Page 58 of Ky
“Yes,” she said with a bouncy nod. “I…um…I am not sure what to do now. I feel like it’s getting close and that has sort of, um, made things become very real. Does that make sense?”
“Yes, I completely understand what you’re saying.”
“I don’t know what to do, Chris. Or what I’m supposed to be doing.”
This was the very thing that I’d been trying to get Ky to get out of her. As much as I wanted him to be here, I knew it would be best if I just stepped in. I couldn’t leave Ingram hanging and waiting around for Ky to get his head out of his ass.
“Well, I’m here. Let’s talk about it. What’s going on in that head?” I asked with a smile in hopes of setting her at ease.
“Where am I going to live? I mean, thank you for offering your place and I really love it here, but I simply cannot burden you with bringing a baby into your home. I feel like it’s too much.”
“Ingram,” I said turning to her. “I knew what I was signing up for when I offered my place.”
She gave me a pointed look.
“Okay, fine,” I said with a chuckle. “I didn’t know everything. But I had a good idea it wasn’t going to be an overnight kind of thing. I wanted to give you and Ky a place where you could figure things out without having to worry about where you were going to stay.”
“You care for him, yes?” she asked.
Though it should have been a simple question, it was anything but at the moment. And there was that whole thing of how she’d been raised. Oh, and I was sure Ky wouldn’t want her to know anything.
Fun times right here.
“Yes. Ky is a good friend and I want to be there for him when he lets me.”
“He can be a grumpy head sometimes.”
“That he can, but he’s just protecting himself. He doesn’t mean to be a giant asshole, but it’s almost like he doesn’t know hownotto be one.”
“But it’s more than that, or am I reading things all wrong.”
Her statement shocked me. There was no judgment or disgust on her face. Just simple, open concern and wonderment.
“He likes you,” she went on when I couldn’t seem to open my mouth to say anything. “He watches you every morning when you go out on the water. He just stands there the whole time you’re gone. He tries to play it off, but I see things.”
I looked at her with a brow raised. I knew she wasn’t dumb. I’d been able to tell that within the first few hours that I’d hung around her. But I never expected her to call Ky out like that. I wondered if she’d actually done it to his face. The thought had me dying inside with laughter. I could only imagine how he would have handled that.
“Um, aren’t we supposed to be talking about you?” I asked playfully.
“I know what you’re doing. This is an attempt to change the subject and I have to say, it’s not very sly, Chris,” she said with a shake of her head like she was disappointed with me for my lame attempt.
I busted out laughing and she joined in. I couldn’t help but throw my arm around her shoulders and pull her in for a friendly hug.
“Ky has all of those men that are his brothers even though they aren’t related. Does that mean I can make you my brother even though we don’t share blood? I think you are easier to get along with than Ky.” Her smile let me know she was half joking.
“You know what, Ingram? Yes, I would be honored to be your non-related, adoptive brother.” I ruffled her hair like a good brother would do.
“I think we should go get tacos to celebrate this newfound awesomeness. That’s a thing, right? I heard it on a show the other day.”
“Sure, it works,” I said with a chuckle. “Tacos, huh? Alright.” I got to my feet, I needed to shower before I left the house, that was for sure. The salt water still coated my skin making it feel not only sticky but tight as well.
“Can we get them from that place that is near the coffee shop that Laurel works at?”
I looked at her confused, wondering how the hell she knew about that place. I hadn’t taken her there, though I had thought about it. I knew she’d love the tacos there.
“Mouse went and got me some the other night when we went to that open microphone thing. I got hungry and he asked me what I liked. I said tacos automatically, but I was thinking about the ones you make. He said he knew a place that was close. He went and got them for me and, I am sorry to say, Chris, but they were a little bit better than yours. But not by much.” She rushed to say the last part as if she thought it might hurt my feelings.
“Those are some pretty damn good tacos. I wouldn’t even argue with that statement.” I said with a smile. “Let me shower real fast then we can go.”
I had the day off and I was suddenly glad for it. I was going to spend it with Ingram, feeding her damn good tacos and figuring everything out with her. By the time Ky would be home, Ingram and I would have some sort of plan of what needed to be taken care of next. He wouldn’t have to worry about it because I was going to step in. Ingram couldn’t wait around forever.
If only I could apply that same thought to the Ky situation I had going on.
I knew it was going to be a hard road ahead for so many different reasons. There was going to be a baby in my near future because there was simply no way that I’d let Ingram go off and try to do it by herself. I already knew that I wasn’t going to let her tell me any differently. That was just one of the big things. Of course, Ky was the other one, but I tried my hardest to push that out of my mind for the rest of the day.
I should have just shrugged it off, saying that things would work out or they wouldn’t. That was how I handled pretty much everything in my life up until this point. Why the hell couldn’t I do that with Ky? A question I knew the answer to but didn’t want to say out loud.
And right now, it was a question that would have to be addressed another day.
Today was all about Ingram.
