Page 16 of The MC's Little Brother

Again, Xander shook his head. That didn’t surprise me, nor Wraith based on the look on his face. He pushed out of his seat and disappeared into his room, coming back a minute later with a brand-new phone in his hands. He handed it off to Xander without blinking.

“Use that. We’ll connect it to my account tomorrow. For now, you can connect to the Wi-Fi if you want.”

Xander looked stunned, shooting me a wide-eyed look. I smirked.

“If it’s tech-related, Wraith is your guy. You don’t know this yet, but your brother is a genius. He could probably hack the FBI network if he felt like it. We’re just lucky he doesn’t do anything crazy like that. Though, none of us actually knows what he does for a living.”

10

Wraith

Iscowled at her. I didn’t want her bringing that up. I couldn’t get into it with the kid and she was just making things more difficult. Talking about my job was a non-starter, and she knew that.

Luckily, Xander didn’t pester me about it. He just nodded slowly and set the phone aside. There was a whole host of shit I’d need to get done for him to take care of him properly. It was a little daunting. Custody was only part of it. I needed to get him healthy, get him into school, get the things he needed, like a laptop and new clothes. Unless it was the new style to be drowning in your clothes, he needed shit that would actually fit him.

Tank’s hand landed on my shoulder and squeezed gently, bringing me back to reality. When I looked around, no one else was paying attention to me but him. Mel was telling Xander about the other kids in the crew. It didn’t escape my notice that she included Rooster in that group. Technically, he was an adult, but he acted like a big kid, so it counted.

“Doin’ alright?” Tank asked softly.

I nodded, but I think we both knew it was a lie. I was in over my head and it’d barely been a day. I wasn’t about to walk away, but I hoped I coulddo enough to help him. To give him what I couldn’t have when I was his age. Someone to protect him.

A whine came from my bedroom, and I heard Thor scratch at the door. I put him in there when Xander first showed up because I didn’t want him to be overwhelmed. Thor was intimidating at first, and I wasn’t even sure if the kid liked dogs. Of course, Mel had less trepidation than I did.

“Oh! Xander, do you like dogs?”

Xander’s brow furrowed, and he lifted a shoulder uneasily. “I guess.”

That didn’t tell me anything about how he’d respond to Thor, but Mel didn’t wait around for me to ask more questions. She popped to her feet, heading for my door and throwing it open like she owned the place. She immediately started up with the baby talk, cooing at Thor as she kneeled beside him.

“Who’s a good boy? You are! Yes, you are! Such a good boy!”

Thor, the terrifying rottweiler who made my entire crew nervous the first time they met him, turned into a whining puppy, his whole butt wagging with his excitement. A smile tugged at my lips as I watched them interact. Mel was the only one who never acted afraid of Thor. She was too kind to ever be afraid of a sweet dog like him.

Xander hadn’t moved from his seat, but I could see the mix of trepidation and longing in his face. Scooting back in my chair, I grabbed the treats from the jar on the counter, handing him a few.

“Here. Give him these.”

He took the treats and startled hard when Thor noticed and came barreling for him. I made a tsk sound behind my teeth, stalling the big puppy from jumping on the injured kid. I taught him not to do that already.

“Thor, sit.”

He did, plopping on his butt and looking at Xander expectantly. He wanted that treat more than he wanted to cause trouble. Xander offered him one, snatching his hand away and dropping the treat before Thor could get too close. Since Thor probably weighed more than he did, I didn’t blame him for that.

“He doesn’t bite.” Not unless I tell him to, anyway. The kid didn’t need to know that. “Try again.”

Thor had been distracted by gobbling up the treat on the floor, giving Xander a minute to get his bearings. He sucked in a shakybreath, offering the next treat when Thor’s head came back up. And because I taught my dog well, he took the treat delicately before eating it. He was around little kids too much for me to allow him to snap treats out of people’s hands.

Xander’s shoulders came down, and a smile tugged at his lips as he offered Thor his hand to sniff. Of course, since he started with treats, that’s all Thor was interested in. He sniffed Xander’s hand and nudged it with his nose, looking up at him with those puppy dog eyes. I shook my head, exasperated.

“No. He’s not giving you more treats. You’ve had enough.”

“Aw, so mean,” Mel chastised as she came to Thor’s side. She rubbed his ears, using that stupid baby talk again. “Is he so mean to you? The bestest boy deserves lots of love, doesn’t he? You wanna come live with me instead, don’t you?”

I rolled my eyes. “Stop trying to steal my dog.”

Everyone knew how much Mel loved dogs. She’d have a dozen if she could, but her schedule didn’t allow for that. She wasn’t cruel enough to leave an animal alone all day while she was working. Instead, she commandeered Thor whenever she had the chance. I didn't mind it since it meant I got to see her more often. Not that I’d admit that part out loud. Prez would murder me.

“Stop having the best dog on the planet. Then I’ll stop trying to steal him,” she replied casually. I swore I spent half my day rolling my eyes at her.

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