Page 39 of Rooster

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. He just looks kind of scary.”

“Remember that saying about don’t judge a book by its cover?”

“Yeah, but...”

“Just give him a chance, Nathan. For me?”

He nodded, and I gave him a reassuring smile before starting through the crowd. Their faces were marked with a mix of curiosity and worry as they followed me over to Ronin’s table. When we got closer, Ronin stood and smiled, “Hey there.”

“Hey.”

“Glad you guys could make it.”

“We wouldn’t miss it.” I motioned over to the kids. “This is Samantha and her brother, Nathan.”

“Nice to meet you guys. Your mom has told me a lot about ya.”

They both feigned a smile and sat down next to me. Once we were settled, I leaned over to Ronin and asked, “How did things go today?”

“Not bad. The kid is finally starting to catch on to things.”

“That’s great. I was hoping he would.”

Ronin looked so handsome in his black pullover. It brought out the dark flecks in his eyes and the pink of his lips, and it conveniently covered most of his tattoos. I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d worn it in hopes of making a good impression on the kids. His eyes nervously skirted over to Samantha and Nathan as he asked, “What about you guys? Did you get everything done that you wanted to get done?”

“No, but we made progress.” I gave Samantha a little nudge as I said, “Someone still has some laundry to put away, but we’ll get it done tomorrow.”

“I would’ve finished if avocado-head would’ve just opened his stupid bedroom door.But nooo. He had to finish getting ready.”

“Maybe I’d open the door if you weren’t such a...”

“That’s enough, you two.” I grabbed a couple of menus and offered them to the kids as I said, “Figure out what you want to eat before you scare Ronin off.”

“Don’t gotta worry about that,” Ronin scoffed. “I had a sister. I know how it can be.”

Nathan glanced over at Ronin with a cautious appraisal, like he was trying to decipher if he was a mass murderer or actually a decent guy. He seemed to be going with the latter when he asked, “Was your sister always barging into your room uninvited?”

“As often as she could.”

“Sounds like Sam.”

“You come in my room, too,” Samantha argued.

“Not unless I have to.” Nathan rolled his eyes. “Cause there’s no way I’d everwantto go in there.”

“Can you two at least pretend that you like each other? Just for a little while?”

I gave them both a warning look and prayed that would be enough to stop the nonsense. Nathan nodded, then turned his focus to his menu. After studying it momentarily, he announced, “I’ll have a meat lovers.”

“Meat lovers sounds good. What about you, Samantha?”

“I just want some cheese sticks.”

“You got it.” I glanced over at Ronin as I asked, “What are you thinking?”

“I’m good with whatever. We could split a supreme or a meat-lovers?”

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