Ask Me If I Care (SWAT Generation 2.0 4)

He thought I got this job because of who my father was. He liked to point out that the only reason I was hired was because my dad was a smooth talker and had passed his skills on to me.

Which he hadn’t.

But Bailey liked to think that he was right, so I never bothered to correct him.

I rolled my eyes at his retreating back.

Once he was in his office with the door closed, I turned to Mrs. Teague and said, “What class is Abilene in?”

I heard Boz and Hayes chuckle behind me, causing me to shoot them a grin over my shoulder.

Mrs. Teague only shook her head and gave me directions.

“So I don’t get in too much trouble,” I said, “I’ll go get her and bring her to you. Is that okay?”

Boston grinned. “Perfectly.”

Abilene looked nauseated when I pulled her out of class. Even more so when I told her to grab her stuff.

A couple of the boys who were in her class gave her ‘ohhh, someone’s in trouble’ comments, but mostly they all watched her go in silence.

I silenced the ones that gave her the comments with just a glance, causing Abilene to quietly thank me after we were walking away.

“Boys are jerks,” I told her teasingly. “I…”

Whatever I was saying was inconsequential in that moment in time because the moment we rounded the corner of the hallway, Abilene saw her brother standing there.

She dropped her backpack and started to run, straight into her brother’s arms.

After picking up Abilene’s discarded backpack, I put it to one shoulder and kept walking until I was standing next to Hayes.

We stayed there for a good ten minutes until the bell rang, and then Boz dropped his sister to the floor with a smile and turned to me.

“Thanks, Ares,” he said softly. “That meant the world to me.”

I winked and handed Abilene over her backpack. “Now, before you’re bombarded with kiddos wanting to know what’s going on, I suggest y’all leave.”

Boston winked at me, causing Hayes to pull me into his chest with his arm around my shoulders.

“Y’all have a good one,” he said.

Abilene gave a tiny wave.

But for once, she didn’t look sad at all.

She looked well and truly happy.

All the while, Principal Bailey watched out of his clear office door as the reunion took place. Not one single smile graced his face.Chapter 13This is not dog hair. It’s canine confetti.

-T-shirt

Hayes

“Where are we going?” I asked for what felt like the thirteenth time.

Ares sighed. “It’s. A. Surprise.”

She’d said that each time, but I decided that she was finally getting irritated.

“But why won’t you tell me?” I asked.

I was a man that liked to plan—no, needed to plan. I needed to know where I was going, what I was getting myself in to.

Turning her head, she studied my face, finally realizing that what I was feeling wasn’t normal.

“I’m going to a dog kennel to look at a dog,” she told me. “It’s about twenty minutes outside of Kilgore. Two sisters own the kennel. One trains the dogs, while the other does something that I haven’t figured out yet. Though, you know both of them, not necessarily well, but by association.”

I frowned. “Who?”

“The Dottirs. Actually, they’re Davidsdottirs, but they’re known as the Dottirs for short. Booth and Bourne’s twin love interests. Delanie and Dillan,” she answered.

Understanding dawned.

“Booth mentioned once about Delanie owning a kennel,” I admitted. “Though, the dog that they were talking about was a frou-frou dog, so I didn’t really think about their line of work after that. Are you getting a frou-frou dog?”

She shook her head. “No. I’m not getting a frou-frou dog.”

She went silent after that, and I wasn’t sure if I’d offended her with my comment, or if she was still pissy with me over not having talked to her in so long.

Probably both.

“Ares,” I said softly. “I’m… I’m fucked up.”

She looked at me, not saying a word.

I kept my eyes on the road.

“I’m not even going to pretend that I have it all together. Because I don’t,” I continued. “I obviously freak out over fucking fireworks. But that’s not all. I freak out over a lot of shit. Cars parked on the side of the road. When I was captured…let’s just say I’m now overly paranoid, even though I know that each person that I see probably isn’t someone out to take me prisoner and hold me there for months. But my mind can’t separate that out.”

Still she didn’t say anything.

“I don’t do crowds well. Sudden movements. The reason we had to sit in the back room the other day for our team dinner was partially because of me. I don’t do well out in the open. There are just too many possibilities,” I continued.

Ares started to bite the corner of one cuticle.

“It’s embarrassing as fuck, okay?” I said. “I… you witnessing that was so fucking embarrassing. I’m a broken, discarded man who’s trying to fight his way back but is having trouble integrating back into society. I’m getting there…just not fast.”