Fuck. For your sake, I hope she’s hot.
Jayden didn’t reply. For some reason, he didn’t like the thought of Wyatt or any other Barbarian looking at Tammy and thinking she was hot. She was too fragile for that sort of attention from rough and tough bikers.
Damn it! Wasn’t that exactly what he was? The very thing he was doing.
Needing air, he stepped out onto the porch and stared at the waves. They were big today, rolling in with gusto. He pulled in a deep breath laced with salt. The ocean had always calmed him.
He’d been stupid back there in the kitchen, holding her like that, thinking of her in that way. Allowing lust to lock hisarms in place.
Tammy wasn’t ready for any of that. Chances were she’d never be ready for the likes of him—an inked, chain-smoking, gun-wielding killer.
Killer.
“Come on, Zak. Get your skates on.” Tammy came out of the door, holding the key and Zak’s school bag which hadZAK ROCKETwritten on it, the new name he’d decided upon and the principal had gone along with after a chat with Brooklyn—who apparently could be very persuasive.
“But, Mommy, I don’t have any skates.”
“It’s just an expression, hurry up.” She ushered Zak out of the door, locked it, and then smiled at Jayden. “You coming with us again today?”
“Sure am.” He checked his gun in the small of his back. Habit. Then he followed her to the sidewalk.
As they walked, Zak talked about a new friend he’d made named Caleb. Caleb was funny and liked soccer and LEGOs, and he also had a cell phone.
“At six years old?” Tammy said.
“Yes, Mommy. Can I have one?”
“No.”
“No.”
Jayden had said the word at the same time as Tammy and in the same definite tone.
She looked up at him, surprised.
Surprised that I feel I have a say in what Zak can have?
Or surprised I have an opinion on kids and cell phones?
Jayden didn’t know. What he did know was six was way too young to have your face in a screen. He pulled his cigarettes from this pocket and sparked up.
They carried on walking. Zak talked about a book he was reading with his teacher about a flea on a dog. The kid could talk.Jayden would give him that. Whatever he’d been through, and the shit he’d seen and heard, it hadn’t affected his ability to talk and talk.
When they reached the school—the street, fence, and entrance familiar to Jayden—he held back, beneath a tree. Tammy kept walking onto school grounds, kissed Zak, and watched him head into the care of his teacher.
Jayden didn’t know what her prick of an ex looked like, but still, he scanned the area. Did anyone look out of place? Shifty? Didn’t have a kid?
No, it was just moms and a few dads dropping children off in a flurry of activity with bags and lunches and gym shoes being pressed into small arms. He remembered mooching through the doors with Carter and Wyatt. They were often late but didn’t care. School hadn’t been their favorite thing, a necessity to keep social from the compound gate, and they’d all left as soon as they could get away with it.
Tammy walked toward him, winding her hands together and her mouth a worried line.
“He’s safe in there,” Jayden said.
“Yeah, I know, it’s just…”
“You like having him close, right?”
“Yes, but I know that’s not practical. And I also want him to start feeling like a normal kid.”