Page 77 of Chasing Shelter

“Kye still isn’t allowed to babysit alone,” Fallon said, her delight in the fact clear.

“Hey, Keely loves her uncle Kye. Right, Keels?” Kye defended himself.

Keely plopped down on the couch. “You’re my favoritest! Remember when you let me draw tattoos all over my arms?”

Fallon leaned into Kye, looking up at him, her eyes twinkling. “Hence, why Kye is not allowed to babysit alone.”

“They werewashablemarkers. I don’t know why everyone freaked out so much,” Kye grumbled. “Plus, my Keels has skills. Could be an epic tattoo artist one day.”

Kye would know. His artistry had garnered attention from across the globe, and people came from all over for appointments with him.

Fallon shook her head. “You let her go to sleep with it on. The markers came off on the sheets and seeped into her skin so much Trace couldn’t get it off for a week.”

Kye just shrugged. “So, she was a little baddie for a week, big deal.”

I could only imagine Trace’s reaction to that ordeal.

A phone dinged, and Fallon pulled her cell out of her purse, frowning as she read whatever was on the screen.

Kye read her mood instantly. “What’s wrong?”

Fallon didn’t move her eyes from the screen. “Nothing. Just an update on a case.”

While Fallon wasn’t law enforcement, she often worked alongside them as a social worker with Child Protective Services. I’d come torealize that while Fal was probably the most sensitive of the Colsons, she was also a badass in her own right. And every kid that crossed her path was better for it.

Kye stiffened. “Tell me you’re not going back to The Pines tonight.”

The name caught my attention. “What’s that? The Pines.”

Arden grimaced as she turned to me. “Rougher neighborhood a ways out of town.”

“A lot of drug traffic through there,” Anson added.

Kye’s entire demeanor had changed as he stared at Fallon. His tattooed fingers bleached white as he gripped the bottle in his hand, and a muscle in his jaw pulsed in a staccato beat.

Fallon glanced up at him. “Don’t.”

“It’s not safe,” Kye ground out.

“It’s my job. And I can’t always have a hulking shadow following me around. I know what I’m doing. Trust me,” Fallon begged.

“I’d trust you with my life,” Kye said without hesitation. “It’s everyone else I don’t trust.”

And there it was. The thing I’d sensed in the time I’d known Fallon. She was the only one Kyetrulylet in.

Something changed in her then. She hooked her pinky through his and squeezed. “I’m not going anywhere tonight. It’s just about some follow-up I need to do tomorrow.”

Kye’s whole form relaxed a fraction. “And you’re taking a deputy?”

Fallon sighed. “Yes, I’ll take a deputy.”

Kye’s pinky tightened around hers and then released, sending some silent message only the two of them understood.

“All right,” Nora said, clapping her hands together. “Enough bickering for one evening. Dinner is ready.”

“It’s called shit-stirring,” Kye said, pushing to his feet.

“Kyler Blackwood, I will still ground you. Don’t think I won’t,” Nora called.

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