Page 31 of Cold Foot Komodo

He’d made a mistake by hugging her back last night.

“We’re here,” he said, pulling into the parking lot of a little café at the edge of Darby called Ranger’s. “Want to stay in here?” he asked. “I can go in and order for you.”

Sasha inhaled sharply and shoved her door open. “We are a team. We go together.”

He didn’t understand the team comment. Confused, he watched her get out. Reed turned off the truck, and waited around the front of the truck as she shimmied into her jacket. Sasha did this little skip on her way to him, and he smiled. Maybe they could still be friends, or something. He sure did like being around her.

Her order was, as promised, long and sugary, but he memorized it in case he ever felt like surprising her with her favorite morning pick-me-up. She ordered a breakfast sandwich too, and they waited for it at a little booth in the corner. She chatted easily with the workers as well as an older gentlemansitting alone at the table behind them. She was just a happy-maker who lit up a room. He ordered his coffee black, and had meant to take it all to go, but he had another fifteen minutes to spare, and Sasha seemed much happier in here than she’d been in his truck at the end of that drive, so he brought their drinks and breakfast to the table as she shrugged out of her jacket.

She was chattering about how good it smelled in here when her phone vibrated from where she’d set it on the table. The screen lit up with a text, and her demeanor changed in an instant.

With a frown knitting her pretty eyebrows, she leaned over the phone and poked the screen, and then scrolled through the mass of notifications. “Geez,” she murmured.

His vision was impeccable, and he could read insanely fast. He noticed the numerous texts and calls her mother had made throughout the night, but dotted in there were messages from her dad, and some guy named Brandon.

Heat flared through his core, and he forced his gaze to the breakfast sandwich in front of him. This was none of his business, but also, fuck Brandon, whoever he was.

“My family is ridiculous,” she murmured darkly, reading texts. “She even got Timber’s ex to message me and try to bully me into calling her.”

That was weird. “Her, who?”

“My mom.” She inhaled deeply and looked up at him with a smile that was heartbreakingly forced. “I’m sorry. Mood killer.”

“Yeah, because my murder admissions were so good for us. Give me the dirt, if you want. Who am I to judge? You know some of my dark stuff now.”

She turned the phone on the table and shoved it toward him. “This will explain how it is for me better than I could do it with my own words.”

It was a text thread between Sasha, her mom, her dad, Brandon, and a couple phone numbers that weren’t saved as names.

“Who’s the cast?” he asked, hoping for clarity.

“My parents. My mom is rough. Probably crazy. Probably has some undiagnosed stuff going on that she’s too conceited to ever work on. My dad backs my mom no matter what her behavior looks like, which is pretty gross. Brandon is Timber’s ex, whom my parents chose over Timber. The nine-four-one number is Brandon’s newest girlfriend, who was added to the family-drama text two weeks ago. I’ve only met her once, but she seems to go along with what my mom wants to do, so that’s probably why my mom likes her so much. The other number is my ex.”

“You don’t have him saved as a name?”

“Nope. I blocked him when he wouldn’t stop manipulating me. That number is a new one my mom somehow got, and now he’s in my family’s loop seeing this mess.”

“You can block him again if you want?”

She shrugged. “He will still see it all. He’s clearly still in contact with my family.”

“Eat, and I’ll read,” he rumbled, already pissed over the first couple of texts.

Sasha’s mom, 2:15 a.m.:I can’t believe you are ignoring me on a day that is so hard for me. I am your mother. This is how you treat your own mother?

Sasha’s mom, 2:17 a.m.:You’re being a real bitch right now.

Sasha’s mom, 2:29 a.m.:Sometimes I just hate you. You make me feel awful for even caring.

Sasha’s mom, 3:00 a.m.:I know you haven’t blocked me. My texts are going through.

Sasha’s mom, 3:11 a.m.:I know this is Timber’s doing. Not yours. You were always the daughter who understood howmuch I do for you, but now you’re with her and you start acting just like her? I’m so disappointed in you.

Sasha’s mom, 3:14 a.m.:I just called you eight times. Don’t pretend you are asleep. I know you are with Timber and her pet monster. CALL ME BACK RIGHT NOW.

Sasha’s mom, 3:17 a.m.:I can’t stop crying because of how you are treating me. You’re so ungrateful. I have done EVERYTHING for you.

Sasha’s dad, 4:00:Honey, can you just call your mother back and reassure her that everything is okay?

---