Page 77 of Hot Damn
Okay, I’m not really a prisoner but when I suggested I get out of his hair by going to Mom and Dad’s, the look I got had me zipping my lips and retreating to this comfy couch.
“Are you hungry?”
“No. We just had lunch.”
“If you want something, just ask.”
“I want to get out of your hair.”
“You’re not in my hair.”
“Beckett!”
“Okay, fine. Everyone wants you to stay here.”
Sitting up, I twist around to face him. “Who’s everyone?”
“Natalie, Oakley, Blake, your dad.”
“Dad? When did you talk to my dad?”
“This morning. After the detectives left.”
“So you’re all pow-wowing and deciding what’s best for me like I’m a child?”
“No. We just want you to rest so you won’t be in as much pain.”
“I can do that at Dad’s.”
“Yeah, you could, but no one is home there.”
“Ah.” And the light bulb goes off. “I need a babysitter now?”
“Not a babysitter, just someone who can help you if you need it.”
“I don’t need it. I’ve been a mooch on you long enough?—”
“You are not mooching,” he all but shouts. With a sigh, he rakes his fingers through his hair. “Fine.Iwant you to stay here.Ineed to see you’re okay and I can’t do that if you go to your dad’s.”
“Oh. Well.”
I can’t think of what to say to that. We’ve barely spoken since we woke up this morning. The conversation we had before we went back to sleep weighed heavily on each of our minds in the light of day.
Well, I assume it’s weighing on Beckett, because it definitely felt like it was taking up a lot of space insidemyhead and it wasn’t my secret being revealed.
“Chase is dropping Whit off in about fifteen minutes.”
“Is it that late?” I don’t have my watch on or my phone to know what time it is, not that I’ve cared about it before now, but I guess it is getting late in the day.
“They had a half-day today so Natalie picked her and the twins up and took them to the practice rink to wait for Chase to finish.”
I pause for a minute pondering my best friend playing driver to a bunch of teenagers. “Who has the baby?”
Beckett grins, the sight of it making my belly quiver, and I have to look away for a moment.
“Rumor has it the equipment staff rigged up some kind of sled and the players have been taking turns towing her and Drew Lattimer Watts around the rink.”
I laugh at the images playing in my head. “I bet that was Branton’s idea.”
