Page 95 of Like Fathers, Like Son
“Blaze! Come on in, young man. Let me get a proper look at you this time.” Anneka shot me a suspicious glance at her words, but I shrugged as I stepped up closer to the older woman. She was shorter than me, with reddish brown hair which was streaked with grey, but was probably once as glorious as Anneka’s.
“So handsome, and so grown up,” she said excitedly, leading us both into the house. There was a man sitting on the sofa, and he stood up to greet us as we walked in.
“Mum?” The guy was older like her mum, so it wasn’t exactly rocket science for a smart guy like me, but she was clearly confused.
“Darling, this is Michael, my uh… a dear friend of mine. Michael, this is my Anneka!”
The guy grinned and shook Anneka’s hand, while I fought the urge to tear her away from his grip. I didn’t want another fucking man’s skin touching hers!
“And this is Blaze, he’s uh… well, he used to live next door.”
I made sure to grip that fucker’s hand good and tight when we shook hands, just a fucking silent warning the women wouldn’t see, even as I tried to absorb every ounce of Anneka’s touch from his palm.
“Anneka’s mine, got it?” She let out a frustrated huff, and dropped onto an armchair, leaving me standing like a prick.
“Message received, son. Nice to meet you both. Uh, Jamie, you want me to go out for a bit?”
“Go out?” Anneka hissed, sitting up taller in her chair. Fuck this. I dragged her up and sat down, pulling her back onto my lap, ignoring her brief struggle before she sighed and gave in. The moment I rested a hand on her thigh, she yelped and pulled my hand away.
“What’s wrong, dear? Are you injured?” The guy with Jamie, this Michael asshole, suddenly looked way too fucking interested.
“You look familiar, Michael. We met before?”
He shrugged, smirking slightly.
“Unless you’ve been arrested before, you’re probably just thinking I have one of those faces.” Arrested? He’s a fucking cop? She’s dating a fucking cop?Fuck!
Anneka shot me a worried frown, before she turned the heat back on her mother.
“You’re dating? When did you start dating?”
Michael laughed, leaning down to kiss Jamie’s temple as she dropped onto the sofa.
“Uh…”
“Let me get the kettle on, love, while you talk to your daughter. Uh, Blaze… you want to help me while the ladies talk?”Fuck no.
The last thing I wanted was stilted conversation, and pretending to be normal around a fucking policeman, while Anneka was talking freely without my supervision.
I hesitated just long enough that he started to look really fucking suspicious, but then I grinned, a sly asshole grin, because I’d just worked out how to derail this shit-show.
“No coffee for Anneka, what with the baby, but yeah, sure.” I lifted her out of my lap as she huffed angrily at me, and her mother started questioning her.
I slapped her ass as I walked away, leading the way to the kitchen ahead of the fucker, so I could scope out the closest weapons, aka knives, before I chose a position to stand in.
If I had to leave this guy bleeding to death, I’d do it. I wondered if he knew just how much danger he was in right now.
Anneka
MY MUM LOOKED LIKE she wanted to pass out, and scream from the rooftops all at once. I joined her on the sofa, taking both of her hands.
“Pregnant?” Her eyes were wide and blinking fast, like she was fighting tears. I felt the sting of my own tears at the sight, because, well I’m blaming hormones.
“Yeah… seems like Blaze and I are having a baby.”
She let out a squeal and squeezed my hands, letting those tears free at last. Were my own tears now escaping too? Obviously, but they were purely happy tears. Maybe the bittersweet tears of seeing my mother so happy. They certainly weren’t like the tears I’d cried over Blaze before. It all just felt like it was how it was supposed to be.
“When did you even start dating Blaze?” Mum asked, and I wondered how the fuck to explain anything, without giving much away. Her boyfriend was clearly a police officer, and that was a dangerous element we hadn’t expected, when we’d turned up out of the blue like this.
