Emile: Will do.
Placing my cell on the nightstand then crossing my feet at the ankle, I closed my eyes, immediately thought of that picture, and decided to get some sleep.
It was only now that I was away from the hospital that I realized how fucking exhausted I was. How I’d been running on fumes and for so goddamn long that it was almost a relief just to sink into this shitty bed and to sleep. Do dick all else, just to rest and recuperate.
Crazy, right? I wasn’t sick, hadn’t been injured, but I needed R&R too? Whacked.
On the brink of sleep, my cellphone buzzed, and because I’d only allowed incoming calls from Maverick to trigger a notification, I grumbled under my breath and muttered, “What?”
“A Drew McInnen has been registered with Shady Pines.”
I blinked. “Shady Pines? Sounds like a nursing home.”
He grunted. “It ain’t. It’s a rehabilitation center.”
“Kid didn’t need rehab.”
“No, he needed hardcore fucking therapy. That’s what he’s getting.” He hummed. “Mom filed for divorce from the dad too.”
“Interesting.”
“Interesting?”
“He told the kid he was a pussy.”
“Why do guys do that?”
“I dunno. I told Drew that pussies take a pounding.”
“Is that really what he needed to hear?” Maverick drawled, and despite the goddamn ache in my entire fucking being, I had to laugh.
“It worked, didn’t it? No kids were harmed in the making of this new year.”
He sniffed. “True.”
“I’m glad it worked. He was messed up, but he was hurting.”
“Do I wanna know the details?”
“You wouldn’t approve of them. Hell, I don’t think I approve either, but sometimes, a short, sharp shock is what’s needed. Might not be PC, but fuck it. I ain’t exactly PC.”
“You’re more politically correct than most of the Sinners.”
“That don’t say much about my MC.” Snorting at the thought and thinking of the orders I’d sent Mav, I asked, “Speaking of… Harlow. Has he been sworn in as a Prospect yet?”
“Yup. Most of the council didn’t like it.”
“Was Nyx one of the grumblers?”
“Nah. But he’s putting Harlow through his paces.”
“Makes sense. Gotta figure out how he works. See if they can get along.”
“Yup. You coming home?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
‘Get. Out.’
My jaw clenched as those words ricocheted around my head like they were stray bullets.
“Not ready to.”
“Is it because of the funeral?”
“No.”
“Then, why not? Why don’t you want to be with family?”
I did. But the one person who could make me feel fucking better didn’t want to be with me.
Clearing my throat, I rasped, “I’m going to see Wynter.”
“Thought you might while you were down there.”
“Fucking know-it-all.”
“Don't hate on me. Ain’t you glad that I know everything?”
“Suppose.” I huffed. “Rachel okay?”
“Wouldn’t say so.”
I stiffened. “What does that mean?”
“Means she’s concerned about you.”
Something about his tone had me frowning. “What ain’t you saying?”
“Plenty. Like always. You can’t bitch at me for keeping quiet when I’m doing the exact same thing for you.”
I narrowed my eyes at the ceiling. “Asswipe.”
“Fucker.”
“Dipshit.”
“Jerk off.”
I grunted. “I’m going.”
“Before you do, we got the licenses through. Did Rachel tell you?”
“She did.”
“You want me to start the ball rolling with the contractors? Get quotes in?”
“Can do,” I said disinterestedly.
“Ain’t like you not to care, Rex.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him. To share what I’d done. To admit it. Confess all. But I couldn’t. The words were stuck in my throat. Lodged in my chest.
I blew out a breath. “I’ll get over it.”
“Some pains are easier than others to get over. I’m not asking you to get over this, just checking in. Making sure that you know you ain’t alone.”
I knew Maverick had been through hell. So much so that my own pain was minimal by comparison. That he could tell me that spoke of his generosity. His kind spirit.
“I just need some time, Mav.”
“I’ll give you so much rope but I won’t let you hang yourself, Rex.”
The warning had me rolling my eyes. “Who said I was suicidal?”
“No one. Just a saying. I mean it though. You stay away too long, I’ll reel you back in.”
Squinting at nothing, I muttered, “Dicksucker.”
Maverick laughed. “Thought you were gonna insult me for a second.”
My lips curved as I cut the line.
Drew had done as I asked.
I wasn’t going to lie—I was relieved.
When he’d gone to school two days ago, when there hadn’t appeared to be a change in his routine, I’d been fucking scared he was gonna find a gun and go through with it.
Maybe it had helped that I’d planted enough coke on Brandon fucking Cooper to look like he was dealing…
Shady Pines might sound like a place where old people went to fucking die, but if it got the kid over being traumatized, who was I to complain?
Relieved that some innocent brats were gonna be spared, I didn’t need to nap anymore.
I got up, packed my shit together, and shoved it in my saddlebags. I didn’t have much, and most of what I’d bought was from a department store, but it all fit nicely in my packs.
Hauling them over my shoulder, I went to check out. With no one at the reception, I dropped my key in the box, signed the register, then headed over to my bike.
As I stared around the area, grateful that I could get the hell out of this place, I toed the kickstand up then threw my leg over the seat. Settling onto it, I hit the engine, and rolled out of fucking town.
In seventeen years, I hadn’t met Wynter. Not since the day I gave her up for adoption.
I’d wanted to. I’d really fucking wanted to. But my wants didn’t matter. I knew Jeremy and Ally, her adoptive parents, had told her she wasn’t theirs biologically, and I knew Wynter even knew who Rach and I were, but I didn’t think it was fair to intrude on them when all the parenting fell on their shoulders.
That didn’t mean I hadn’t taken an interest in her life though.
I’d attended the swimming gala where she won bronze in the state heats, and I’d even flown out to the hospital when she’d had her tonsils removed four years ago.
She was my kid.
My responsibility.
I paid her way and made sure she was doing well.
Not that that was enough.
By going to visit her now, I knew I was being a selfish bastard.
With her birthday being so close to Dad’s passing, I needed to… Christ, I didn’t know what I needed. It was all a fucking mess, but I just wanted her to know that she mattered.