“Meh.” Harry shrugged a shoulder.
“Meh?” I scowled, turning my smile down and staring at him hard. “What the fuck does meh mean? You sound likeTate.”
Harry’s smirk rose, his eyes twinkling with mischief before he glanced up at me again and chuckled. “The Hanagans are taking over the Hounds. Who’d have thought it?”
“Not me.” I shook my head, eyes wide as I bounced on my feet again.
“You ain’t Tigger, son. Stand the fuck still for a moment.”
“Harry…” I planted my gloved hands on my hips and turned my full body to him, standing still. “When was the last time you had your dick sucked?”
“About two weeks ago. You?”
I grinned like an idiot at the memories of the night before.
“Oh, fuck off,” Harry spat out, reading my answer without me having to say it. “Is that girl ever off her knees for you?”
I laughed fully that time, throwing my head back and trying to pull in a decent breath. “Oh, I can guarantee you. I’m on my knees more for her than she is for me.”
Harry nodded, his fatherly smile both proud and disgusted as he held my gaze. “Of all the things I’m happiest about in my life, I think seeing you with her is at the top of the list.”
“She’s good for me.”
“She’s not just good for you, Tucker. She’s everything for you. Your dad would be proud. Your mom… hell… that woman would spend all her days crying if she saw you the way I see you now.”
I was about to answer when he started coughing. Not just lightly, but harshly. It came out of nowhere. His deep inhalation followed by the breath getting stuck in his throat and his whole body throwing itself into fighting off the phlegm that was sticking to his chest. He went red within seconds. Hishand beat at his body. His nostrils were flared. His beard was littered with flecks of spit as he wheezed and choked and tried to control himself.
We were all used to seeing Harry coughing by now.
But that morning felt different.
Pushing my gloves off without any fuss, I heard them fall to the floor, but before I even had time to register where they’d landed, I dropped down in front of Harry as he collected his breaths, and I planted my hands on his knees, gripping them tightly.
“What the fuck is going on with you?”
“Jus’ the smokes,” he wheezed, still smacking his chest.
“And the last time you saw Doc?”
“He said I needed to quit.”
I raised a brow and tensed my jaw.
In return, Harry rolled his eyes and held a palm in my face. “I don’t need your shit. I know.”
“You’re scaring me, Rogers, and I don’t scare easily.”
He looked old as I studied him. His skin resembled the leather we all wore every day, and his cheeks had sunk like the reaper on our chests and backs, too. I was the snappy Hound at the side of him, warning anything harmful to back the fuck off, but what good was that? The reaper was always the one in charge. He was the one who decided who lived and who didn’t. I only had to hope Harry wasn’t giving up on me that easily.
“Tucker,” he said through a long, heavy sigh. “We’ve had this discussion so many times—”
“Then don’t you dare make me say it again.”
“I’m fine.” He wafted a hand around. “Just old.”
“You’re not that fucking old, Harry.”
His eyes snapped to mine, his face losing all humor. “In this life, you’re old before the rest of the world, son. You know that. I know that. We’ve both served time, right? We know how that adds ten years to your life with every year you serve. Those beatings… you remember those?”
