Desperately, I glanced at Carter’s wet hazel eyes, my heart rocketing hard. “Carter…just jump.” I roughly calculated the distance to where he was about to land when he’d jump, positioned myself there and spread my arms in the rain. “I’m gonna catch you.”
“Jump?” Carter asked, the men on the roof mumbling I was crazy.
I silenced the men with one pointed look. Then I focused only on Carter, the rain dripping over my hair and face. “Yes, baby. Don’t be afraid. I’m right here.”
Something I wished I’d had a chance to say to my sister, my friend, my own baby that would have been just as cute and adorable and innocent as this little boy.
Carter let go of the pole that snapped the next instant, and everything moved in slow motion and at light speed at the same time.
He landed safely in my arms, and I screamed at the shattering pain under the cast. The next thing I saw was ropes flying off the scaffolds and poles, inclining and collapsing, about to hit us in the head.
I held carter tightly and twisted, shielding him with my body as I jumped in the air to the side as far as possible from the falling poles. I shut my eyes, preparing myself for the coming pain. The seconds seemed to be never-ending as I waited to hit the ground.
Finally, I hit a surface. Then everything went black.
CHAPTER 34
Cameron
“I’m fine. You go check on Carter,” I told Owl as he laid me on a table in a dark room, an X-ray machine next to me.
I didn’t know when Owl had arrived or placed the mattress on the ground down the porch. But I was thankful he did it just in time. Even though the scaffolds barely touched Carter as I rolled us over, without the mattress, my weight and the impact of the fall could have caused serious damages to Carter’s tiny body.
Owl ignored what I’d said and kept positioning me for scanning. “He’s perfectly fine. Not a scratch, thanks to you. It’s your head and arm that I’m worried about.”
My head pulsed with a hollow echo, and shooting pain seared my arm. I sighed, rolling on my side. “Did you see Dusty’s bike when you were parking yours?”
“No, princess. He’s not here yet.” He repositioned the machine head. “Stay still.”
“Can we not tell him about what happened?” I chanced.
He snorted.
It was worth the shot. “It’s your ass I’m worried about.”
“I deserve whatever he does to me.” His voice went all bleak. “Now stop talking and stay still.”
When I got out of the dark room, I realized I was on the upper floor of the clubhouse. Skid, another redhead and Carter gathered downstairs.
“Cameron!” the boy squealed and ran up the stairs, and then he flung his arms around my knees in the most adorable of hugs. I squatted to wrap my good arm around him. He buried his head in my shoulder.
My heart fluttered. I couldn’t help kissing his little head and rubbing it playfully. When I looked up, his father was there.
I lifted myself up, my whole body sore. At full height, my head was at the level of Skid’s upper arm, not even his shoulder. He had long, red hair, but his face was shaved. His eyes the color of honey. His nose crooked. His lips…distracting.
Damn men with cuts.
They were menacing and ugly yet attractive. Always had sexy fucking something that distracted from their truth.
He opened his mouth, and I noticed he had a couple of molars missing, and the rest of his teeth were crooked like the nose. But I was sure any other girl wouldn’t even see any of that when she laid eyes on those lips.
“Thank you for saving my boy,” he said.
“Of course.”
“Church!”
My head jerked at Dusty’s voice that boomed from downstairs. He was standing at the entrance with a big, bald man, his eyes fuming at me, a cigarette dangling from his mouth.