“Okay.” I wrung my hands. How would he take care of it? What the hell was going on? Did I even really want to know?
“Hey,” Grease called, grabbing my attention again. “You’re family. Call me Asa.”
When he left, I knocked on Callie’s door and opened it. Rebel was sitting on the floor and Rose was doing something to her toenails.
“Hey,” Callie said from the bed, an E-reader in her hands. “We’re having a spa day.”
“Lockdown is so freaking boring,” Rose mumbled.
“What’re you doing?” I asked curiously, kneeling down beside Reb.
“She doesn’t like the nail polish brush,” Rose informed me.
“Yeah,” I replied dryly. “I know.”
“So Mom and I got some of those nail wrap things,” Rose said easily. “They’re little stickers, and then you put some heat on them and they stay on for like, weeks.”
My breath caught as I watched Rebel sit patiently while Rose set a little sock filled with something on the top of her big toe.
“You can use a hair dryer for this part, but Mom and I thought maybe that would bug her. So we put some rice in one of my old socks and heated it up in the microwave.” She glanced at me. “Looks like it works.”
“Rebel,” I said softly. “Are you getting pretty toes?”
Reb didn’t look at me, but she nodded as she continued to stare at her feet. When Rose pulled the little sock away, Rebel’s big toenail was covered in pink and white stripes.
My baby squealed in excitement, and leaned closer to her foot so she could check it out.
“That’s awesome,” I breathed, smiling at Rose. “Good idea.”
“Lily likes these ’cause she can do them by touch. I just tell her what the pattern is.”
“Seriously?” I asked, glancing up at Callie to find her watching us. “That’s incredible.”
“It took a lot of messed up nails for her to figure it out,” Callie said with a laugh.
“Yeah, and these things are expensive,” Rose grumbled. “We almost had to start panhandling to buy new ones.”
I laughed and leaned back as Rose started on Rebel’s second toe. I wanted to watch her put them on, but I was anxious that Will was going to wake up and not know where we were.
“We can watch her for a bit,” Callie said nonchalantly, looking back at her tablet screen.
“Thanks,” I replied quickly, kissing Rebel’s head before getting to my feet.
I walked quickly back to Will’s room, my head spinning.
The Aces were . . . shit, they were a family. And from what I’d seen so far, they were a good one. They took care of each other. It was clear in the way Grease had talked to me about Will. The way Trix had stopped to make sure I was settling in. The way Callie and Rose had figured out a way for Rebel to decorate her toenails.
Beyond the whole outlaw thing, they weren’t anything like I’d expected.
“Hey, sugar,” Will called groggily as I walked quietly into his room. “Where ya been?”
“Just took Rebel to see your mom,” I said softly, kicking off my shoes.
Will lifted the blankets so I could slide in next to him then tucked them in around me once I was settled.
“Are you okay?” I asked, reaching up to run my fingers through the hair at the side of his head.
“Yeah, baby. I’m good.”
“You didn’t sleep very long.”
“Missed ya when you got outta bed,” he said simply, making my heart flutter.
“I didn’t want Rebel to wake you up.”
“She’s fine in here with us,” he argued. “Rather have both of ya with me, even if I’m tryin’ to sleep.”
“Okay.” I relaxed into his body and tucked my head under his chin. We were quiet for a few minutes, but I knew he wasn’t asleep. “So, I ran into your dad in the hallway,” I said with a small grin.
“Oh, yeah? How’d that go?”
“He told me to call him Asa,” I murmured, my smile growing wider.
“Ah, high praise comin’ from him,” he said with a laugh. “Mean’s you’re part of the family. Don’t even think my Aunt Farrah has ever called him Asa.”
“Really?” I tipped my head back so I could meet Will’s sleepy eyes.
“Yeah, really. Only my mom and my great-gram called him Asa. Everybody else calls him Grease.” He gave me a small smile, but he still had that stark look in his eyes, like . . . well, like I was sure my eyes had.
He looked like someone he’d loved just died.
“Take a nap with me?” he asked wearily, dropping his forehead against mine. “I’m fuckin’ exhausted.”
“Sure,” I mumbled back, reaching to wrap my arm up and over his head like I could cocoon him in with me.
He fall asleep with his breath brushing my face, but I didn’t move. Not for a long time.
I made a decision, and I stuck with it, just like Asa had asked me to.