And that sets me off again. I can’t help it, this kid is…well, he’s fucking awesome. And I hate that he’s stuck here hiding out from shitty fucking parents who don’t deserve him.
“Alright, settle down. I have news.” Kruger takes a seat next to me. I knew he had spoken to Havoc, but Havoc wanted to call church about the whole thing, so I’ve been in limbo, waiting.
“The club did some digging. We have some shit on your stepfather. We’re willing to use it as leverage to keep him off your back. Can’t do dick to get your mom out, though, if she doesn’t want to leave.”
Theo looks at me. I lean forward and squeeze his knee. “Not your job to fix her, kid. It’s a tough lesson to learn, but you can’t save everyone. And honestly, some people just don’t want to be saved. You’ve gotta think about you. Maybe getting out andbeing safe will give her the courage to do the same. Maybe it won’t. Either way, it’s not on you, Theo.”
He rubs his hand over his face but nods. “So I have to go back home?” His shoulders slump.
I fist my hands and look at Kruger, who is staring hard at Theo. Despite his initial reaction to Theo, he’s come to care about him too. I know sending him home doesn’t sit right with him any more than it does me. Of course, he doesn’t know that I’m planning on giving Theo the spare key to the shop, so he has a safe place he can come to anytime he wants.
“We’re renting a one-bedroom right now. It’s a stopgap. I wanted someplace where I could have Delphi to myself so I could make her stop hating me, maybe even make her fall in love with me a little.”
“I think that plan was a success,” Theo mutters, making us both look at him. “What? Of course, you love him. It’s obvious.”
“It is?”
He shakes his head. “Women. Always gotta make shit complicated.”
“Language.”
He rolls his eyes but leans back with a smirk and crosses one of his lean legs over his knee at the ankle. “If he disappeared tomorrow, how would you feel?”
“Sad. Upset. Hurt,” I answer straight away before I turn to look at Kruger. “Alone, worried, scared.”
Kruger takes my hand in his, his intense eyes locked on mine as I frown and look at Theo. “Wait, I feel that way about you, too.”
Theo’s eyes widen. “Really?”
Kruger snorts. “Guess that means she loves us both, kid. I waited a lifetime for this woman, and now I’ve gotta share her with you? Typical,” Kruger jokes, but Theo looks stunned.
“You love me?”
I shrug, then nod.
“But how do you know?”
I get up and move so I’m sitting on the coffee table in front of him, take one of his hands in mine, and repeat the same thing I said about Kruger. “Because the thought of you leaving makes me feel sad and upset and hurt. If you were gone, I’d be alone, and worried and scared.”
“You won’t ever be alone,” Kruger’s voice breaks in, making me look over at him and wink.
“Hey, Kruger?”
“Yeah, chestnut?”
“How do you feel about having kids? See, I’m not great at having babies, but someone told me they thought I’d make a pretty great mom. And well, I found a pretty great kid here who’s already potty-trained. Can we keep him?”
“He’s not a puppy.” Kruger sighs.
I reach up and gently squeeze Theo’s cheeks. “No, he’s much cuter.”
“Is she being serious?” Theo asks Kruger without looking away from me.
“It’s Delphi,” he says, as if that’s an answer in itself. And I guess it is. I see what I want, and I go after it.
Theo looks to Kruger, waiting for his response. “I’ve found, Bud, that there ain’t much I won’t do for her, so we need to come up with a new plan.”
I get to my feet and throw myself at Kruger. I kiss him hard, all my feelings of resentment and anger drifting away. Truth is, he’s not perfect. Nobody is. But after my last failure, I can’t help but look for perfection in all the wrong places. What if the places aren’t wrong, it’s simply that perfection doesn’t exist?
