Page 155 of Filthy Love

He was met by a mop of brown shaggy hair half in the boy’s wide, smiling eyes.

He toed the ground. “Hi. What’s you doin’?”

Jesus.

Rocking back on his heels, Hawk rested hands on his thighs, waiting a second with his eyes on the entryway door sure Preacher would stride right after looking for the boy. When no one came he looked back. “Something I can do for you, kid?”

Sebastian took that as consent to worm his way into the space between Hawk’s legs and to bend at the waist to peer into the open box filled with wires and fuses. “Is it broked?”

“Yeah.”

“You fixin’ it?”

“Yeah, kid.”

Three seconds more he waited for either Preacher, his old lady or another adult to come looking for the escapee. He’d known he was around the club having heard him laughing with Snake earlier. Since kids gave him the scratch he’d avoided that area altogether.

His brow furrowed in the middle when no one appeared to take him back.

“Should you be out here? How old are you?” Preacher’s boy was small in frame, skinny arms and short legs, around three, maybe?

Hawk didn’t fucking know how to gage the ages of kids. Most were nosy little know it all shits with their iPhones and attitudes.

All he knew was they were suddenly inside his clubhouse like a damn daddy day-care.

He didn’t listen to gossip, but some of it penetrated his brain whether he wanted it to or not, so he’d heard this kid’s backstory of abusive parents; one dead and the other in jail for killing his mom. Preacher had waded in to save the fucking day. Even married his old lady to get the kid in their care. Talk about a crazy sacrifice. Not that the road captain didn’t look like a pig in shit kind of happy with it.

Hawk would have loved having two dead parents. Some kids get all the luck.

The boy announced in a proud voice, holding up three fingers. “I’m five!” Well, he was close enough. “When it was my birfday I got a big castle bounce house. Did you see it? I bounced so high. Do you yike tree horses? I got a big one for my birfday.”

Hawk stopped what he was doing and looked at the small boy who kept pushing the hair out of his eyes. He seemed well-balanced enough, but tree horses? What the fuck was that? Invisible friend, maybe? His big brown eyes looking at him expectantly like Hawk knew what the fuck this tree horse was. “Sure, kid.” He answered picking up the fuse case hoping he’d take the hint and go back inside.

No such luck.

Hawk was still giving thought to what in the great fuck a tree horse was. Giraffe maybe?

“You mean a giraffe?” He had to know.

The kid grinned showing a missing tooth. “Oh, yeah! That’s what I said.”

Hawk cast him a side-eye.

“I can runned weally fast, you wanna see?” He presented his Nikes by sticking out a foot.

Hawk hunkered back over the fuse box, blocking out the boy.

Maybe he’d just go away if he ignored him.

A second later that shaggy head appeared at his side. “What you doin’ to it?”

Hawk sucked in the hot, sticky air. Seriously, where were this kid’s owners? He didn’t take hints that was for damn sure. Was it okay to ask a kid to scram? His little bit would know and probably tell him no.

He was more irritated that hewasn’tirritated by the kid’s presence poking his nose into the work he was trying to get through fast, so he could drive across town for Gia’s surprise. In fact, Hawk shifted to the right to let him look at what he was doing.

“I’m changing out the fuses, so the outside lights work again, and we can see who’s coming and going.”

The boy was silent while he nosed into the circuit box.

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