“I wanted back up.”
“You guys can’t go! He’s fucking psychotic and I don’t know what he’ll do if you just barge in.”
“I don’t really care what he does. You need your stuff,cariño.”
“I’ll get it myself.”
“You willnot,” I say strongly. Not snapping or forceful, but hard enough that she knows I’m not bending on this.
“Ty!” She throws her hands up at me in frustration, and I can tell from the way she’s almost squaring up that this could turn into an actual fight if I don’t explain myself just right.
“Baby,” I step closer, holding her face in my hands, “I can’t let you be around that monster. Ever again. What he did to you… I could kill him. But more than that, I will spend the rest of my lifeprotecting youfrom him. I can’t… I’d never let you be near him willingly. I want to do this for you. I want you to be free of him. Please, Roxie, let me take care of you.”
Her eyes widen as I speak, looking at Asher when I mention that I could kill Mickey, but I pull her gaze back to me.
“Please,cariño, I want to take care of you,” I whisper, holding her forehead to mine.
“Asher would go with you?” she asks softly. And I swear, I fall a little deeper. This fierce woman was just about to deck me because I was going to put myself in danger. And now, after I’ve talked her into letting me go into her perceived danger, she wants to make sure I’ve got back up.
I grin and nod.
“I have to talk him into it,” I admit.
“No, I’ll go,” Asher says, standing up again and dropping his cleaning supplies. He’s practically vibrating with anger. “I’m in. And Ty? Fuck what I said.” He grabs some of his stuff and shoves it into his backpack. “If I see him,I’ll help you hide the body.” Asher nods once.
“Guys,” Roxie says softly, like she doesn’t want to have any trouble, but that ship has sailed.
“Don’t worry,” I pull her into my arms, resting my chin on her head, looking at Asher over the top of her. I know he understands why she’s so nervous when Asher’s eyes widen with fury and his nostrils flare with the intense need to hurt someone.
“Tomorrow, six am,” Asher says angrily, pointing at me aggressively, throwing the words down like I’m the one that would forget. “You guys finish cleaning up and put a sign up on the door saying we’re opening at two thirty tomorrow. I’m going home to sleep before I have to be up at the ass-crack of dawn.”
“Asher!” Roxie pulls back and grabs his hand. “Thank you.”
“I’m not going to let anything happen to my sister,” he says softly, cupping her shoulder before walking off and closing the door behind him.
“I swear to god, if anything happens to you guys,” she says, her voice wobbly as she looks at me in the eye.
“Nothing, and I meannothingis going to happen to us.” I reiterate, the words coming out like a vow because I know that I can promise her that. “No matter what Roxie, you deserve to be free. To never have to do anything you don’t want to do. And I’m going to make it my life’s mission to make sure you are free.”
They say love makes you do crazy things.
Well, I say, love makes you strong enough to do what you need to do.
“Six in the morning, Ty? Really?” Asher groans, stepping into the living room, dressed, but eyes closed like he can’t bear to facethe morning. I don’t blame him. We are night owls by trade. The shop doesn’t open until noon and typically we’re working late into the night, so we aren’t exactly morning people. I already tucked Roxie in under the blankets, kissing her forehead and moving around the room as quietly as possible so I didn’t wake her.
She’s not a heavy sleeper, but I can tell she’s sleeping easier these days and I want her to sleep as much as she can. It makes me beam with pride every time those dark circles under her eyes get a little lighter.
“It’s four hours away,” I mutter, rubbing my hands over my face before moving quickly to the fridge to get my beloved energy drink.
I crack open the can and take a long, cold drink.
Ahhhh, I sigh internally and pull it back, looking at the can like it’s not the same one I drink every day.
“That’s some good shit.” I heard someone say once that a cold energy drink is like a fridge cigarette and I have never understood something more.
“Come on, Ty, we gotta go.” Asher walks over to the cabinet and grabs a granola bar. I pick up Roxie’s helmet off the table, tossing it to him before picking up my own.
“Alright, alright,I really don’t want to do this,” I mutter in Spanish under my breath. Why, you may ask?
