Page 111 of Callahan

Brian: I totally get it. I’d be pacing the floor, too. I’ll fill you in on what’s going on when I get home. It’s gonna be a while though.

I was glad he’d come to his own conclusions why I was crawling out of my skin when all I really wanted was to crawl on top of Lainey.

I mean, yeah, I wanted to lead the charge on finding the fucker who’d threatened Lainey, but I trusted Brian and Angus were on top of it.

Me: I’ll be here.

~~~~

I slipped into Lainey’s room and checked on Conor while I fought the urge to crawl under the covers and wrap my arms around her.

The closest I came to her bed was stealing the baby monitor’s receiver from the dresser. I knew my time with the little guy was limited so I planned on giving him his bottle tonight. At least, if I got to him before she woke up.

Chapter Forty

Adam

I was awake the second Conor’s soft whimpers came over the monitor in the middle of the night, and I threw back the covers to tiptoe to his playpen.

Unfortunately, when I got there, Lainey was already out of bed and leaning down to pick him up.

“Please let me feed him,” I said softly. “It’s kind of like our thing, ya know? And I don’t know how much longer we’re going to have that.”

She continued to pick him up, and I felt my shoulders sag. I wasn’t in a position to insist.

But instead of taking him back to her bed, she handed him to me.

“There’s a bottle in the fridge, and his diapers and wipes are in his diaper bag by the dresser.” She winked with a smirk. “Try to keep it down. I’m sure Brian needs his beauty sleep.”

“Brian isn’t even home yet.”

That made her pause.

“He’s not? Is everything okay?”

“Last time he texted, they’d finished processing the bakery for evidence with South Carolina DPS and had boarded up the window. But then there was a fight at some bar on the outskirts of town… Hooligan’s?”

“Hannigan’s,” she supplied. “Although, Hooligan’s might be a better name. That place is notorious for getting rowdy.”

“Anyway, he went with a few of his officers to book some people into jail. Except the jail wouldn’t take them because they were drunk, so they had to go to the hospital and have them monitored by hospital staff until they weren’t legally drunk anymore and can go to jail. But he’s letting his least senior guybabysit and getting a ride home with his other officer. He should be home soon.”

Her smirk was back.

“See all the exciting things you have to look forward to?”

“I wonder if it’s too late to negotiate with Angus about counting my military experience in terms of seniority…”

“Like my dad always says, it never hurts to ask. What’s the worst he can say? No? Big deal.”

“You’ve got a point.”

Conor’s cries grew more insistent.

“Anyway.” She pointed toward the stairs. “Bottle in the fridge, get going. Some of us are trying to sleep.” Then climbed back in bed.

I loved that she didn’t argue with me after all, and that she was so damn feisty.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to live in the same town as her and not be at her doorstep every chance I got.

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