Page 159 of Unhinged
Georgia gives me a long look, then hugs me tight. She smells like cookies and old perfume. “Don’t stay mad, sweetheart,” she whispers. “He meant well. He’s a good one. And you know it. I’m proud of you, honey.”
“Thank you,” I mumble. She lets go and follows Marcus out.
The silence that fills the room after is heavy. Too still.
“You okay, Gidge?” Arrow asks.
“Yeah,” I say, too fast. “I don’t wanna talk about it. Not yet. I gotta work it out in my head.”
“Okay,” he says.
I exhale hard. “Can we eat? I want Thai.”
Acid smirks. “Yeah, Omega. We’ll get Thai.”
“We got other stuff to talk about anyway,” Gears adds, always business.
“Like what?”
“We can’t stay here,” he says. “We’ve got an omega. A kid. This is no place to raise a family. We need to start house hunting. We also need to discuss what your role is now, inside the club.”
I blink. “Just jumping into all of it, huh?”
“Yup.” Gears shrugs.
Arrow pulls out his phone and calls in the order to Thai Hut. I drop back into my chair as we start talking. Really talking.
“We want you in the club,” Acid says.
“That’s not exactly normal,” I point out.
Arrow shrugs. “So? It’s our club. You’re the Alpha Slayer. You can’t hold office, but we want you at Church. We want you in the loop. You deserve to know the plans. What’s happening.”
“Seems easy enough.”
Gears grins. “You need a road name.”
“Fuck no,” I shoot back.
“Gidge,” he says. “I think it fits.”
I roll my eyes. “Fine.”
“They’re here.”
My chest gets all tight. Not the bad kind, not like panic. Just full. Like there’s too much in there and I can’t hold it all. Judge is here. My kid. My everything.
I rush to the door before anyone else can move, throw it open, and there he is, climbing out of Nitro’s truck with Bettie right behind him, one hand gripping his backpack, the otherholding tight to the little stuffed Ghost Face he loves. He’s looking around, eyes sharp and searching, just like mine.
He sees me and takes off running.
“Mom!” he yells, arms wide.
I kneel down in the gravel and catch him, hugging him so tight I probably crush his ribs, but he doesn’t complain. He just buries his face in my neck and breathes me in.
“You smell different,” he says.
I laugh, tears stinging the backs of my eyes. “I’m sure I smell like the alphas. I missed you, baby.”
