25. King
“Dad?” Looking up from my phone, Telle walks closer to me in the kitchen. I need to leave in a few minutes, I’m bartending tonight at High Society, but I’m dragging my feet. Since Sparrow and the kids got here, I hate leaving them at night. I’ve been looking for another bartender but those are hard to come by in Chapel Falls.
“Yeah, buddy?” Telle was slower to come around to me, but I haven’t missed the way he's started dressing like me and his uncles. Or the way he has been waking up earlier to work out with us.
“Do you think me and Loch will get to be in the same class?” We went school clothes shopping yesterday, which was an eye opening experience. After Sparrow told me she was jealous of Skye, I looked up prices on some baby items and immediately wished I hadn’t looked.
Shit is expensive.
“I’m not sure, Telle. There are a few towns where the students come from, but the school isn’t that big.”
“Dad, I need to be with her! How am I supposed to protect her if she is in a different class?” Telle’s face reddens at his anger.
“I know, son. But nothing is going to happen to your sister. I’ll tell you what, I’ll reach out to the school and see if we can request that you guys are in the same class.”
“Really?”
“Yes, I’ll call tomorrow. Promise.”
Sparrow comes walking into the room, kissing Telle on the top of his head before standing next to me. My hand automatically goes to the back pocket of her shorts.
“You need to get to the bar, King. Telle, give your dad a hug, he needs to leave.” Loch comes running in, Benny on her heels, crashing into my legs.
“Bye, Daddy. Can you make pancakes in the morning?” Loch asks sweetly. She already knows I’ll do anything she asks. Both of my kids.
Laughing as I give the kids hugs. “Yes, I can. But you will need to eat some fruit with that.” I know my daughter is just going to cover the fruit in syrup with her pancakes, but fruit is fruit.
And a win is a win.
Sparrow walks me out to my truck, making it harder to leave. “I’ll wait up for you, King,” she tells me as I push her up against my truck. Sparrow slowly licks her lips, knowing that she is driving me nuts.
“Oh, Bird. You know what you are doing to me.” Bending down until I reach her lips, the kiss turns heated in seconds. Sparrow lightly bites my lower lip, and I just know it’s going to be an uncomfortable night at work.
Breaking apart when we are both breathless, Sparrow’s face tinged red, my dick begging for relief. “I love you, Bird. Walk back inside. Riv should be here in a few minutes.”
“Okay, I’ll see you soon.” Sparrow gives me a quick kiss to my neck before I watch her walk back inside. I’ve noticed that she loves to kiss my tattoos, especially the sparrow on my throat and her name across my knuckles.
I don’t like leaving them alone, but I should be passing River here in a minute. The sooner I catch Sparrow’s ex, the better. I’m ready for her not to feel like she has to look over her shoulder. With the kids starting school next month, I know Sparrow is worried about them not being with us all day.
Tonight has been nonstop, I don’t know where these people are coming from. For the most part, every night of the week I know almost everyone that comes in here. But not tonight. Half the people in my bar I don’t recognize, and I don’t like it. Cam showed us the booking photo of Chad, Sparrow’s ex, so if he comes in here, I’ll know.
I’m surprised when I look up for washing glasses and find Cam sitting at the bar. He doesn’t come up here a lot, especially now that Skye is pregnant, so he must want to talk where no one can hear us.
Where our women can’t hear us.
“Hey, man. Everything okay?” I ask my cousin.
Cam looks around before answering. “I got through to Chad’s probation officer today. He only went on one check-in and has missed the last two. He now has a warrant out for his arrest. I let them know who I was and my position with the sheriff’s office.”
I could have told Cam that the guy is in the wind, but I know that he wants to do this by the book as much as possible. That’s why I’m hoping I get to the guy before Cam does. Oh, he’ll let me rough him up, but at the end of the day, Chad will be processed.
He won’t be making it out of Chapel Falls if I have anything to say about it.
“I know what you are thinking, King, but you have to be smart. You have Sparrow and the kids now.”
Before I have a chance to respond, my dad and his best friend, Frank, sit down next to him. I already know what they want, so I pour their beers and set them down in front of the men.
“Dad. Frank.”
“Son.”
“King, did you hear me?” Cam speaks up.
“I heard you, Cam,” I snap. He also knows that I have very little patience when it comes to keeping Sparrow safe. If I feel like he isn’t getting the job done, I’ll take over.
Walking away to serve a guest, I can hear my dad in the background asking Cam what we were talking about. If Cam thinks he’s going to get my dad to talk some sense into me, he’s crazy.
He’ll be the one right there next to me, handing out justice the way we see fit.
By the time I get back to my family, my dad is the only one that’s left. I imagine that Cam went home to Skye, his favorite place to be. I don’t blame him; being home with Sparrow and the kids is my favorite place to be. Feeling my phone vibrate, I pull it out of my pocket. Going to the thread with my brothers I see what I’ve missed since I’ve been at the bar.
Riv
I just want the record to show that I didn’t do it.
Ace
Listen, jackass, I didn’t do anything.
Riv
Sure. Then how come Sparrow sent you to your room with just one look?
What the fuck?
Ace
She didn’t send me to my room. I decided to go there. Lilith needed to decompress.
Riv
You are so full of shit.
Ace
Fuck you, Riv.
What the hell happened at home tonight? Switching over to the last text with Sparrow, I see that she hasn’t sent anything.
Bird, what happened?
Bird
Ughhh. What did those assholes say?
Bird
That’s not fair, only one of them is an asshole.
“Son, what is it?” I forgot that my dad was here, but I’m really close to having him take over here. He’s done it before.
“I don’t know, but I think Ace did something to piss Sparrow off,” I bark out. Ace is really becoming a problem for me; he can never keep his mouth shut.
“What the hell am I going to do with him,” my dad says as he shakes his head. I choose to not respond to that because I have no fucking idea. Ace often puts his foot in his mouth and always seems to somehow piss one of us off.
What did Ace do?
Bird
He heard me say that I wanted chocolate ice cream, and he ate the last of it!
Bird
HE DOESN’ T EVEN LIKE CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM, KING!!
I burst into laughter and watch as my dad’s mouth falls open. By the time I stop laughing, I have tears streaming down my face. “Holy shit. Ace didn’t say anything, but he ate the last of the chocolate ice cream after hearing Sparrow say she wanted it.”
“That idiot doesn’t even like chocolate ice cream,” my dad finally responds once he stops laughing.
I’m sorry, Bird. I’ll buy you some more tomorrow.
Looking out into the bar, I only have two patrons left, sitting in the back corner, so I start wiping everything down to get home faster. I don’t know why Ace would do that, but that’s the laugh I needed tonight.
Locking up after Dad leaves, I quickly get the chairs picked up so I can sweep and mop. I want to be home by two in the morning, I know that my Bird will still be up, waiting on me. The thought of her in our bed, most likely naked, makes my pace quicken.
One minute, I’m mopping the front of the bar, and the next, the front window shatters. Smoke quickly fills the area. As I rush to grab the fire extinguisher, another window breaks, and a bottle comes flying in. The bar top erupts in flames, and I’m blindsided when something hits me on the side of the head.
As I lose consciousness, I see my Bird yelling at me to get up. But no matter how much I want to listen to her, my body won’t listen.