The Protector (Barrett Boys #3) - Jordan Ford Page 0,39

can think of it like a training course, and then he can go and I can finally get the freedom I’ve been craving.

It’s gonna be okay.

My eyes drift shut. Satisfied with my plan, I let the steady rhythm of Brody’s feet walk me into oblivion.

17

An Enticing Idea

It takes me twenty minutes, but I finally figure out how to make coffee with Indy’s fancy-pants machine. I nearly quit twice and head down the road to buy freaking instant coffee—never seen anything wrong with that stuff—but then the capsule thingy clicked into place and the machine started whirring.

I gaze down at my mug of café-style coffee and have to admit that I’m kind of impressed. It looks pretty good.

I take a sip.

It tastes pretty good too.

Huh. Who knew.

Taking a seat at the table, I start buttering my four pieces of toast and wonder what today’s gonna look like. Indy will no doubt sleep in. She’ll probably feel like trash this morning. I’ve only been drunk like that a few times, but from memory, the first time was the worst. It was after a football game my sophomore year, and Jake was super pissed with me. Apparently, I did something stupid and dangerous that nearly got me kicked off the team, but I seriously cannot remember hanging off the back of a pickup truck and destroying mailboxes with a baseball bat.

“You’re just lucky no one can prove it, you idiot!” Then he stalked off muttering something about Cooper kicking my ass or Grandpa making me do push-ups until my arms were jelly.

The words tasted bitter in my brain. Not only did I hate it when Jake was mad at me, but bringing up Grandpa and Cooper was like a punch to the gut.

I swore I’d never drink myself stupid again. I only did it a couple more times, by pure accident, and thankfully he never found out about any of them. Well, not that I know of anyway.

“Cooper.” I whisper my oldest brother’s name, wondering where he is right now. He could be dead for all we know. My last memory of him was an ashen-faced, hollow stare that made my heart bleed. He was gone the next morning. Left without a freaking word.

I still don’t know whether to be pissed at him or not. Part of me wants to pity him. He was never the same after pulling that trigger. But did he have to just take off like that?

“Morning,” Indy groans as she shuffles into the room, holding her head. She’s still in the same clothes she wore last night. I didn’t think it was appropriate to undress her, so I just laid her on the bed and took her boots off.

“Hey.” I smile, keeping my voice soft. “How you feelin’?”

“Like shit.” She plunks into the chair opposite mine. “Is that coffee?” Before I can reply, she’s taken my cup and is downing the rest of it.

I decide to let it slide. She’s looking kind of pale right now and probably isn’t up for some sort of fight about how I don’t really like sharing food.

I quickly start scarfing down my toast before she can steal any of it.

She gets up from the table and gets a glass of water, noisily drinking the whole thing before turning to look at me. A drip glistens on her bottom lip, but then her pink tongue wipes it away and I’m all of a sudden struggling to remember how to chew toast.

With a little sigh, she plunks back down at the table.

I’ve managed to work out how to chew again and swallow my mouthful but don’t go for another one. There’s this look on her face that is making me super curious.

Her big brown eyes are studying me, narrowing just a little at the corners, like my face is this math problem she’s trying to solve.

I’m about to mirror her expression, but then she props her chin on her knuckles and asks, “Do you know how to cook?”

I nod.

“Clean?”

“Well enough.”

“Do laundry?”

“Yep.” I take another mouthful, asking her why without actually saying it.

The left side of her mouth twitches, nearly giving in to a smile, but then she leans back in her chair and points at my chest. “So, you can teach me, then.”

I stuff the last of the toast into my mouth and wipe the crumbs off my fingers.

“That’s an interesting request,” I mumble around my mouthful.

She groans and rubs her temples. “I had this idea last night. I know you want this job