Sienna’s eyes widened. This girl was tougher than she appeared.
“Jeez, woman. How’d you learn to shoot, or was it by accident?”
Nia giggled. “My father. After my mom died, it was basically just us. My brother took off after he graduated, and I still was in middle school. My dad used to be in the military and had always liked guns, so he started teaching me, and I am pretty darn good at it. I actually beat him every time, and now I’m beating Travis.”
Sienna covered her mouth as she laughed until tears filled her eyes. She wiped her tears away. “I want to learn how to shoot a gun.”
Nia grinned. “You’ll have to ask your daddy.”
“If we get together. Will I ever get used to this lifestyle?”
Nia giggled. “I thought the same thing at first, but I wouldn’t want it any other way. Women like us are just different than the majority of girls our age.”
Sienna nodded. “I never would have thought I’d fit in here. I was always the parent.”
“When my father got sick, I was, too. I think that might be part of it. We’ve been adults our whole lives, so we crave the feeling of being young again.”
Sienna thought about it while she brushed a doll’s hair. “I see that. I had one doll, and it was stolen, and we never had the money to get another one. Besides the books I snuck into the apartment, I wouldn’t have had anything besides watching my mother slowly kill herself.”
“Why did you have to sneak in books?”
“I’m part Latino, and in the neighborhood where I grew up, a woman knew what she was going to be when she grew up, and that was a wife and mother. Latino men didn’t like us to do well in school because it might take us away from them. Hell, we probably wouldn’t have gone to school if it hadn’t been for the law.”
Nia nodded. “I was lucky. My father wanted me to do whatever I wanted to.”
“Hey, are you guys hungry?”
The girls looked over at Travis and Kane standing in the doorway.
Sienna stood, went to Kane, and took the hand he held out to her.
The four sat down at the table. While the guys talked about the business, Nia and Sienna got to know each other better. By the end of the night, Sienna felt like they’d known each other for years.
Kane wrapped an arm around her waist. “Didn’t I tell you it would be okay?”
She wrinkled her nose at him. “Yes, you did. Thank you.”
He bent down and kissed her. “You’re welcome. We talked about you guys spending time together during the day sometimes.”
She grinned. “I’d like that.”
“I want you to get to know some other girls I know you’ll like.”
“Riley has told me about some. I’m excited to meet them. Well, I have to admit a little scared but also excited.”
He grinned. “Let’s go home and get to bed.”