Page 31 of Hammer

“Three times,” I corrected.“Last month alone.”

“The recipe said ‘high heat’!”

“Not ‘inferno.’”

A small sound caught my attention -- Levi, hiding a smile behind his hand had let out a soft laugh.The kid had barely shown any emotion since they’d arrived, and here he was, laughing at our bickering.Even Chase’s rigid posture had softened slightly, as he looked between Aura and me with something like curiosity.

“We could order pizza,” I suggested, leaning against the doorframe.“Safer for everyone.”

“Pizza?”Levi perked up immediately.

Aura threw her hands up in mock surrender.“Fine, pizza it is.But I’m picking the toppings.”

“No pineapple,” Chase said, the first words I’d heard from him that didn’t sound hostile.

Aura gasped dramatically, pressing a hand to her chest.“A pineapple hater?In my presence?We need to fix this travesty immediately.”

Chase’s lips twitched toward a smile.“Not happening.”

“Half and half,” Amelia suggested, the tension in her shoulders visibly easing as she watched the exchange.“Pineapple for Aura, none for Chase.”

“A diplomat,” Aura said, grinning at Amelia.“I like you already.”

“Just order several,” I said.I knew damn well those boys could eat and would if given the chance.At the garage, the guys were always having to tease Chase into eating more.Even when we could see how badly he wanted the food, he always held himself back.

I watched as Aura moved around the duplex, while chatting easily with everyone.She asked Levi about his computer setup, listening intently as he launched into an explanation filled with technical terms I couldn’t follow.She got Chase talking about engines, drawing him out with questions about what he’d learned at the garage.The transformation in both boys was subtle but unmistakable -- they were relaxing, engaging.

Aura had that effect on people.Maybe because she’d been broken once too, had survived her own hell before finding her way to us.There was an authenticity to her that cut through bullshit and facades.The same way she’d called me “Dad” within a week of my taking her in, refusing to be intimidated by my gruff exterior.“You’re stuck with me now,” she’d declared.“Might as well get used to it.”

“So what do you do around here?”Amelia asked Aura as they folded clothes into a drawer.

“I work at the garage part-time and help out at the tattoo shop sometimes too,” Aura replied.“And I’m finishing my degree in social work online.When I’m not driving this old man crazy.”She jerked her thumb toward me.

“Full-time job, that,” I said dryly.

Aura stuck her tongue out at me, the small stud in it catching the light.“Like you’d know what to do without me.”

The truth in her teasing hit deeper than she knew.Before Aura, my life had been the club, the garage, and the empty spaces between.She’d filled those spaces with noise and light and relentless optimism.I’d saved her life once, but she’d saved something in me too.

“Let’s eat at my place,” I said, watching Chase help Aura reach a high shelf.“More room.Same pizza.Seven o’clock.”

“Perfect!”Aura exclaimed.“That gives us time to finish unpacking.”

I didn’t have the heart to tell her they’d only brought one bag each.They weren’t exactly moving in.

She looked at Levi.“Think you could help me set up a better security system for my laptop?Someone keeps hacking in and changing my desktop background to pictures of cats.”

Levi’s eyes narrowed.“That’s pretty easy to prevent.”

“My hero,” Aura said, linking her arm through his and guiding him toward his room, chattering about firewall protocols the whole way.

Amelia moved beside me, her voice low enough that only I could hear.“She’s wonderful.”

I nodded, pride swelling in my chest.“She’s something, all right.”

“You’ve raised her well.”

“She raised herself,” I corrected.“I just gave her space to do it.”

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