Page 36 of Jack

My eyes snap to his, and my mouth closes. Oh my gosh. I quickly turn my head to stare at the wall. I was staring at him with my mouth open. Oh, please let me crawl under the couch cushions and disappear forever.

“Uh. Yeah.” I face forward and take another sip. There’s no way I can look at him again.

“Do you want to watch TV?”

No, I don’t. I’ve watched so many TV shows this week. I’m tired of it. There’s more to life than watching TV. Only my life doesn’t allow for anything more. If I don’t get settled somewhere soon, I’m going to lose my mind and die from boredom.

“If you want to, it’s fine.” It’s not, but this is his house.

“I like watching movies, but I’m not in the mood.” He takes another sip.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath through my nose. How is it possible to literally hear this man drink? I have a hard enough time trying not to look at his tattoos. Who knew I’d be fascinated by tattoos?

“Will Harley be okay?” It’s really not my business.

Jack finishes his coffee and sets the mug on the end table. “Eventually. Probably not tonight.”

I turn to face him. “What does that mean?”

If the Viking Warriors rescue women, why aren’t they rescuing his sister? One of their own should be more important than strangers.

“Nothing will physically happen to her. Jay and Shep have eyes on her. Several more of our brothers have surrounded her. They’ll move on Jay’s signal.”

“Shep? Is that Shepherd?” I haven’t seen him at all today.

Jack nods. “Shep is his road name.”

“Do you have a road name?”

“Ghost.”

“And your cousin, Jay?”

“Blade.”

“That’s not creepy at all,” I mumble.

Jack laughs. “My cousin just likes knives.”

I set my empty mug on the end table. My sunglasses lay folded up next to the base of the lamp. I gasp and raise both hands to the sides of my face. Oh no. I forgot to grab my glasses when Maci and I rushed out the door.

“It’s okay, Lily. We all know you have a black eye. If wearing sunglasses helps you through the day, we’d never ask you to take them off.”

“You saw it. I didn’t want you to see it.” Oh, please don’t let me cry in front of this man.

“I understand that, and I’m sorry my family’s drama tonight caused you to forget them. I thank you for putting Everly first, though.”

How can anyone not put Everly first? When she’s happy, you feel loved and happy, too. Seeing her crying tonight made me want to stab people. Maybe Jay will loan me a knife. Since he likes them so much to be named after them, he’s bound to have one, or a dozen, on him.

“Is there no way to help Harley?” She’s irresponsible and selfish, but I don’t want anything to happen to her.

Jack sighs and drops his head. “Mom and Dad have tried for years. Dad will probably put his foot down with her after tonight.”

“If I can help.” I pause. What can I do? They don’t know me.

Jack sits up and pulls one leg up on the couch like I have. He has the same worried expression as Maci had earlier.

“Thank you for that. We’ll let you know.”

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