Page 26 of The MC's Little Brother

Thankfully, Malcolm was a bright and happy kid. He didn’t take offense to the rejection. He shrugged, walking backwards as he spoke to Xander. “Okay. If you change your mind, we’re out there. I’m gonna get Prez to help me. He can tell when Vegas is cheating better than my dad can.”

A flicker of a smile flashed across Xander’s face, and he nodded to acknowledge him before watching him go. I had to jump out of the way to avoid Malcolm running straight into me, but after this long, I was used to it. I tipped my head toward the direction he disappeared, giving Xander a smirk.

“Can you tell why they call him Flash?”

He huffed a small laugh. “Yeah.” His brow furrowed a little. “I wasn’t comfortable going with him…”

I shook my head with an easy smile. “Don’t worry about it. No one is expecting you to jump in the deep end. But he’s not wrong. Vegas does cheat, so if he ever suckers you into playing with him, watch out for that. He plays for candy against the kids and he’s a turd about it.”

16

Wraith

It felt like a bad idea having Melissa come stay with me. Even with Prez on board and the whole thing being about Xander, it felt a little like I was tempting myself. If I didn’t think it was necessary, I would avoid it completely. I preferred the relationship we had now. Constantly bickering with each other made it easier for me to suppress any unwanted feelings. I only wanted to see her as Prez’s little sister. Not as the kind and generous woman who was currently saving my ass.

“That’s not going to work. You need to go farther into the hallway and then back up into the room. The mattress doesn’t bend that way,” she called out.

We’d borrowed Butch’s truck, since it was big enough to move the mattress, but no one was pulling Butch away from his old lady and the kids unless it was absolutely necessary, especially after the shit that went down a few months back. Instead, Prez and Circus volunteered to help move Mel’s spare bed so she could stay with me and Xander and help with the transition.

“Geez, why do you have so many boxes up here?” I heard her complain again. I couldn’t see shit, since I was still halfway down the stairs with mostof the weight of the mattress on my shoulder. She’d told us her guest room bed was lighter, but this thing was heavy. It made me wonder just how heavy her bed actually was if she considered this one light.

“Mel, stop complaining about his organizing and help us,” Circus demanded. “Where am I goin’?”

“Left,” she replied. “Oh, hold on. Lemme move that box.”

With Mel’s help, we eventually got the mattress up the stairs and into the spare room. It was smaller than the one I gave to Xander, and he’d offered to switch, but Mel wouldn’t allow it. Her stay was temporary, and she wanted him to get comfortable here. The frame was already set up and waiting, so we put the mattress down and pushed the whole thing into the corner to give her as much space as possible.

Circus flopped onto the bed with a heavy sigh. “Your furniture weighs a ton. Do you stuff cash into it or something?”

“Yep. I stash away all my gold coins in there because banks aren’t real and the earth is flat,” she replied blandly.

I heard a snort from the hallway and saw Xander peeking into the room. He looked better than he did at the party, less freaked out. I beckoned him with a wave of my hand, figuring now was a good time to introduce him to someone new.

“Have you met Circus yet?”

Circus lifted his head without sitting up. “Not yet. Hello, little Wraith.”

“Circus, get off my bed,” Mel carped as she came back into the room with a stack of sheets in her hand. Circus just chuckled, not moving an inch. Not until I moved him for her.

He let out a little yelp as I yanked him off the bed and back on his feet, forcing him away from Mel’s room and into the hall. “Stop being an asshole.”

“Dude, language,” Circus chided playfully.

“I’ve heard a lot worse,” Xander said quietly behind me.

That wasn’t really something I wanted to hear. I knew the whole story would come out eventually, and the physical proof was right in front of my face, but it tore me up inside anytime he mentioned some way he suffered by Jorge’s hand. I should’ve been paying better attention. I should’ve kept track of the old bastard to make sure he wasn’t reproducing again and putting some other poor kid in danger.

I turned to Xander with a frown. “You don’t have any other siblings, do you?”

He looked confused for a second, shaking his head. “No. My mom left when I was little. My abuela helped raise me, but after she died, it was just me and Jorge.”

“Still can’t believe that bastard got two women pregnant. How do they not recognize a creep when they see one?” Mel commented as she walked past again with the last of her things from the truck.

I couldn’t even guess. The only memories I had of the guy were of him in a stained wife beater and jeans, with a beer belly and an ugly scowl.

“He met her at a bar,” Xander said. “They were both alcoholics, and he used his disability to buy her booze. That’s how she got pregnant.”

When I looked over my shoulder at him, he almost looked defensive. My brow furrowed. “You said she left. Did you want me to find her?”

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