Page 15 of Bound by Affliction
“Sure, man. You want yoursaddlebag?”
“Yeah.” Gripping the phone, I look down at the white and gray speckled linoleum floor. “How long are you stayin’ intown?”
“Me, Tug, and Breaker are hanging out at the hotel waiting for word from you. The rest already wentback.”
Ravage always takes care of family, and that’s why they stayed—to back me up if I need it. After my mother died, I was lost and coming to Ravage, having their support got me through that time. They know what’s going on in my head, which is fucking scary because hell if I know what’s going on with me rightnow.
“How long will it take you to gethere?”
“About thirty,” he says then relays the information to those around him. “Later.”
Blowing out air, “Later.” I click off the phone and look up at Aaron who has his arms crossed, obviously not happy with what I just decided. Too damn bad. “I get it. You’re right and I should do all of that, but I’m not. I’ll shower in her bathroom, and my brothers are bringing me food. That’s as good of a compromise as you’re going toget.”
Something deep flashes in his eyes before he blinks and releases his arms. My father skipped out when I was four-years-old, and I never knew him. Or, at least, I don’t remember him. The way Aaron is I can tell he loves his daughter to the core because it’s the look I used to wish my father would come and give me, and it deepens my respect forhim.
“Well, at least you’ll get the stink off of ya. The flies are becoming anuisance.”
For the first time in days, I feel my lip tip up at his joke because I am ripe. At least I know he has a sense of humor, something that we’ll get along with nicely. Now if his daughter would only wakeup.
