Page 19 of Dancin' with Demons

Raylynn turns her head and smiles at me, and I swear, she makes me feel like a fifteen-year-old spendin’ time with his crush. I’m damn near fuckin’ forty, and this woman makes me all types of weird. My breath catches when she leans in and kisses my cheek softly. “How about you pick, and I’ll cook?”

A loud knock on the door makes her tense, and I squeeze her knee gently before gettin’ up off the couch to answer it. Openin’ the door, Trickster walks right in with a large box in his hands, the tops of several paper bags stickin’ up from the top. “Hey, fucker. We brought food.”

“Language!” Savior says, her little voice risin’ as she rolls her eyes.

Trickster stops in front of the coffee table and sets the box down as Catacomb and Sandra come in, both carryin’ identical boxes. “Sorry, Savior. I’m not used to havin’ a kid around.”

Savior pins him with a glare that screams attitude. “Well, get used to it, mister!”

“What’s all this, Prez,” I say as I move back to my place on the couch, puttin’ my hand right back on Raylynn’s leg. I know any type of affection in front of people makes her tense, but I want to help her get over that. Findin’ her the way I did, I understand her aversion to PDA, but I also know that there’s no way I can go without touchin’ her in some way. So, the only option I see is to slowly try to help her get past it.

“Chinese,” Catacomb says. “We figured dinner was in order. Didn’t know what these two ladies liked, so Sandra got some of literally everythin’ on the damn menu.”

“Mister Phoenix,” Savior hisses, and Catacomb looks right at her.

His shoulder sags as he sighs. “My bad, sweetheart. How about you give us guys a few days to get used to watchin’ our language? After that, if we don’t, you can yell at us?”

“She doesn’t need to yell at anyone, Catacomb,” Raylynn says sternly, and my brow quirks up at her tone. “Savior, this is their home. We don’t have a right to tell ‘em what to do, okay?”

Savior bites her bottom lip and hangs her head a little. “Yes, Mommy.”

“Nah,” Catacomb says, turnin’ his gaze right on Raylynn. “Need to get used to it now. My club ain’t never really had a young one around it, but that don’t mean we need to be disrespectful. Clearly, you don’t cuss around her, so we don’t need to either.”

Raylynn’s cheeks redden, and she nervously tucks her hair behind her ear. “Thank you. And thank you for dinner.”

“No thanks needed, hon,” Sandra says as she sets her box down and starts pullin’ bags out. “Cat and I want to get to know you, and I’ve been itchin’ for Chinese for like a week.”

Raylynn leans toward me a little. “Savior’s never had Chinese, so I don’t know if she’ll eat any of it.”

“What’s that?” Savior says distractin’ me before I can reply to Raylynn.

We both look over to watch as she gets off the couch and stands next to Trickster, where he’s sittin’ on the floor by the table.

“That’s an egg roll,” he says.

“What about that,” she asks as she points to another container.

“Chicken Lo Mein.”

“Lo Mein?” Savior makes a face, and Trickster chuckles.

“Alright, princess,” he says, gettin’ up on his knees, “how about I make a big ol’ plate, and you can try all my stuff to see what you like?”

Savior’s eyes light up as she smiles and nods so hard I’m kinda worried she’s gonna give herself whiplash. Raylynn is tense as she watches Trickster load a shit ton of food on his plate before grabbin’ a fork, a set of chopsticks, and some napkins. He sits back on the floor and lets Savior sit in his lap.

“Relax, little love,” I whisper, kissin’ the side of her head. “If I didn’t trust him, I wouldn’t let him anywhere near Savior or you. Trick might get on my last nerve, but he’s a good guy.”

Raylynn surprises me yet again when she leans in and kisses me softly on the lips. “I’m not worried, Renegade. Just not used to being around people like this. I know you’d never let anything happen to us.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I realize Catacomb is watchin’ the two of us with a smirk on his face.Fucker.Gently cuppin’ the side of Raylynn’s face, I kiss her again and then sit back so that we can make plates, too. The entire time we eat, we’re all pretty much entertained by Savior and Trickster.

“Then, we watched the one with the lions,” she says as Trickster picks up a piece of Sweet and Sour Chicken with his chopsticks and holds it up for the kid to eat. I try not to laugh as Savior leans forward and chomps down, stealin’ the chicken like a damn snake strikin’ a mouse. She chews, happily hummin’ as she wiggles her body. “I like the pig best. He’s funny. But Ren-Ren said the monkey is better. I don’t think so, but that’s okay.”

“Pumba is totally better,” Trickster says, playfully matchin’ Savior’s enthusiasm and attitude.

“Oh, then we watched the one with the frog and the magic guy, and I like the lightnin’ bug! He talks funny!”

Trickster gets some noodles on his chopsticks and holds ‘em up for her. “We got a guy in our club that talks just like that.”

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