Page 83 of Unhinged
“Sorry,” I mutter. “Guess I’m out of practice.”
Acid growls low, and my breath catches. Not a warning growl. Aninterestedone.
“Time to go before you have every alpha in this place going into a rut,” he says.
I flush and gather our trash. “I’ll get Judge.”
Judge comes bounding back and tugs on Acid’s hand. “Can we get ice cream?”
“We can getfrozen yogurt,” I say, laughing. “But you’re paying me back in bedtime snuggles.”
“Deal.”
The frozen yogurt place is mostly empty, and we all pile toppings onto swirls of vanilla and cookies and cream. Judge goes overboard on gummy worms. Acid dares me to eat rainbow boba pearls with hot fudge. I do. It’s…questionable.
We play a couple of tabletop games—silly ones with dice and spinning wheels—before heading home. Judge sings in the backseat. I hum along.
The MC is quiet when we pull in. I stretch and tell Acid, “I’m gonna grab a shower.”
He nods and disappears to find Gears and Arrow. Probably to give a report or whatever the alpha version of tattling is.
Judge’s already tugging on his jammies when I get out of the bathroom. My hair is still damp, skin warm from the steam. I pad across the room and find him curled up under the covers.
“Moana 2?” I ask.
“Duh.”
We hit play and settle in. I pull him close, one arm wrapped around his small body.
“You know you can tell me anything, right, baby?”
“I know, Mom.”
“I haven’t spent as much time with you lately. I’m sorry.”
He turns, rests his head on my arm. “You’re getting to know your Kismets. I kinda like it here. Dillon’s so cool. She lets medraw with her and she’s really good at Legos. Bettie lets me cook with her. Yesterday, we made lasagna.”
I ruffle his hair. “Good. I’m glad you’re having fun. But if you ever feel left out, you tell me, okay? You’re my first. Always.”
“I know, Mom,” he groans dramatically.
I chuckle and refocus on the movie.
“Mom?”
“Yeah?”
“Who was that guy? The one who shot you?”
My heart stutters.
“No one.”
“He knew you. I heard him. He said something like ‘is he mine.’ Is that my dad?”
I’d hoped we had more time before this came up again.
I sigh. “No.”
