If he’s going to be able to be reintegrated into society or not.
“What the fuck are you doing here, anyway?” Adam asked, sounding pissed as he finally had a chance to interrupt our chat. “How did you get in here?”
There was a long pause as Laric made his way into the darkened room and then took a seat without asking permission.
On the end of my bed.
His hard thigh sat right next to my feet that were surprisingly freezing.
I pressed my toes into his leg, unable to help it.
His eyes met mine, and I almost shrugged. Thank God I was able to stop myself, because seriously, whatever they had me on right now was working, and I was thankful for it.
“They’re cold,” I told him, explaining my weirdness so he wouldn’t move away. “Didn’t realize it until you sat down and let me know.”
His lips twitched as he placed the hand that wasn’t holding the leash to Al—Al who was still by the door, refusing to come any closer than he absolutely had to—and placed it on top of both of my feet.
Man, he had really big hands.
Like, so big that they engulfed both of my feet. It felt like I had my own mini heater.
I liked it.
A lot.
So much so that I missed the first half of Laric’s explanation to my brother, I was so focused on what was happening with my feet.
“…had a doctor appointment, so I thought I’d stop by,” Laric explained.
“Doctor appointment for what?” I found myself asking.
“Baby,” my mother piped in then. “You don’t really…”
“Ummm...” He hesitated. “An eye doctor.”
“They have an eye doctor in the hospital?” I asked curiously.
“Yes,” he answered instantly. “They have nearly everything in this hospital. It’s the only hospital in Kilgore, and with the college where it’s at, there’s really nowhere else for a professional, like an eye doctor, to go but the hospital.”
He did have a point there.
The college was massive and took up quite a bit of the town. And surrounding the college were all the restaurants. From there, there were the thirty grocery stores, and then the hospital.
There really was nowhere else for it to go unless a doctor’s office wanted to be surrounded by a bunch of college students or fast food places.
I yawned, unable to help myself, before I said, “What’s wrong with your eyes?”
He cleared his throat. “I’m color blind.”
I tilted my head. “No shit?”
“No shit,” he answered. “But don’t tell anyone. Especially my father. Nobody knows.”
“Well, you done fucked up,” I said. “Because I can’t keep a secret to save my life. Everyone will know before morning.”
“Really?” He actually looked amused, as if he didn’t believe me.
“Really,” I confirmed.
“Really,” Adam said. “There was this one time that I got home late, way past curfew, and I snuck in. Only, this asshole right here was doing the same thing. We both made it in, but then she tells our parents the next morning that we snuck in. Then we both got grounded for fuckin’ weeks.”
I snickered. “I feel really guilty when I lie. It’s why I try not to do it. I swear, I’ve tried. It just doesn’t work.”
“How about not offering up stuff unless it’s asked for directly?” Laric suggested.
Adam snorted. “That’s physically not possible for her to do. There was another time when she had sex for the first time, and then she told everyone and their brother that she was no longer a virgin. Like, if she didn’t offer that shit up, nobody would’ve ever known.”
My dad made a noise in the back of his throat that sounded a whole lot like distress.
“I didn’t like hearing about this when it happened,” my mother offered. “And I sure the hell don’t want to think about it again years later. It’s just as painful now as it was then.”
Laric started chuckling. “At least you didn’t walk in on it happening. My dad, who I didn’t even realize was my dad at the time, walked straight in while I was learning what the hell a hymen was.”
“Wait…” Adam said. “Who’s your dad?”
There was a long pause then, “Lynnwood Windsor.”
There was a long beat of shocked silence then my dad said, “No shit?”
“No shit.”
I yawned again. “Why do I know who that is?”
“Because he’s like the scariest motherfucker on the planet,” Adam said wistfully. “You think our dad is scary? Dad has nothing on Lynn.”
I hummed. “I’m going home with Laric. If Lynn’s scary, Laric probably inherited some of his scariness.” I paused. “And he’s already proven that he’s more than capable of taking care of me. I’ll bet he can handle a gun just as easily as he can handle blood.”
Before I could say anything else, I fell asleep.
• • •
LARIC
“She says what she wants,” I mused. “And is seriously unapologetic about what she says. I tell you what, being called a bitch by her was literally the highlight of my day.”