The smile he gave me in return was so soft it was hard to understand how his mood went from one side of the linear line to the other in seconds. It also reminded me of exactly what I’d told him on the ride back from Houston. The kindest, grumpy ass man in all of Texas.
“Yeah, he was,” he agreed.Dex’s fingers gave my neck a squeeze. The action made my throat close up momentarily. “C’mon, I’ll buy you a Coke.”
Like I was going to tell him no.
“You want a pop?” he asked Blue as he turned around.
She scrunched up her nose and shook her head. “I’m good.”
I followed after him, waitingpatiently while he put in the dollar bills to get our drinks. He popped the lid for me, handingoverthe drink with a frustrated smile.
"I can't stand assholes like that," he grunted. "What I wanna do is go beat his fuckin' ass."
Both my eyebrows went up. "Calm your horses. It's not worth you getting into trouble," I reminded him of what Shane had hinted at back in Houston.“Or messing up your hands, dumb-bum.”
“Dumb-bum?” He blinked.
I shrugged. “Yeah. What would you do if you broke a couple fingers?”
“Babe, you only break fingers if you don’t know what you’re doing.”
Blinking slowly, I opened my mouth and closed it. “I know you’re not kidding and yet…”
The corner of Dex's mouth tilted up, but it wasn't a smile of amusement exactly, it was more of a knowing smirk. "Babe."
“I’m being serious. You have to take care of yourself. Keep that rage under control.”
“I’m good.”
The look I gave him was half disbelieving, half resigned. Then the opportunity hit me, and I stopped caring. “You weren’t good this morning.”
He scowled. I hit the battleship!
“What happened?”
“Nothin’ important. Don’t worry about it.”
What was it about that saying that grated on my nerves? I should shut up. I should mind my own business. The only thing was, I didn’t want to. “Did a bird poop on your bedroom window?”
Dex’s cheek ticked up in agitation. “Smart ass.” He blew out a long breath from between his lips. “My pa called my sis askin’ for money to buy new shoes.”
“Okay…”
Then he burst out unexpectedly, “And the dumbass gave it to him!” He squeezed his eyes shut, thumb and index finger pinching the bridge of his nose. “I don’t get what the hell is wrong with ‘em. I can sleep at night knowin’ he’s runnin’ around with holes in his shoes.”
Well, what could I say?Don’t be mad?Please. No way. If he disliked his dad half as much as I disliked mine, then...yeah. That didn’t mean I had to let him wallow in his frustrations even if it seemed to have passed. “There’s nothing you can do about it now though, is there?”
When his cheek ticked up again, I lifted both of my shoulders and wiggled my fingers. “Just let it go, your highness. Just let it all go.”
The look he gave me could have seared the flesh off of my muscles and made me break into hives if I hadn’t recognized that little gleam in his eye that assured me he would never physically hurt me. Yell at me? Sure. Call me names I’d use on my future dog? Yeah. But hurt me? Nah.
“Babe?”
“Yeah?”
“Get your ass back up front.”
Oh.
