Page 73 of Ruin
With the towel wrapped around my waist, I drop my clothes into the washer and head for the stairs.
“Hey, Snapper,” Grizz groans as he sits up on the couch.
“Did your house burn down?” I ask.
He chuckles. “Nah. Just like knowing she’s safe.”
“I have a security system,” I argue, though I know it isn’t going to save her if they break in.
“That ain’t going to stop someone from shooting her.” He gets up, scratching the back of his head. “You, uh… should let her stay with me.”
“Excuse me?” I say as my spine goes straight.
“I think she’ll be safer.”
“How the fuck does that make sense?”
“Well, for one, I’m not the one who walked out of there with her. You’ll be the first one they go after to find her.”
“They haven’t come here.”
“I also have my brother and sister-in-law living with me. So she’d never be alone.”
I frown. “When the fuck did that happen?”
He frowns now, seeming a little confused.. “About a month ago. I told everyone about it at Church, because Tommy was thinking of joining.”
“He’s a cop.”
“Hewasa cop.” He shakes his head. “He’s retired.”
How did I miss that info?
Grizz is two years younger than Kaison, and his brother is much older than him. Close to Lucian’s age, if I had to guess. Tommy was a cop in Miami for a long fucking time. Never met the guy before, but I’ve heard a lot about him from Grizz when we were kids.
I know a little of this and a little of that about the guys' lives since we’re all the same age and grew up in this shitty town together. Some of us went to school at the same time, but thatdoesn’t mean we were friends. I didn’t have friends growing up, and don’t have any now either. I like it better that way.
“She said she wants to,” he says quietly.
Which pisses me right off.
“Why the fuck would she want that?” I hiss, stepping closer to him.
He holds his hands up. “She didn’t wanna tell you, but she doesn’t like being here in the middle of the woods by herself while you’re gone all day. She’s scared.”
“The whole town is in the middle of the woods,” I spit out.
Why am I so angry about this? I don’t know. I have no fucking idea why this hurts so much.
“You don’t have to get upset, Snapper. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Fuck you.”
He sighs. “Look, we’re trying to do the same thing here, okay? Do you, uh… like her or something?” he asks carefully.
I hold his gaze for a minute, then a laugh bursts out of me. An actual laugh. A laugh because that’sfunny.I haven’t laughed over something funny in years. “Do Ilikeher?” I repeat, then laugh again. “Do I like her?”
“It’s just a question, man.” Grizz looks concerned now.
