet.” She sighed. “I’m trying to get out of here before they do, and I have one attached to each leg and the third hanging like an albatross from my neck, begging me to stay home.”
I snickered again and said, “ Go! Be free!”
I heard my bathroom door click faintly, and I rattled my doorknob on purpose to cover it, opening my door to give my mom a hug before she went out the door.
“I love you, my sweet girl,” she said with a gusty sigh.
“I love you, too, Mom.” I hugged her tight.
“Okay, I’ve got to go,” she said.
“I’ll have dinner on the table,” I told her.
“You’re a lifesaver,” she said as she went to the door between our rooms and out to the garage through our laundry room.
A second later, I heard the garage door trundle open and her truck fire up.
My shoulders sagged in relief.
“Coast is clear,” I said when the garage door was making its descent.
He came out of my bathroom in his jeans and boots, his cut on over his bare chest.
“You got the kiddos to look after,” he said. “I definitely got shit to do.”
“Yeah,” I said, feeling almost sad that he had to go.
“Can I see you again?” he asked, and I raised my chin.
“I don’t see why not,” I said. “You know where I work. Maybe next time, just follow the rules and don’t wear your colors, yeah?”
He chuckled and nodded.
“Surprised you’re going back,” he said.
I shrugged. “After something like that, it’s probably the safest place I can be.”
“Aw yeah, how do you figure?”
“Cops are going to be keeping an eye on things, and you know security is going to be doubled if not quadrupled for the time being. They don’t want to get shut down any longer than they have to be.”
“Fair points, but are you sure?” he asked.
I smiled, and I knew it held no humor. “Best place to work around here when it comes to the tips if not the actual wage. I need the money. Dad was the big earner and Mom and I are barely keeping up.”
“I see,” he murmured.
“You need to call an Uber or something?” I asked. “I can give you the address.”
He shook his head.
“No, I already got one of the guys on the way. Bikes have been impounded, so…”
“Gotcha,” I murmured.
“I’ll see you again,” he vowed, and I shrugged.
“Maybe I’ll see you around.”
I didn’t expect him to want to come around. My life was a hot mess.
He nodded, and I let him out through my bedroom door and led him around to the front door. He left with a little salute and I shut the door behind him, sighed, and locked up.
I had no idea what the rest of my day was going to look like, but I knew it started with getting the boys up and getting them breakfast.