I feel the panic as it crawls up my throat, threatening to choke me, but I know I need to keep my head.
“Anything?” Vince asks, meeting me at the bottom of the stairs, and I look up, confused for a moment. I didn’t even realize I’d been moving.
“Not yet.” I turn my attention back to my phone as I quickly skip through the outdoor views.
“Wait!” I swipe back, having only caught the slightest movement, and Vince moves toward me to get a better look.
“What the fuck?” Vince hisses, snatching the phone from my hand.
What the fuck is right.
Vince turns and stomps away, right out the front door, taking my phone with him. It takes me a second to follow him as I don’t have shoes on, but I catch up in seconds, right as Kat looks up and finds us coming toward her.
The smile on her face tells me she doesn’t see Vince’s face, or she just doesn’t understand, but she’s about to.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Vince demands, and I watch as Kat’s face screws up in confusion.
“Shoveling…” She holds up the shovel to show him and gestures around to the now-clear walkway as if it should be obvious.
It is, but that’s not what he was asking.
“We can see that, Kat. I think he means to ask why.” I attempt to clarify, but all that does is earn me a dirty look.
“I don’t give a fuck why,” Vince growls as he stomps toward Kat, and I watch as she squares her shoulders and prepares to hold her ground. If they weren’t at each other’s throats, it would be funny how his attitude makes hers come out to play. “This isn’t your job. They pay people to do this, and if they didn’t, you sure as fuck wouldn’t be the one doing it!”
He grabs the shovel from her and tosses it into the snow on the grass.
“Hey!” she shouts and makes to go retrieve it, but she only makes it two steps before he reaches out, snagging her around the waist and pulling her back into his chest.
“I’m not playing with you, Kat. It’s freezing out here. You already spent all day playing with Addy. You’re not going to shovel the fucking walk.”
He doesn’t give her a chance to fight back, and I know she would have; I can see it in her eyes, the way they light up with defiance that makes my cock spring to life.
Thankfully, neither of them seems to even register that I’m here as Vince slings Kat over his shoulder and stomps his way back into the house with her cursing and sassing him the whole way.
Well, that was something.
I follow behind them, retrieving the shovel and leaving it up on the porch before I head inside and peel off my shoes with a little shiver.
It got colder out since we were out there earlier.
I follow the sound of their bickering, snagging a blanket off one of the couches as I go. Walking in, it’s as if I’m not even here, but that suits me just fine as I move to brew her some coffee.
Once it’s done, I move around Vince to stand with Kat, pressing a hand to the small of her back, and I direct her toward the table where her coffee sits waiting for her. I’m not sure if I’mmore surprised she goes or by the smile she gives me when she sits, and I drape the blanket around her shoulders.
“I know you’re not used to being cared for, but Vince is right; we have people we pay to take care of those types of things. We can meet in the middle sometimes. We let you take over most of Dale’s cooking and Addy’s education. However, this kind of stuff isn’t up for debate.”
She opens her mouth to argue, but I press a finger to her lips, and she lets them fall closed so that I can finish.
“Let us take care of you. That’s our job. You only need to worry about yourself and Addy. Okay?”
She reaches out, wrapping her hands around the warm mug of coffee, and I’m not sure if she’s cold or simply doesn’t want to look at me, but when she nods, I find the reason doesn’t much matter.
The urge to touch her, kiss her, yell at her, and protect her is a jumble inside me. Unable to resist, I lean in and press a kiss to her forehead before moving out of the dining room back to the kitchen, where I find Vince smirking at me, my phone held out in offering.
“When did you become the disciplinarian?” he asks, and I snatch my phone from him, not bothering to give him a response. I know well enough by now that he’s trying to get a rise out of me.
That’s the last thing I need; Kat did more than enough as it is.
