“I got her,” Dutch finished.
“I want a breakfast toaster from Sonic,” Georgie snuffled inhis neck.
Dutch couldn’t stop his smile.
That was his girl.
Take a hit.
Bounce right back.
“I could eat a toaster,” Roscoe decreed.
“Three a’ those for us, brothers,” Dutch told Jagger andRoscoe.“And someCinnasnacks.”
“I wantCinnasnackstoo,” Georgieblubbered.
“On it,” Jagger said, sounding amused.“And by the way,sweet robe, Georgie.”
Dutch looked to the ceiling.
“Shut up, Jagger,” Georgie said to his neck.
Dutch turned his eyes back to his brother just in time tocatch Jag’s usual congenial-asshole grin.
“Yo, I’m Roscoe,” Roscoe called.
“Nicet’meetyou, Roscoe,” Georgiesniveled into his neck, taking an arm from around him to reach it behind herand wave a hand at Roscoe.
Now Dutch was finding it hard not to bust a gut laughing.
“Brother, that ass,” Roscoe declared in the tone you used tosay,Niiiiice.
“Fuck off and get us food, Coe,” Dutch ordered.
He got a jerk of a chin from Roscoe, another grin fromJagger, and they took off.
Dutch gave her a minute and then he leaned back a bit andforced her to face him with a hand gentle on her jaw.
Christ, she was even gorgeous with red eyes and crying face.
“Yougonnabe okay?”he asked.
“That was off-the-hook bad,” she answered.
“Yeah,” he agreed.
“Like, I could think of a lot of ways that would go, all ofthem ranging from bad tobaddestof bad, and that wasworse than all of them…by far.”
“Yup,” he said.
“But maybe it’ll be what she needs to get better,” shesuggested.
He doubted it.
That was extreme, but addicts usually had to fall a lotfarther than that before they sorted their shit.
“Maybe,” he allowed.
