Ford's Rise - L. Ann Marie Page 0,12
got here yesterday. I'll miss my time with him.
Télia shrugs at Ford. “Alexia will go wherever Web is.”
Ford nods. “I can teach him about the gator. Web, do you have classes for riding?”
Garren nods. “Michael is in it. He’s a good rider like me, Hamp. They teach like Alex after you learn about the bike.”
Ford nods. “I need to get him in that before he jumps on one.”
Alejandro is jumping again. “I love it here! What’s a gator?”
I laugh. “Like a four-wheeler. Ford bought you one. It’s under the house with the golf carts.”
He’s jumping around again. “I love it here!”
Ford smiles my way. “I guess city living was stifling my poor boy.”
“Alexia.” She walks in with a smile. “Did you see the dragon?”
Everyone smiles her way. “I’m painting the house. Not a dragon. The white is too much like everyone else’s.” Télia sounds determined.
Alexia looks at me. I shrug. “If you want to paint my house, go for it, it has to get finished or it goes back to white.”
She gives me a kiss with her smile. “Okay.”
Shit. My dick jumps. “We were going to the kitchen.”
She turns and starts walking with my hand in hers. “I’m on at eight.”
I follow with a smile. “I’ll get you there on time.”
She stops on the stairs. “I’m taking a smart car with Akai. He loves them because they’re cool.”
Akai says everything is cool. “I’ll come see you before I leave.”
“I’ll be at the Phoenix office then.”
I smile. I made the schedule for her to help cover me. “We’re leaving from Phoenix.”
“The dragon is so realistic,” Télia says right behind us. I look back surprised Garren and Michael are too.
“It is.” I can’t wait to see who else paints their houses. Anton’s is my favorite still. The grin is so him. We start walking. The dragon is right in front of Ford’s. “Are you painting your house, Garren?”
“I will paint when I have an idea. You don’t just paint. It has to mean something.”
I smile at my smart brother. “You’re right. I’ll help when you want to paint it.”
He nods without answering. Télia and Alexia start talking. Ford and Alejandro pass us on the road passing the kitchen. Ford lives on the side of it. I bet he was excited about Alejandro on the gator. When I got the As bikes, I couldn’t wait for them to learn to ride.
The Alpha-Bits yell my name when we walk in. Garren and Michael yell, “Alpha-Bits!” Getting a laugh out of Télia.
Pulling chairs for Alexia and Télia, I sit with Michael and Garren across from me. Aris comes to me. “Web, surveillance need satellite moved. Bikers meet, two Clubs close to Nevada. I send coordinate early.”
I nod. “I moved it. Stella is coming into IT today. If you need anything else, call her or talk to Akai or Alexia. I’ll monitor everything as soon as I’m free in Colorado. Your house looks great, Aris. I was shocked to see it this morning. The dragon looks real. Who painted it?”
“Brusher paint with Little Brothers. Daniel make sign-up to Alpha-Bits.” He smiles, proud of being the first I bet.
I kiss his head then shake mine. Shit, the compound may look like a mystical zoo soon. “Did everyone sign up for it?”
“Three here, four Bravo. Asa paint half house mohawk, blue. Alder no happy.”
I laugh looking at the picture on his phone. Alder’s part is white. Asa’s looks like a bald head with a mohawk going right over it. I show Michael and Garren. “Asa painted his part of the house,” I tell them when Michael shows the phone to Garren.
He’s not impressed. “He should have waited for an idea. You can’t just paint. You need the idea first. Now everyone will know Asa’s house ‘cause it looks like him. That’s not safe.”
Hmmm, maybe Alder can use that to get it repainted. “I didn’t think of that.”
My brothers are so fucking cute, they’re both nodding with their head moving the same way at the same time. “I’ll tell him. Safe is always first,” Garren says, then goes back to talking to Alexia and Télia. He has a lot to tell Télia, I guess. He talks to her on chat every day. Maybe he saved shit.
I give Aris back his phone. He shrugs. “Dragon no tell me. I safe.”
I nod. “You are, Aris. I’m glad you picked a dragon.”
His smile is huge. “I like dragon.” He runs with a thanks to me.
I don’t answer. Ford and Alejandro come in.