I shrugged. “I’m not sure. Becca’s dad is a cop back in Maryland, so he’s all over it. It was all I could do to stop him from driving down here last night.” I was actually flattered that he’d trusted me enough to stay put. Take care of our girl, Carson. As if I wasn’t already planning to do that. I wondered what he would think if he knew just how much I wanted to take care of her.
Christ. The man had a gun. As much as he liked me, I was sure he wouldn’t approve of me for his daughter.
“I wouldn’t blame him if he did,” Jake commented. “I’d do the same if something like that happened to Ash or Em.” Even though Jake had had custody of his siblings for months, I still wasn’t used to him playing the fatherly role. He would be the first to tell me it wasn’t like that, that he was still solidly their brother and not their parent, but I didn’t see it that way.
“It wasn’t targeted or anything,” I said. “I don’t know if that’s better or worse. The cop thinks the guy was looking for signs of empty apartments, and Becca’s roommate had left a few hours earlier with a suitcase.”
Jake rubbed his chin. “I should probably tell the kids about this so they’ll take extra precautions, but they’ve already been hitting me up for a dog.”
“Dogs are good protection,” Wyatt said.
“I know, and they know that too. Trust me. They’ve already hit me up with a bulleted list of why we need one.” Jake sighed. “I swear I’m the one in charge of those girls and not the other way around.”
Laughing, I clapped him on the back. “Keep telling yourself that.”
I headed home, and as soon as I opened the door to my house, the smell of pizza hit me. Hell yeah. I’d bought chicken and other healthy shit at the store earlier, but that required cooking and frankly didn’t taste as good. I really needed to get my diet back in check. I didn’t plan to go all crazy with macrocounting ape shit like Wyatt had, but maybe not eat so much junk.
Tomorrow. I would start eating better tomorrow.
I spread my mouth into the smile that had once been called panty-dropping by a girl I’d dated. “Hello, ladies. Miss me?”
Nicole’s eyes widened a bit, making me realize she wasn’t used to guys flirting with her. I didn’t know her well, but she’d seemed like a good girl the night we’d all hung out. I’d thought something might be happening between her and Jimmy, but nope.
“Oh, were you gone?” Becca grinned. “I hadn’t even noticed my warden was missing.” Her accusatory gaze slid over to Nicole.
She put her hands up. “What can I say? He scares me a lot more than you do.” Yup. I definitely like her.
Becca crossed her arms. “I just wanted to go for a walk, not run a marathon.”
“You’re skinny but not light enough for me to carry your butt if you pass out.” Nicole looked at me for support, and I nodded in approval. Becca might be going stir-crazy, but it wouldn’t kill her to take it easy.
“Don’t worry, though. I can carry you,” I said with heroic flair. “Give me a minute to eat, and then we can walk.”
“There you go. Your knight in shining armor has arrived.” Nicole stood and gathered her stuff. “Will you be back to class tomorrow?”
“No,” I answered for her.
Becca’s face twisted. “What? You’re not the boss of me.” That was totally a tween thing to say and a sure sign that Becca was hitting rock bottom. Too bad I wasn’t going to cave.
“Forty-eight hours. That’s how long you need to lie low.” I would prefer that she take an entire week off, but I would feel good if I managed to get her to rest for two days. Becca wasn’t really good at relaxing. Even as a kid, she was always doing something.
“You aren’t doing yourself any favors if you don’t allow your body to heal,” Nicole said gently in contrast to my tough love. Good cop, bad cop. Becca should be familiar with the tactic.
She sighed. “I know. This sucks.”
Nicole flashed a tight, commiserating smile. “Text me if you need me.”
I quickly scarfed down two slices of pizza and grabbed a third one to eat while we walked. Becca was waiting for me by the front door, impatiently tapping her foot. No, my girl does not relax well.
There wasn’t a good place to walk in my townhouse community, so we settled for trekking around the sidewalks that ran in front of the homes. It worked well enough to burn off Becca’s nervous energy. Once we got home, though, it was back to resting.
Grumbling, she settled on the couch. “I’ve watched more TV in the past twenty-four hours than I have in the past twenty-four days.”
“Then let’s do something else. Want to play a game?”
“Like Monopoly?”
“Sure.”
“Do you even have any board games?”
“Not exactly.” I grabbed my PlayStation remote. “But this is almost as good.” It only took a few minutes to find the game and download it.
“I want to be the car,” Becca said immediately.
“Damn,” I muttered. I hadn’t played in years, but I was always the car. I settled for the dog instead. It probably didn’t matter either way. I always got my ass whipped in Monopoly. The game took too long, and I usually got bored with it before the end. My family hadn’t done a lot of things together when I was a kid, but playing Monopoly had been one of them. It was right in my father’s wheelhouse, and my mother enjoyed the cutthroat aspect of it. My sister excelled at just about everything, and Monopoly was no different. I, on the other hand, sucked at it. Part of it was that I’d been too young, and my parents were unyielding when it came to helping me. They weren’t the sort of parents who let their kids win.
“Shit,” Becca said suddenly. “I never proofed that assignment for you. Wasn’t it due today?”
“I already submitted it.” Even though I hadn’t gone to class, I was still able to turn it in through the online portal. I was fairly certain it was good enough to get a passing grade. Probably.
“Sorry,” she said.
I shrugged. “It’s no big deal.” I wished I didn’t need her help, but writing did not come easily for me. “It’s your turn.”
She rolled the electronic dice, and her pawn moved to Oriental Avenue. “How do I buy it?”
“Here.” I pointed to the button on her control. Next it was my turn, and sure enough, I landed on her property. Story of my life. I should have suggested another game. It figured that she would like this one because she actually fit in with my family better than I did. My parents had always been impressed with her intelligence and drive. I didn’t hold that against her because, hell, it impressed me too.
Becca laughed. “Pay up.”
By the time our pawns made it around the board for the fourth time, Becca had curled up next to me and laid her head on my shoulder. “I don’t know why I’m tired. I barely did anything today.”
It could be that neither of us had gotten much sleep last night on account of me waking her up every hour, but I wasn’t going to remind her of that. She was pissed about it enough already.
“It’s the concussion,” I said. “You should go to bed.”