“Why? You were my shoulder when I needed it. Why can’t I be yours?”
She swallows and offers him a watery smile. “You’re right. And for future reference, you’re really good at it.”
“Of course, I am. Have you seen these bad boys? They were made for comforting women.” Theo flexes his arms, making her laugh, which was the aim.
I wrap my hand around his neck and tug him forward, my head touching his briefly before I pull back. “Let’s go home. I’m feeling pizza and Netflix.”
“I’ll catch you guys later?” Theo says, stepping back.
I frown. “You’re coming with us, right?”
He swallows, looking to Delphi, who nods.
“Yeah, yeah, that sounds good.”
Hours later, when the food is gone and the movie is over, I tuck Delphi into bed. She fell asleep with her head in my lap and her feet in Theo’s. She didn’t last past the opening credits, but I didn’t care. She was home, safe, and that’s all that mattered. I look back on her one last time before I pull the door closed and head downstairs.
Theo is sitting on the couch after tidying up the pizza boxes. He jumps up when I enter. “What happened? Con wouldn’t tell me much, just that Delphi needed me.”
Damn, that kid is impossible not to like.
“The prospects didn’t know what was going on. I won’t lie, Theo, I’m not going to tell you everything because it’s not my story to tell. What I will say is she found out today that something happened to her, something orchestrated by someone she loved. She got hurt in ways you can’t even imagine, and I don’t even want you to try. I just need you to keep an eye on her if I can’t be around. She had two seizures tonight.”
His eyes bug out. “Fuck.”
“Language.” I sigh.
He rolls his eyes but doesn’t argue with me. “Is she gonna be okay?”
“In the long run, yeah. She has people around her who love her and who’ll support her every step of the way. But she’s going to hurt for a while. We can’t stop that. All we can do is hold her hand and walk beside her so when she stumbles, we can catch her.”
He nods, reaching for his can of Coke, taking a sip as he processes everything. “The person who hurt her? He dead?”
I hesitate, but then I decide that if I expect honesty, I need to be honest with him. “Yeah, though he got off far too fucking easy if you ask me.”
He jumps to his feet and starts stomping on the ground, calling out every name under the sun as I sit there watching him with amusement.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
“I figure he’s down there somewhere. Evil fucker, he deserves it. I just want him to know exactly what I think of him.”
I grin and get to my feet, doing the same. It’s oddly cathartic telling Snake how much I want to rip his spine out of his asshole, though I worry about the vocabulary this kid will go back to school with by the time we’re done. Eventually, the anger tapers out and we both sit down.
“Want to crash on the sofa tonight? Tomorrow we can go look at houses.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really.”
He nods. I get up and head to the closet for spare pillows and a blanket.
“Need something to sleep in?”
“Nah, I’ll sleep in my boxers.”
“Alright, catch you in the morning.”
“Night, Kruger.”
