“She didn’t want to make it a big deal. I went off half-cocked and made it a big deal.”
“You’re a big girl, babe, and you get to make those decisions. She’s sixteen. She don’t get that yet nor does she get to be pissed at the decisions you make.”
“She gets whatever she wants, Tack. It’s her emotions and unless they’re handled with care, since she’s feeling a lot of them, it’s clear most of them are no good, she’s acting on them and not in good ways, that cycle won’t be broken unless they are. Her emotions handled with care, I mean. Not to mention, I don’t think she has a woman she trusts, she was giving that to me, I took it away and I have to give it back.”
“You got a plan of attack?” he asked.
“No, I’m going to wing it,” I answered.
“Then yeah, you talk but I’m here. So’s Rush. Sortin’ Tab’s shit is a family thing,” he declared and I sucked in a sharp breath.
A family thing.
“Red?”
“I waited a long time,” I whispered.
“For what?” he asked.
“For you.”
I watched a shadow darken his face.
“You do not get to do that shit,” he growled and I blinked.
“What?”
“Make me wanna pick you up, carry you to my bed and f**k you hard to show my appreciation for bein’ so damn sweet I got a toothache, a f**kin’ toothache I f**kin’ like when I got pancakes to make and a daughter’s shit to sort.”
“Oh,” I whispered.
“Fuck, I’m not even close.”
“To what?”
“The heart of you. You run so f**kin’ deep, I’ll never get there.”
God.
“Lookin’ forward to a lifetime of diggin’, babe.”
God!
“Now you’re being sweet,” I accused, my voice wobbly.
“Used to it yet?”
“No.”
“You got a lifetime to get there too.”
Seriously.
I could take no more.
“Shut up.”
“I will, you kiss me.”