Page 29 of Grim

I stood with a groan, then told her, "Okay, how ‘bout we go see what we can find.”

I started for the kitchen, and she trailed behind like a shadow. I walked over and opened the pantry door, and I was disappointed to find a sparse collection of canned goods and a few boxes of cereal. Luna peered inside, and her brows furrowed as she surveyed what was inside. I scratched my chin as I told her, “Damn. Looks like I need to make a trip to the grocery.”

My chest tightened when Luna's face fell, and she let out a small sigh.

“Hey, now. No more of that poutin’ stuff. I’m not gonna let you go hungry.” I opened the fridge, and like the cabinets, there wasn’t much there. I was hoping I could come up with something to put together, but no such luck. I looked back over at Luna as she was standing there with a hopeful look in her eyes.

I didn’t want to let her down, so I asked, “How ‘bout pizza?”

“Cheese pizza?”

“Whatever you want, kid.”

“Can we get cheese sticks, too?”

“Sure thing.” I had to give it to her. She was a cute kid. She had these big brown eyes with freckles dappled across the bridge of her nose, and she had this lopsided grin that got you right in the gut. I grabbed my phone from my back pocket. “I’ll get some for your mom and me, too.”

As I dialed the number for the local pizzeria, I looked over to Luna and couldn't help but smile when I saw the excitement in her eyes. She was a cute kid, and I hated that she and her mother were going through such a tough time. There were things I could do to help them—things like letting Jenna and her stay at the clubhouse and become hang arounds, but I had a feeling Jenna wouldn’t be up for that.

I wasn’t so sure I was up for it myself.

I felt an unexpected need to protect them both, and the idea of all the brothers having access to Jenna didn’t sit well with me. It didn’t sit well with me at all. I shook the thought from my head and placed our order. When I was done, I hung up the phone and turned my attention back to Luna. “Alright, kid. Your pizza is on its way.”

“Okay.”

She didn’t move.

She just stood there looking up at me.

I had no clue what to do with her, so I asked, “Now what?”

“I could draw you a picture.”

“Yeah, you could.” I glanced around the room as I told her, “But you’re gonna need some paper and crayons and shit.”

“Shit is a bad word.”

“Yeah, it is, and I say it a lot.”

“You shouldn’t say bad words.”

“Yeah, well, I do, and I doubt that’s gonna change any time soon.” I could tell by her expression that she wasn’t pleased with my answer, so I added, “How ‘bout we pretend bad words aren’t so bad—just while you and your mom are staying here with me.”

She gave me a nod and watched as I searched through my desk for some paper and a pen. Once I had a couple of things, I carried them into the living room and laid them on the coffee table. “There you go.”

And just like that, she knelt down and got to work on her picture. There was something about having her there doodling on that notepad that was strangely comforting. I sat back down on my recliner and started flipping through the channels, searching for something kid appropriate that wouldn’t make my fucking skin crawl.

It wasn’t easy.

Seemed like everything on had some kind of shooting or cussing, and I’d already exposed her to enough of that. When I found an old sitcom, I dropped the remote on the table and kicked back. I’d just relaxed when I felt the energy in the room take a dramatic shift. I didn’t even have to look to know that Jenna was standing in the doorway, and just like that, my peaceful moment had come and gone.

Jenna

I rolled over from my nap and panicked when I discovered that Luna was no longer lying next to me. I sprang from the bed and frantically went to look for her. When I opened the bedroom door, I could hear the TV playing, so I quietly crept down the hall and headed to the living room. My breath caught when I walked in and found Grim lying back in his recliner and Luna sitting cross-legged coloring at his feet.

I didn’t know what to make of it.

They both looked perfectly content like they’d done this kind of thing a hundred times before, and the sight stilled my heart as I stood there watching them. Luna's small fingers moved with purpose as she doodled on her notepad. Her little brows were furrowed, and her head was slightly tilted, showing just how engrossed she was in her artwork.

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