Page 49 of Fastlander Fighter

“Captain, I don’t like him around any of this,” she uttered, shaking her head at him as she hugged Ruger closer.

Captain’s facial expression was somber and cold. “I need to talk to him.”

She didn’t want to let him go. She wanted to take her baby into his room and snuggle him until he felt safe again, but her boy wiggled out of her embrace and made his way to Captain, gripping the straps of his little school backpack.

“How did you know how to use mommy’s phone?”

“I watched her do her password. It’s her lucky number two times. Ten-ten.”

Captain’s eyes darted to her. “Ten-ten?” he asked, but she didn’t understand the change in his tone.

“It was the number on my jersey when I played soccer in high school.”

“Okay, so you called me. On your dad. Why?”

“Because he was being really mean about mommy this week, and then he wanted to see mommy, and he was coming inside when she said no.”

“You were protecting mommy?” Captain asked, too-bright silver eyes boring into Ruger’s.

Her boy nodded jerkily, and Captain’s face went through a slow transformation. A slow smile took his lips, and he nodded. “Good boy. You don’t need hugs right now. That wasn’t a little-boy thing to do. Protecting your mother is a young-man thing.” He clapped him on the shoulder and nodded again, and Sloane could feel it—her son puffing up with pride.

“Do you want to talk about what I did to your dad?” he asked.

Ruger shook his head no. “You got him out of here.”

“No one is allowed to make you or your mom scared, okay?” Captain asked.

“I know,” Ruger answered. “That’s why I got mommy’s phone and called you. I’m not big enough.”

“Not yet, but you will be.” Captain lifted his chin and looked down at Ruger. “You’re going to be just fine, aren’t you?”

“He’s probably mad at me.”

“He’ll be fine by the time you go back with him,” Captain said. He sighed. “What do you want for dinner?”

Chicken nuggets, Sloane silently guessed, utterly touched by his and Captain’s moment together. Ruger always wanted chicken nuggets as a comfort food, so she was surprised when he looked at Captain and said, “I want meat.”

Captain’s bright-silver eyes glanced to Sloane, and back to the boy. “What kind of meat?”

“Meat that bears eat.”

Sloane couldn’t control her smile even if she wanted to. She pursed her lips to try, but failed. Captain was holding a better poker face. “Well, my favorite is steak. Do you want to go to the store and pick one out, and we can cook it?”

Ruger nodded.

“Okay, well go on and put your backpack where it’s supposed to go, and then we will go to the store.”

“Mommy too?” he asked.

“Of course mommy too,” Captain agreed.

Ruger double-timed it to his room to put his backpack away, which was probably the first time that child had ever put it anywhere but the place he tossed it when he came home after school.

Sloane was still kneeling, half-stunned by what had happened.

“Come here,” he rumbled.

Releasing a huff of a breath to relieve the tension inside of her, she pushed up and sauntered unsteadily over to him. She sank into his arms and sat on his lap, buried her head against his shoulder as he hugged her up tight. “It’s okay.”

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