The needle stings as it goes through my skin. I force myself to concentrate on what Winter’s saying and do my best to ignore the sensation. “That surprises me. I would have picked you for the one always getting in trouble.”
He chuckles, and the sound spreads warmth through me. He’s no longer as tense as when he first came on the call. “Yeah, I knew you would have. Max grew out of his bad-boy ways by the time you met him.”
“What was the worst thing you ever got in trouble over?”
“Fuck, the list is long.”
“Oh, I can imagine, but what was the worst thing on it?”
He contemplates that. “It wasn’t the worst thing, but it was the thing I always regretted the most. When I was twelve, I had a crush on the girl next door. Liddy James. Fuck, I was gone on her and she never looked at me. I tried all the things I could think of to get her attention, and still she gave me nothing. One day, in desperation, I came up with a plan I thought was the plan of all plans. I would put chewing gum in her hair and then help her get it out. She would fall in love with me for life once I saved her hair.”
“Oh God, Winter. You didn’t.”
“I did. How the fuck was I to know the only way to get chewing gum out of hair is to cut it? Liddy never forgave me, and Mum grounded me for weeks. Worst fucking plan of my life. Mostly though, I regretted it every day I saw Liddy looking devastated because she had a boy haircut after that. Her hair was down to her ass before I put gum in it. Her mother got it all cut off because she hated dealing with her hair and this was the last straw as far as she was concerned.”
“That’s awful. I hope our daughter doesn’t meet a boy like you.”
“I’ll kick his ass if she does.”
“I mean, it’d be okay if she meets a man like you, because you’re pretty okay, but definitely not a twelve-year-old like you were.”
“Fuck, you only think I’m pretty okay? I need to do some serious work here.”
I laugh. “Baby, you are more than pretty okay. That was a bad choice of words. I think I was still stumbling over what you did to that poor girl. If we have a son, I’m gonna need you to teach him all about girls and the things that actually work to get their attention.”
“Trust me, I’ve got a list a mile long of all the things he should and shouldn’t do.”
“Ooh, I like it. You’ve been taking notes.”
“Angel, at this point, it’s not just notes. It’s a fucking essay. This is tricky fucking business.” His voice softens. “How was the needle? You okay?”
I glance down at my tummy where I’m bruising from all the needles. “It stung a little, but I’m okay.” I meet his gaze again. “Thank you for taking my mind off it.”
“What are your plans for the night?”
“Dinner, a bath, and then I’m going to read in bed for a while. And I don’t have to be at work until lunchtime tomorrow, so I’m hoping for a sleep in.”
“I’ll be with King all day tomorrow, so I’ll give you a call tomorrow night.”
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Later that night, as I’m crawling into bed and running through my gratitude list for the day like I always try to do, I smile as I remember the phone calls with Winter. One was super quick and one was longer, but it doesn’t matter the length, it only matters that we were with each other for whatever time we could get. It reminds me that regardless of whether life gets in the way of the plans we make, we’re a team and will always be there for each other.
10
Winter
* * *
“Was King happy with everything you two lined up?” Ransom asks me late Saturday afternoon when I arrive back in Melbourne after my trip up the coast with King. I’ve dropped into the clubhouse to go over some stuff with Ransom that couldn’t wait. My preference would have been to go straight home to Birdie, but this isn’t information I want to discuss over the phone.
“Yeah. Now we just wait and see if Torres comes through with the coke.”
Ransom nods. He feels the same as King and I do about Javier Torres: fuck knows if we can trust him.
“Axe called me earlier,” I say, shifting the conversation to the reason I’m here. “He’s got a lead on Zenith we need to check out. I want us to do that tomorrow. We’ll take Hunt with us, too. You free?”