“I know it looks bad, but it’s complicated. I won’t ask you to lie to the cops, but if you could just not mention Alpha and the others, I’d be really grateful. It’s safer for everyone. I’ll call you when I can, okay? Stay safe. I will.”
She hangs up and sits down on the side of the bed, looking sadly at her phone. “This sucks.”
“Yeah.”
“You’re supposed to cheer me up or something. That’s what people do.”
“You want me to lie to you? Tell you it’ll all go back to normal once things die down? I’m the wrong fucking guy for that.” I get up and grab a new t-shirt out of my saddlebag, pulling that and my jeans on as Faith pretends not to watch.
She puts her glasses on and pushes them up her nose, glaring at me over the rim. “Apparently.”
In theory I agree with Blade that we need to keep our hands off her, but Ripper isn’t wrong either and this morning has definitely shifted my thinking more in line with his. She might be Eagle-eye’s daughter, but she’s a fully grown woman, and no push-over. If she crawls back into my bed for more, I’m not throwing her out.
But sitting there in blood spattered, singed pajamas with… are those bears? I do feel a little guilty, even if we weren’t the ones that started this shitshow. “We’ve gotta get you some clothes. Those teddies are cute and all, but we don’t need to attract any more attention than necessary, and I bet you need girl stuff.”
Faith looks down at herself, like she’s seeing the situation for the first time. “Girl stuff?”
“You know. Frilly shit.” I get up and bang on the door between our rooms, flipping the lock so they can come in. “Wake up assholes. Time to get rolling.”
Ripper and Blade open the door a few moments later. Blade takes a look at the shitty top blanket still on the floor and nods to himself. Ripper sees both pillows on the bed and raises an eyebrow. I shrug. They can come to whatever assumptions they want. I’m not sharing.
Not unless Faith wants to, that is.
The thought of the four of us together sends a reminder to my dick about what Ididn’tget up to this morning. I wonder if she’d be up for leaving the glasses on…
“We called Prez an hour ago to let him know what’s going on. He wants to talk to Faith as soon as it’s safe, but right now the primary goal is getting all of us back to the compound,” Blade says, interrupting my train of thought.
“After we grab food. I’m fucking starving,” Ripper adds.
“Faith needs clothes. She can’t ride in pajamas and those,” I point to the bedraggled pair of bunny slippers she kicked off near the door.
“I don’t know. I kinda like the bears,” Ripper says with a grin. “But I see your point. Me and Grumpy here can go grab some shit for you to wear until you can get out and replace what you lost in the fire.”
“You?” Faith says with more than a dash of skepticism.
“Yeah,me.I have three sisters. Why do you think I ran off to the Army? Just gimme sizes and I’ll do you right.” He winks.
Blade huffs. “I’ll keep an eye on him.”
A half an hour later they’re back with a bag that Faith grabs and runs off with to the bathroom. When she comes out, I can’t help but laugh.
“It’s not funny!”
“It’s a little funny,” Ripper says, and even Blade’s mouth twitches.
Faith pulls at the black baby doll t-shirt with “Ride Me!” and a motorcycle on the front. It might not be what she’d pick out, but it fits good, hugging her breasts just right. The jeans look good, too, but that ass would look good in just about anything. They even got her a jean jacket and a pair of work boots.
“Where’d you find all that?”
“Tractor place down the road.”
“I look like—”
“Cross between a suburban mom and biker chick?” Ripper supplies. “Yeah, it’s a little bland for my tastes, but you won’t stand out too much riding with us and that was the point, right?”
She sighs. “Fine. Let’s get going.”
On the way out the door, Ripper leans in and whispers to me. “The underwear is hot pink and super fucking lacy.”