Page 43 of Against the Odds
I couldn’t help adding, “Are you really going to let Uncle Wayne work with Koda?”
Grandpa looked away. “Maybe you can talk to Koda. Let them know that Wayne doesn’t always think before he speaks. Tell them— and Lily too— that if Wayne says anything worse than bad taste, if he’s bullying Koda, or bothering Lily, they should tell me. They’re both essential to Nina’s and important to me. I’ll keep Wayne out of the store if they ask me to.”
“Okay.” I wasn’t sure they’d feel confident telling the store owner to keep his son away, but I’d try to make it so. I scooped up my bags. “I’ll be just next door, right? If you need me for anything,anything, text or call and I’ll be right over.”
“I will.”
Zeke let me in at his place. Jos was nowhere in sight. Zeke said the kid was up in his room, doing comic book research. Hehelped me lug my suit-bags up to the spare room, and closed the door behind us as we stepped inside, flipping the lock.
I took the bag hooks off his fingers and moved them to the closet rod. “Why the locked door?”
“You look like you could use a hug.”
Slamming the duffel into the closet wasn’t as satisfying as I’d hoped. I’d unpack later. “My uncle’s a smarmy son of a bitch, and Grandpa keeps giving him one last chance!”
Zeke spread his arms as I closed the closet door.
Well fuck, I wasn’t turning that down, even if it wasn’t what fuck-buddies did. I grabbed him and leaned in, letting the warmth of his arms around me soak into my bones. He squeezed me tight, then let go. “I’m glad you came here. You’re away from your uncle, and Jos gets more people in his life, and isn’t alone at night. Win-big win.”
“Until I head out on my road trip, but yeah.” I looked at his green eyes and that brown hair growing in weird, and the scar on his chin, and his strong arms in that sweatshirt. Something hooked deep in my chest, dragging me toward him. I kissed him and after an instant of surprise, he kissed me back.
“Pity we have an awake preteen around,” he murmured when we separated.
I’d have pointed out we could be quiet, but I’d promised Grandpa I’d go to the store. Reluctantly, I backed away. “Yeah, I need to work. Raincheck?”
“For sure. I’m here all night.”
“Sounds like a plan.” I’d put on jeans and my “Nina’s” polo shirt when I changed, so I was good to go. Still, I had to force myself to reach past Zeke and unlock the door. The taste of him lingered on my lips. He grinned at me and ducked out, heading down the hall toward Jos’s room, leaving me to make my way out to my car and drive away.
The trip to Nina’s was short. I parked a block away, to leave the closer spots for customers, and headed inside. The tinkle of the bell and the smell of polished old wood and bread and cardboard soothed me in its familiarity.
Lily stood at the register, ringing up a woman’s purchases while Koda packed them in a canvas bag for her. When the customer had paid, Koda jogged to hold the door for her, then came back my way.
“Callum. What brings you here on a Sunday afternoon? Don’t you have pucks to stop?”
“Nope. Day off. And I was pining for the chance to tidy shelves and unpack cartons, so here I am.”
“Welcome to the madhouse.” They waved around the store, where one elderly man carried a basket up and down the aisles.
“Slow day?” I didn’t like the sound of that.
“Nah,” they told me. “You hit a lull. So what’s new?”
I went to stand by Lily and beckoned Koda over to us.
“Well, that’s not ominous or anything.” They leaned a hip against the counter. “Spill the tea.”
Turning to Lily, who’d been with Grandpa for ten years, I said, “My uncle Wayne is back.”
“Well, fuck.”
Koda boggled their eyes at her. “What? You never swear.”
“I do about Wayne.” She sighed. “Is he going to work in the store again?”
“What’s wrong with Wayne?” Koda asked.
Lily tugged at the back of her blond hair, rotating her neck as if she was stiff. “Last time, he ducked out when he was supposed to be working, arrived late for shifts, was generally a lazy bastard.”
