Page 20 of Wild Card
“That’s it?” I asked.
“Not like it’s a surprise,” Gray said. “I floated the idea weeks ago.”
“Ah.”
Emory turned in his chair, eyes fixed on me. “Is that okay, Axel? All of you should get a say in it.”
I shrugged. “I don’t live here.”
“But you might want to come back, and if you do, Gray and I will move out.” He glanced at Gray. “Right, babe?”
“Yeah. We’re just saving some money while Emory does his apprentice thing. This isn’t forever. We might want to get an apartment.”
“Bailey’s going off to college in the fall,” Holden said. “We’ll have more room then too.”
Bailey emerged from the hallway, a scowl on his face. “Dying to get rid of me, huh?”
Holden winced. “No, kid. Just talking about space since Emory is moving in with us.”
Bailey snorted. “Amazed they made it this long.”
I chuckled. The kid wasn’t wrong. Emory and Gray had been inseparable for the last two months. “Congrats, I guess.”
“Are you sure it’s okay?” Emory asked, forehead creased. “I don’t want to intrude or anything.”
“It’s fine, cutie. You’re here all the time, anyway. Why would it matter to me when I’m not?”
Gray and Holden exchanged a look. Holden cleared his throat. “I should have mentioned it sooner. Gray asked me to run it by everyone. I just wasn’t expecting him to ask so soon.”
“My bad,” Gray said. “I just got a little too excited.”
I snorted. “Is that a common problem, Emory? I feel sorry for you.”
“Fuck off,” Gray said, as Emory laughed and said, “Gray is just the right amount of excited for me.”
“Which we have to hear all the damn time,” Bailey mumbled.
“What are you bitching about?” Holden said. “You got to miss the fireworks last night.”
I grinned as I set my plate in the sink and headed for the hall. Learning Emory was moving into my house, when I hadn’t been comfortable living there for years, had caused an odd twinge in my gut. It made me feel displaced, which was silly, because Ichoseto leave. But childhood baggage could be a bitch.
Judging by how much Holden and Bailey complained about listening to Gray and Emory fuck, I was lucky to be out at the junkyard.
I got to sleep in peace, then eat and shower at the house. Best of both worlds, really.
So why did I feel like I was missing out on something?
CHAPTER 6
Dalton
Sheriff Hale emergedfrom his office Monday morning with a female deputy. His smile was smarmy as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
“Listen up, guys!” he called. “I want to introduce our newest deputy, Chloe Parks.”
Chloe took a step forward, her posture straight but rigid. “I’m looking forward to working with you all.”
Sheriff Hale chuckled. “And I’m sure they’re looking forward to working withyou. We don’t get a lot of pretty faces around here.”
