Page 37 of Single Teddy
Joey moved his head from side to side, looking unsure about his nickname but not debating it either.
“I love your burgers, but that still doesn’t answer my questions,” Wesley said. “What do you want from me?”
Joey crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow when he said, “To tell us what you were doing in that house.”
“As I told your friend here,” he started and jabbed Joey’s chest with his finger, “I was visiting a student’s home because I was concerned about their absences. And their dad practically kicked me out, so if you don’t mind, I need to figure out what to do now.”
“Wait. He kicked you out?” I asked.
“Well…yeah. He was a total brute. And wasted as all hell. I’m sure the twins are unsafe with him, so I need to contact child protective services. Probably,” he replied.
“Oh fuck,” I said, and Wesley glanced at me with an inquisitive expression.
“What?” he asked.
I exchanged a glance with Joey, and he nodded before I spoke up.
“I think we need to talk. Can we come in?”
Wesley studied us for a moment or two before he relented and ushered us into his home.
It was such a thrill to walk up the porch between the decadent lavender bushes, and when he opened the door, it put a smile on my face because it looked pretty much as one would expect. Like a gorgeous greenhouse with plants and flowers everywhere the eye could reach.
“So, you’re telling me this man is a drug dealer, you’ve been watching him for months, and no one thought to do something about the kids?” he asked after we’d sat at his dining table and told him why we’d followed him.
“You’re not mad that we thought you might be involved?” I asked, and he grimaced.
“Fuck no. I don’t care about that. It’s a natural assumption to make. I’m just shocked this has been going on for so long and no one thought about the boys.”
I put my hands up and leaned back in my chair.
“To be fair, I didn’t know he had kids.”
Wesley offered the most discreet of smiles before he turned to Joey.
“I’ve been busy with work. I’ve not done many shifts,” he said, mimicking my actions and putting his hands up in surrender.
Instead of smiling at Joey like he’d done with me, his expression hardened.
“But you’re not denying you knew,” he hummed.
“It’s been slow because we didn’t want to put them in danger. Especially since we don’t know if it’s still a stash house or if that Barnes guy is involved.”
Wesley pursed his lips and stared Joey down before he turned to me.
“Okay, so what are we going to do?” Wesley asked.
“You’re not doing anything. We are.”
Wesley rolled his eyes.
“Yeah right. No offense, Teddy, you’ve only just gotten here, but your friends here have done fuck-all all this time. So, yes, my question still stands. What arewegoing to do?”
“Like I said, we don’t know if he’s part of the criminal network,” Joey said.
“But we know he’s a drunk who doesn’t care about his kids’ education, so if you’re not going to do anything, then I will.”
“You can’t,” I said and put my hand over his, though I had no idea what drove me to even touch him.
