“Well,” I drawled. “You had me wondering how you were going to find a house in less than twenty-four hours.”
He turned back to the window and sighed. “It’s good to have connections.”
“Those are some good connections to be able to get you into this house.” I was still in awe that we were going to be staying here.
“They’re connections. I wouldn’t put the word good with them.” He dropped his chin to his chest and sighed heavily. “I got so many things going on in my head right now, but all I really want to do is go to sleep.”
“Is there something wrong with you bed?” I laughed.
“It’s only seven o’clock, Willow.”
I chuckled and shook my head. “I promise not to tell all of the guys you went to bed earlier than my grandma.”
It had been a long day, and I couldn’t really blame Slayer for wanting to just pass out. Hell, I knew as soon as Adley fell asleep that I wouldn’t be far behind.
“Not sure if I can really trust you.”
I shrugged and moved to the couch in front of the TV. “Well, you gotta have some trust in me seeing as I’ll be the one to help keep Adley alive.”
“She’s twelve. I don’t think she needs much help to be kept alive. You’re more here to help keep her out of trouble.”
I scoffed and grabbed the remote off the coffee table. It was awfully nice to have the house basically all furnished. It was better furniture than I ever had also, I was curious to know who Slayer’s connections were to be able to score this house. “Have you thought about school?”
“School?” Slayer asked. “What do you mean?”
I shook my head and laughed lightly. “She’s twelve, Slim. You think she’s graduated already?”
“Damn.” Slayer ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. “I didn’t even think about that.”
“Figured.” There were a lot of things Slayer needed to think about, but since he had never even thought about having a kid before, he didn’t know where to start. “Why don’t you pass out for the night and we can start fresh tomorrow.”
“But Adley is—”
I waved my hand at him and cut him off. “She’s had dinner and is just relaxing in her room for the night. I’ll make sure she showers and brushes her teeth before she falls asleep.”
Slayer just stared at me.
“It’s why I’m here, Slay—Slammer.” Jesus. I almost said his real name. I was slipping on being distant. I cleared my throat and carried on. “I’m here to take care of Adley. Go to bed and leave us alone.”
“Fine. You know where my room is, if you need me.”
I nodded and mindlessly flipped through the channels until I heard his door shut upstairs.
Yes, I knew exactly where his room was. Right next to mine.
I had tried to convince Adley to take the one next to her dad, but she had fallen in love with the room at the other end of the hall that had a huge picture window with settee. Also known as the master bedroom.
Slayer was actually in the smallest bedroom, and mine was almost twice as large as his, but Adley’s room was huge. I figured when I left, Slayer could take my room and then they could do something else with the smaller room.
I finally landed on the Hallmark channel, and I settled into the corner of the couch to watch some cheesy Christmas movies.
“Do we have any chips?”
“Holy sweet cheese balls!” I hollered. I slapped my hand over my mouth and tried to calm my breathing.
Adley stood at the end of the couch with a smile on her face. “Sorry.”
“My God. You’re just like your father. I’m going to have to put a bell on both of you.”
How the heck could they move so quietly that I didn’t know they were right next to me?
“Can I have a snack?” Adley asked again.
I glanced at the time on my phone. “We had pizza a little bit ago.”
Adley shrugged. “I’m hungry.”
I guess I couldn’t really argue with that logic. “I heard the kitchen is stocked.” I stood up and headed into the kitchen. “Let’s check it out.”
Adley opened the fridge, and I rummaged through the cabinets.
“Milk, orange juice, butter, tons of veggies and leftover pizza in here,” Adley called.
After opening three cabinets, I hit the jackpot. “Well, well. What do we have here?” I laughed. “Fruit snacks, granola bars, two bags of chips, cashews, ramen noodles, and ice cream cones.”
Adley’s eyes connected with mine, and she smiled wide. “You think since they brought ice cream cones that they bought ice cream?”
“Only one way to find out, girlfriend.”
Adley opened the freezer and squealed. “We have chocolate and mint chip!”
I grabbed the ice cream cones and one bag of chips. “Grab spoons and let’s get to assembling.”
We ended up back on the couch, each of us with an overflowing ice cream cone and a bag of sour cream and onion potato chips between us.
“Should we have asked Slayer if he wanted any?”
I glanced over at Adley. It was weird for her to call him Slayer, but maybe she wasn’t ready to call him dad. It really wasn’t official yet. “Pretty sure he is passed out.” I winked. “Dude can’t hang.”
My cone was halfway gone when Adley decided it was time to ask a few questions.
“So, what is going to happen now?”
Hard questions. Questions that I didn’t have the answer to.
“I, uh, well, you see…” I huffed and took a lick of my ice cream. I needed to gather my thoughts even if the thoughts I had about the question she asked were sparse. “Tomorrow, when we wake up, we’ll have breakfast with your dad and make a plan.”
That was a lame answer.
“Really?” she laughed. “We’re going to figure everything out over eggs and bacon?”
I wrinkled my nose. “I’m not really a fan of eggs, and we don’t have any bacon. It’ll probably be granola bars and milk.”
Now it was Adley’s turn to wrinkle her nose. “Can we add figuring out better breakfasts to the plan?”
I nodded and tapped my ice cream cone against hers. “You betcha.”
*
Chapter Seven
Slayer
“I’m homeschooled.”
Wendy blinked slowly, and I was speechless.
“Come again?” Wendy whispered.
Adley munched on her granola bar and smiled. “My mom homeschooled me. I did everything online.”
“I’m not smart enough to do that.” Wendy buried her head in her hands. “I barely passed math. I am nowhere capable of teaching someone how to multiply fractions or split an atom.”
“Chill out there, Willa-Jo,” I grunted. We were trying to figure out everything with Adley, not freak her out by having a mental breakdown. “If you are homeschooled, what are we supposed to do with you now?”
Okay, so that probably wasn’t any better than what Wendy had just said, but honestly, I knew nothing about homeschooling.
“I’m on break right now. I finished up all of my lessons last week, and my new semester doesn’t start until after the new year.”
Wendy raised her head. “So, I don’t need to be smart right now?”
Adley laughed. “No, but even after the New Year, you won’t have to do much. All my mom did was set everything up for me, and then the rest, I learn from lessons on the computer.”
“What about homework?” Wendy asked. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms. “I think I just got hives from just saying the word homework.”
Adley giggled. “You’ll have to look my work over to make sure it is right, but you’ll have an answer key.”
Wendy exhaled and sat back in her chair. “Praise Jesus. I can totally do that.”
“I have all of my schooling information upstairs in my room. The only thing I am going to need is a computer.” Adley looked down at the table. “Uh, Aunt Ava forgot to pack mine.”<
br />
“Right,” I drawled. That was a line of bullshit Ava had fed Adley. “Getting you a computer isn’t going to be a problem.”
That was going to be the easiest thing to do. If only everything was going to be as simple as running to the store and buying something.
“I don’t need anything fancy,” Adley added. “Mom got me one from a pawn shop that worked well enough.”
Wendy’s eyes darted toward me.
“We’ll get you a new one, Adley. You don’t need to worry about how much things cost.” Adley needed to be a kid, not worry about adult things.
“A used one is fine,” she stressed. “I don’t want you to have to spend money on me.”
Wendy leaned forward and held Adley’s hand. “Doll, if your dad wants to buy you a new computer, I would just go with it,” she replied with a wink.
Adley snatched her hand away. “Please, no. What happens if he isn’t my dad? Then I’m going to have to pay him for it.” She jumped up, and her chair skidded back. “Please don’t buy me anything. I don’t want it.”
Wendy and I were glued to our chairs, both speechless. Adley ran up the stairs, sobbing hysterically, and slammed her bedroom door.
I blinked rapidly and slowly looked around the kitchen. “I have no idea what just happened.”
“Well, I think we just touched on a major issue that Adley may have.” Wendy grabbed her mug and swirled the coffee around.
I leaned forward toward Wendy. “You actually know what just happened?”
All I did was offer to buy Adley a new computer for her schoolwork, and she freaked out like I was trying to force her into prostitution.
Wendy rolled her eyes. “You are such a man, Squiddy.”
She stood up.
I held up my hand. “Where are you going?” I just had Adley storm out of the kitchen, I didn’t need Wendy following suit.
She held up her coffee cup. “I need a refill. That okay with you?”
I held up my hands. “Only if you pour me a cup and explain to me what just happened.”
She grabbed my empty cup and stuck it under the coffee maker. “Adley’s last computer was from a pawn shop. You know what that means?”
If I knew what it meant then I wouldn’t be sitting here clueless as fuck. “Uh, not a clue.”
Wendy huffed and grabbed a coffee pod. “It means her mom didn’t have a lot of money.”
Well, sure. I guess that’s what that meant. “Again, I have no idea what that has to do with Adley storming off.”
“Let me gather my thoughts for a second because there are two things going on and I gotta figure out how to say them so you’ll understand.”
This was what it was going to be like living with two girls. Going from living with a bunch of guys to two chicks was going to be a huge change that I wasn’t so sure I was ready for. I pulled my phone out to see Wrecker had messaged me sometime between Adley storming off and now.
Church in an hour.
The timestamp on the message was from five minutes ago.
Wendy had about five minutes to get her thoughts organized and then about thirty minutes to explain whatever the hell was going on.
I watched as she brewed two cups of coffee, set one in front of me, and then dumped a shit-ton of milk into her cup.
“You want a little coffee with your milk?” I chuckled.
She flipped me off and sat back down at the table. “I normally use vanilla creamer but had to improvise this morning.”
“Drink it black, and then, you won’t ever have to improvise.”
She sipped her coffee and glared at me.
“You got those thoughts organized in your head? I do have somewhere I need to be in about an hour.”
“Is fathering your daughter getting in the way of your social life?” she snapped.
“You know, I don’t think I gave you time to gather your thoughts. I think I gave you time to get sassy.”
Wendy rolled her eyes. “Maybe I’ll just keep my thoughts to myself and let you figure everything out on your own.”
“You do that a lot around me.”
“I do what a lot?” she asked.
I casually sipped my coffee and made her wait for me to “gather my thoughts.” “Roll your eyes, sugar.”
She scoffed and sat back in her chair. “Tell me something I don’t know. You and my family make me roll my eyes the most.”
“Now tell me what the hell is going on with Adley.”
She held up two fingers. “There are two things going on with Adley. Well, there are probably more than that, but the two things that you need to deal with right now are she more than likely didn’t have much before coming to live here, and she’s worried you might not be her dad.”
“The first thing doesn’t matter. That’s in the past. If I want to buy her a brand new computer and all new clothes I can.”
Wendy held up her hand. “Are you trying to make me roll my eyes now?”
“And I’m also worried I might not be her dad. The only way to figure out if I am is get the damn paternity test done.”
“What happens if you’re not her dad?” Wendy asked.
That was the one question I did not have the answer to.
Send her back to live with her aunt who doesn’t want her?
What else was I supposed to do it that happened?
“There’s a letter. A letter Adley’s mom wrote, and it just sounds like there isn’t anyone else that could be her father.”
“You mean…” Wendy trailed off.
“Yeah, I mean I was the only one she was with. Ever.”
“Ever?” Wendy gasped.
Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. “Ever as in before she got pregnant. It was only me.”
“Ohh,” Wendy marveled. “I’m totally on the same page as you now.”
Were we? “Anyway, I just don’t know how her mom could be wrong or why she would lie about something like this.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re not shying away from this or acting like there isn’t a possibility that you’re her dad.”
“So what do I do about what just happened?”
Wendy shrugged. “Honestly? There really isn’t anything you can do to fix her fears other than get the test done and give her the results.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket and typed for a few seconds. “Let me Google to see how long something like this takes.”
“Really, sugar?”
Her eyes connected with mine. “Yes, really. I’m a millennial. This is what I do. Google something, take what it says to heart, and then worry about it until I actually get the right answer in life.” She turned her phone towards me and smiled. “Says here once it gets to the lab it should only take three to five days.”
“But how long does it take to get to the lab?”
“One second,” she mumbled. She turned the phone back towards her and typed again. “Bingo,” she sang. She turned the phone back to me, and there were search results for hospitals and labs in the area. “I say we go with the second one. It’s an independent lab that’s only half an hour away.”
“And they’re accurate?” I squinted at her phone and tried to read the name of the place.
She snatched her phone away. “Just let me click on the reviews real quick.” She pursed her lips as she read. “Well,” she drawled. “There are mostly five and four star reviews. The few one star reviews are basically disgruntled people who didn’t get the results that they were hoping for.”
“We’re really gonna pick this place off of your phone?”
She set her phone down and smiled. “Yes. Yes we are, because I don’t know how else you planned on doing this.”
I didn’t have a plan. I just felt making a huge decision like this should be more of a dramatic doing than Wendy just typing on her phone and showing me an address. “Okay.”
She obviously had a better grasp of what needed to be done than I did. She had the luxury of none of this involving her personally so she could step ba
ck and see things better.
“So that’s decided, then.” Wendy grabbed her coffee and stood up. “Now, you go wherever you need to go, and I’m going to hang out with Adley for the day.”
“Wait? What?”
“Bring home some dinner, would you? Maybe fried chicken.” Wendy breezed out of the kitchen and jogged up the stairs.
I stared into my cup of coffee and was once again wondering what in the hell just happened. Things were being decided so quickly, and I just felt I needed more time to wrap my head around them before we moved onto the next thing.
Life was moving at warp speed, and I was sinking in quicksand.
*
Wendy
“I don’t want to talk.”
I rested my hand on Adley’s closed door and sighed. “Your dad has some stuff he needs to do. He’s leaving in a little bit.”
“Fine,” Adley called.
“If you need anything I’ll be down in the living room.”
“I’m fine. I don’t need anything.”
Part of me was relieved that Adley didn’t want to talk. There had been so much talking the past couple of days that I was totally okay with silence.
“Just holler if you need me, doll.”
Adley didn’t reply, but I hoped she knew that I really was there for her if she needed me.
*
Chapter Seven
Slayer
“How’d the night go?”
I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and twisted the cap off. “It was fine.”
Pipe leaned against the bar. “What’d you guys do?”
I racked my mind for something to say but nothing came to mind. “The usual.”
Pipe chuckled. “The usual? How the hell do you have a usual in a new house?”
I took a swig of water and shrugged.
“There’s the new daddy.” Nickel walked over to the kitchen counter and grabbed an apple. “How was the first night in the new house?”
Jesus. Who would have known everyone was going to be so interested in what my night was like.
“He said it was like the usual.” Pipe smiled wide and clicked his tongue.
“Usual?” Nickel asked. “Man, I wish like hell I had a usual night with Cole. Something different is always happening.”
Slayer (Fallen Lords MC Book 8) Page 5
