Page 27 of Centering Kaos

“Did you bring soap and shampoo with you?” I asked.

His head snapped back up. “Yep.”

“Get them out of your bag and I’ll show you how to turn the bath on and off. You’re old enough to do that, right?”

“Of course I am.” Looking mildly offended, he marched over to one of his bags and unzipped it, searching through the contents until he retrieved two bottles.

“I figured as much,” I said, leading him toward the attached bathroom. I pointed at a cupboard. “Grab yourself a towel and a washcloth out of there. If you run out of soap or shampoo, that’s where I keep extras.” Kneeling beside the bathtub, I pointed out the controls. “This activates the stopper to keep the water in.” I flicked it up and down, demonstrating how it worked before turning on the water. “Left is hot, right is cold, toward the middle should be just right, but I’ll let you figure out how warm you want it. You know your left from your right, don’t you?”

The cocky little bastard dropped his shoulders and cocked his head to the side, looking like he was questioning my intelligence. “Everyone knows that.”

I bit back a chuckle. “Oh yeah? Hold up your left hand.”

He took a second to think about it, and then his left hand shot up.

“Good. I’ll leave you to it, then. Your mom should be in any minute, but she’s had a rough day so I’m hopin’ you can give her a little bit of a break. I know you’re a kid and it’s in your nature to push back, but how about you wash yourself up and get to bed without giving her a hard time? Just for tonight?”

He frowned, but agreed, “Okay. I can do that.”

“I know you can. Thanks, man.” I clapped him on the shoulder as I stood. “I’m glad you guys are here. Get a good night’s sleep, and I’ll see you in the morning. As long as you don’t get into trouble at school, we’ll see if you’re as good at air hockey as you are at foosball.”

He grinned. As I turned to leave, he surprised me by saying, “Thanks, Kaos.”

I gave him a manly nod of my head, encouraging his appreciation, but careful not to appear too enthusiastic about it. There was a fine line between the two, and it had to be carefully trod. “No problem.”

Still fighting back a smile, I stepped into the bedroom and found Tina standing there. I had no idea how long she’d been listening in on my conversation with Dylan, but her eyes were glassy, and her hands were clasped in front of her. Curiosity raised her eyebrows as she looked at me like she was seeing me for the first time.

Unable to stop myself, I stepped closer until only inches separated us. Searching her face for clues about what was going on in her head, I asked, “Everything okay?”

“You didn’t have to help him. I was coming. I just… needed a minute.” The smile she gave me was… forced and unnatural, a complete contrast to the honesty we’d shared earlier.

I didn’t like the way it twisted up my stomach. “I don’t mind helping out. I like Dylan. He’s a good kid. I’m sorry if I overstepped by showing him how to use the tub. The controls are simple, and I figured you could use a little break. You’re not some kind of superhuman, and nobody here expects you to be.”

“I…” She sucked down a shaky breath and looked away. “You didn’t overstep, I’m not used to… I don’t know what I’m trying to say. Ithasbeen a rough day. Thank you for starting his bath and for encouraging him to step up. That was… really thoughtful.”

Her body seemed to lean toward me, and I couldn’t tell if she was aware of it or not. Instinctively, I reached for her. My fingertips brushed her arm, but she sidestepped my hand and disappeared into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. I stared after her for a moment, wondering what the hell had just transpired between us. She had to feel our off-the-charts chemistry, but she was doing her damnedest to ignore it.

Tina was going through hell and she needed space and time. I could give her that. Resigned, I headed upstairs, pulling out my cell phone to call Link along the way. It was past time for me to check in, and I could obviously use the distraction.

“Hey Kaos, I was just about to call you,” he said upon answering. “You get Tina and Dylan situated?”

I appreciated the way he referred to them by name. To the club, they weren’t targets or jobs. They were people with real lives and individual identities. “Sure did, Prez. She’s giving him a bath as we speak. I watched for a tail but didn’t see shit. Did Matt ever show up at the condo?”

“No.” Link hesitated. “Well, not to the condo. Morse was able to hack into the parking garage’s camera feed and caught his vehicle making the rounds a few minutes after Tap drove her car out of there, but the son-of-a-bitch never parked or approached the building.”

“Think he was lookin’ for her car?”

“Makes sense. Let’s hope the fucker comes lookin’ for it here. Has Tina said anything about her plans for the week?”

I ambled through my bedroom door and sat on the corner of the bed. “She mentioned that Dylan has school, but I don’t know if it’s a good idea for him to go.” Balancing my phone on my shoulder, I started tugging off my boots and socks.

“Not our call, I’m afraid. All we can do is make suggestions and be there to support whatever decisions she makes. We’re not protective custody and she and her boy aren’t our prisoners. Don’t try to keep them from livin’ their lives, but do what you can to protect them.”

Right. Like taking candy from a toddler: tricky as hell and there was no way to come out of it without feeling like an asshole. “Any suggestions?”

“See if she’ll let you play chauffeur. If that motherfucker is waiting at the school, you can keep her safe and make sure he doesn’t follow her back to your place. If you need backup or assistance, call and we’ll be there.”

“Will do. How’s her sister? Was Tap able to talk Elenore into letting him ramp up her security?”

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