Page 98 of Shark Bait

“This is why you’re taking a break,” she concludes, looking at my brother.

“Is it?” I ask him. When he doesn’t answer, I push. “Denver, why are you taking a break? You’re out of new songs?”

Denver nods. “Pretty much. If we want to move to the next level, I need fresh songs to get excited about. To be fair, I missed this house. I missed watching you and Levi embarrass yourselves trying to sing the words. I’m looking for that again.”

“This?” Levi tosses a roll at Denver’s head.

It bounces and lands on his plate. Mom warns my brothers against shenanigans. I continue chatting with their girlfriend. Her name’s Sabina.

That’s how Thanksgiving happened. A cop and the hitman who banged his daughter sat side by side and talked about kitchen cabinets. Only in America, y’all.

THIRTY-FIVE

WHEN THE INSPIRATION HITS AGAIN

TROY

Mira sleeps longer than usual. She didn’t nap well earlier in the day, so she’s probably tired. This means after dinner, I get to stay at the table and eat my pumpkin pie with whipped cream while watching Shark conversing with my dad in the living room.

Shark sat on the lone chair facing the dining room. I’d like to think it was so he could watch me, carefully, so people wouldn’t notice. He leans back and sticks a hand in his pocket. He pulls out a lollipop and unwraps it, then pops it into his mouth. A subtle glance my way, only long enough to acknowledge I’m watching him.

As if I needed a reminder of how sexy this man is. As if I could’ve forgotten how much I’m attracted to him because he’s so much older than me. Now he’s my dad’s friend and our new neighbor. It sounds wrong to be attracted to him, even a little forbidden. Holy crap, now I’m really turned on.

My aunt slides in next to me with her piece of pie. She forks it while watching Shark. “Good Lawd, what do these European men eat that makes them so sexy?”

“Pussy,” I say.

Sabina spits her hot chocolate all over the table.

My aunt snorts and starts coughing as the pie slides down the wrong pipe.

My mom gapes. “Troy Helena Montgomery, you know better than to talk like that at the table.” She turns to Sabina, who’s apologizing for the mess. “Oh honey, it’s okay. Troy can be such a darn sass-hole.”

Levi rushes over with paper towels. “What’d she say?”

“Nothing.” I blush. My mom is right. I can’t believe I said that to my aunt, who has a crush on my secret fiancé, and I said it right in front of my mom.

I stand to grab more tissues for Sabina, but Levi’s getting more already.

On the baby monitor, Mira coos.

My eyes meet Shark’s, and I catch the moment his body leans forward as if he’s going to get up to answer her call, but he grips the arm of the chair and remains seated. When Mira coos louder, and I’m still watching him, he jerks his head toward her bedroom, signaling I should go and get her.

I roll my eyes at him, which makes him smile briefly before he turns back to watch the football game on TV. I’m not even sure he knows what’s going on during the game, since football in Europe is what we call soccer and that’s not what my dad’s into.

But knowing Shark, he doesn’t mind watching whatever. He’s not here for the game. He’s here for the company. He’s here for me and the baby. I can only hope my dad won’t smell our bullshit before we can make whatever this is that Shark’s started when he moved into my small town work between us.

I feed Mira on the rocking chair, dress her nicely, and tell her that Daddy’s here.

I’m on my way out when I remember the monitor. Oh no! I was telling my baby her daddy’s here, and fuck if my dad won’t pick up on it. He will. My dad’s smart and paranoid, like any healthy average police officer in the country.

I want to stop before I come out of the hallway. I don’t know what to expect, but I bite my lip, summon some lady balls, and return to the group. The women ooh and ahh at how cute Mira is. My dad is still glued to the TV. Shark’s toying with the monitor.

“Oh hey,” I say, using the opportunity to talk with him. “I forgot to turn it off.”

“Mmhm,” Shark says. “It broke when you started talking in there, but I’ll try to fix it if you want.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” I say. “Here. Let’s switch and I’ll take a look.” I hand him the baby and sit beside my dad, who rubs my back just before he gets up and stretches, checking his watch. “Is it time for cards yet?”

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