Page 53 of Cold Foot Komodo

“And furthermore,” she said, “how old will your son be? You were in prison for ten years. So he would be at least ten. Or nine? And no one bothered to tell you until now?”

“Yeah, it’s weird.”

“I’m calling bullshit. Not that having a son is a bad thing! You would make a great dad! I’m not saying the child would curse your life or anything, I’m just saying this is a strange birth announcement. A decade in. What does she want?”

“Umm, she wants me to drop you.”

“Ooooh, so she found out we were talking for like one point five days? And now she’s back to what, manipulate you some more? The game is back on? She can do whatever the hell she wants, but when you start to enjoy your life one percent, her little spidey-senses tingle and she needs to come back and what? Wreck the smile on your face? Fuck that.”

Okay, this wasn’t how he had expected her to react. This was kind of awesome. She could see it for what it was.

“I called an old friend, and he’s looking into the boy.”

“And if he exists…if…you need to do a paternity test. I’m not trying to be mean or interfere, but we aren’t taking her word for it. All right?”

He cleared his throat and shifted his weight. “You just said we.”

“I’m sorry. We, as friends. Is that better?”

He actually really liked that her mind worked like this. She wasn’t crying in a corner and ignoring him for a week. She was already forming a game plan that was logical and sound. He’d seen this side of her when she’d gone into nurse-mode with King, and he had been awed by her knowledge and how intelligent she was. Now she was showing him another layer that he appreciated more than he could ever express.

“I don’t…” He frowned, searching for the right words. “I’ve never had anyone on my side.”

The anger that had knitted her eyebrows into a frown lessened, and she shocked him by closing the distance between them, and wrapping her arms around him.

His heart had to be hammering against her cheek right now, as he slid his arms around her too.

“You aren’t alone.” Her words settled something inside of his soul.

“It feels like it. Farrah said the Crew gave her information.”

She eased back to look up to him. “Bullshit. They wouldn’t do that.”

“It’s what Banks do. It’s what Crews do too.”

“Not this one. Women who control like that have to cut off your support, so they can get you back in line easier.”

Ooooh. He understood now. It wasn’t just intelligence that had Sasha calling out everything about Farrah. It was lifeexperience. She’d been raised by a manipulative, controlling woman.

And it hit him. Maybe he was supposed to meet Sasha. Perhaps the timing wasn’t bad at all. Maybe this was how it was supposed to be. He was supposed to meet her right when his world was getting flipped upside down, so he wouldn’t be alone with it. So that he would have this beautiful little voice of reason telling him he didn’t have to go back to his old life, his old ways, his old habits.

“You’re going to be fine,” she said, and her words held such confidence, he felt it too. He was going to be fucking fine.

She stepped back, her boots crunching in the snow. “The yesterday me would’ve cupped the boner you created while you were just hugging me, but since we are friends now, I will high-five you.” She lifted her hand up in the air for a high-five and waited.

Biting back a smile, Reed sidled up to her and grabbed her hand, dragged it down to the zipper of his pants, and pressed her palm against his erection. Felt so good having her hand right there, so close. He wished he could take her back into that bathroom, bend her over the counter, pull her leggings down, and slide into her—make her come a couple times as an apology for the mess of the last couple of days—but he wasn’t about to ask her for a bathroom quickie after the seriousness of their conversation tonight. She deserved better.

So instead, he pulled her close and slid his hand around her throat, squeezed it gently as he settled his lips on hers. He drank her in with such a sense of relief. It hadn’t been their last kiss the other night, like he’d feared. She was still here. Still responding to his touch.

This woman in his arms was amazing. Did he deserve her? Not yet. But he would. He would do the work and make sure she was taken care of as long as she wanted to be around him.

And from here on, now that he knew she was bombproof, he would work at being upfront with her when life went sideways.

She could handle it.

Sasha was proving that to him tonight.

Chapter Fifteen

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