Page 36 of Clint & Ivy

“He looks like you,” I replied, curious about her son after hearing so much about him yesterday.

While still blocking Sabrina, Elle sighed wistfully. “He does, doesn’t he? It really was a crapshoot since I couldn’t remember if his father had a normal face.”

“Uh-huh, that’s great,” Sabrina said, narrowing her dark eyes as she peered over Elle’s shoulder. “So, anyway, Ivy, you met Clint at a gas station, huh?”

“You heard the same details as the rest of us,” Rowdy replied and rested his hands on Sabrina’s shoulders from behind. “Why do you gotta be repetitive? Ask a more original question.”

“Like what?”

Rowdy rubbed his dark beard and sized me up. “Do you have any family besides the ones you’re running from?”

“No. It’s just my uncles now. My mom and grandma are already dead.”

“What about your dad?”

“He was never in my life, but I heard he died years ago.”

“Got any half-siblings?” Sabrina asked. “You could do that 23andMe thing and see if you have family roaming around.”

“No,” Elle hissed. “What if people can find her that way? Like, how does that shit work? No, just no.”

“You’re too paranoid. If someone troublesome shows up, we’ll stick them in the quarry.”

Elle revealed a terrifying glare and flicked her cousin’s nose. “Don’t say scary shit in front of Clint’s gas station girlfriend.”

“I will speak the words that naturally fall out of my mouth. No one silences Sabrina. Right, Dad?”

Sabrina yelled the final two words, leading Pax to call down from upstairs. “What?”

“I won’t be silenced!”

Pax hollered back, “Who is trying to silence you?”

“Elle!”

“Kick her ass!” Pax replied and chuckled before disappearing from the top of the stairs.

Bouncing around Elle, Sabrina growled, “Let’s do this thing.”

“I refuse to knock your ass out again and make you piss your pants. Please, please, beloved cousin, stop begging for it,” Elle replied casually and smiled at me. “We are a very normal family. Sutter wants to meet you. We should get him down here, so you can see how normal our family is.”

Elle called out to Sutter who joined us downstairs. He looked over the five of us and smiled in that crooked way Elle had.

“He’s wonderful,” Elle cooed.

“The kid doesn’t like pizza,” Sabrina shared with me. “But he will eat pizza Hot Pockets. Genius, my ass.”

Elle sighed and stroked Sutter’s thick bangs. “You are a treasure and deserve to be defended. If you request it of me, I will shit on Sabrina’s head.”

Sutter threw his head back and laughed loudly. Sabrina frowned at Elle and then the child. Finally, her focus returned to me.

I avoided her attention and looked at Rowdy who silently watched everything play out. A leisurely grin warmed his face when he noticed my gaze on him. I felt strange having an attractive man besides Clint showing me interest. Shrinking under his gaze, I shuffled closer to Elle and Sutter.

“He’s harmless,” Sabrina told me and grinned at her brother. “He was Mom’s favorite. She made him soft and silly.”

“Oh, yeah, I’m plenty silly,” Rowdy grumbled, sounding angry despite his grinning face.

“Don’t scare the poor thing,” Sabrina warned. Her dark eyes shined with amusement first with Rowdy and then when they focused on me. “It’s not like she can defend herself.”

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