Revealing Annie - Freya Barker Page 0,51
manages to pin down outside on the deck. Luckily Annie is out there with Blue to provide a bit of a buffer. I glance out the window to see Blue hand the baby to Annie to burp.
A house full of family.
Bryce seems to feel comfortable in the presence of my father and Tony, sitting on a stool next to Tony, and although he’s not saying much, he’s observing.
“You may be getting out of cooking duty tonight, kid,” I tell him with a grin. “But I’m counting on you to set the table outside.”
“Cool,” he mumbles, getting up to grab plates from the cupboard.
“See if the ladies need refills?” Dad asks. “We’re about ready to put these babies on the grill.”
We’re putting the finishing touches on the tray stacked with skewers of meat and vegetables. Dad threw together a Thai quinoa salad and I pulled a jar of kimchi out of the pantry to round off the meal.
As soon as Bryce is out of earshot, Tony turns to me.
“You lucked out, my friend. He’s a good kid.”
“Yeah, from what I can tell, we may have his grandmother to thank for that. She was apparently a constant in his life before Chanel moved them to Boise.”
“Any word from her?”
“Not even a call. She told Bryce she’d be a couple of weeks at most, but if she seriously went into rehab like she said, I doubt she’d be out that soon.”
“Does he talk about her?” Dad wants to know.
“Not really. I have a feeling he’s been covering for her for a long time and doesn’t want me to get mad. He seems more open with Annie, but he still looks at me like I’m gonna send him packing any minute.”
“Poor kid,” Tony mutters.
Dad bumps me out of the way to get to the sink.
“I’ll grill,” he announces. “You clean up, and after dinner I’m gonna take my grandson to walk the dog.”
I look at my father, who may be a couple of inches shorter but is infinitely wiser.
“Thanks, Dad.”
Annie
“I really think maybe I should sleep in the basement.”
His body starts shaking behind me.
I’d argued all the way as he led me up the stairs earlier. He wasn’t listening then either.
After Blue and Tony left—taking that adorable little nugget with them—his parents followed Bryce to bed, reminding us they’d had a long day. Kyle and I finished cleaning up the kitchen and debriefing the day. It felt ridiculously domestic. I’ve been here only two days and already it feels like home.
Don’t get me wrong; I love my little sanctuary, except it doesn’t feel that safe anymore. Tony took me aside at some point to hand me back my keys, and let me know they’d gone through the trailer and collected what evidence they could. He didn’t specify what that might’ve been and I didn’t ask. It wasn’t the time or place.
For now, I’m just going to pretend this is my new normal. Except maybe sleeping in the same bed with Kyle when his parents are just steps down the hall.
“Are you laughing at me?”
I try to roll over but his hold on me tightens as he buries his face in the crook of my neck.
“You’re not sleeping in the basement,” he finally says, trying to hide the amusement in his voice, and failing miserably.
“It’s not right. It’s bad enough you convinced me to sleep in here last night with an impressionable boy a few doors down, but with your parents here?”
His grip on me loosens, but before I can move of my own accord he has me rolled on my back, his face hovering over me.
“First of all, that boy is fourteen and I don’t wanna freak you out, but that’s no longer a boy, that’s a teenager. He’s probably more enlightened than either of us wanna think about.”
“Ewww.”
I make a face that has him grinning, enhancing those lines in his face I love so much.
“And second, my parents find out you slept in the basement, they’d not only insist on staying at a hotel, they’d disown me in the process.”
I bite my bottom lip and his eyes drop down to my mouth, as he lifts his hand to my face. With the pad of his thumb he rubs my bottom lip.
“Kyle,” I warn, as he lowers his face a fraction.
“Just a kiss, babe.”
“We can’t. Kissing leads to other things.”
The white of his teeth flash a smile.
“Are you saying I’m irresistible, Annie-chan?”
“You’re incorrigible,” I correct him, but I’m smiling as I say it.
“Then roll