An Aces Christmas (The Aces' Sons)

Charlie laughed halfheartedly.

“He’s not answering,” Draco said as he opened the driver side door. “I can just take you guys home and come back for him.”

“Wait,” I said, feeling slightly calmer, knowing that I was hidden in the back seat. “If you drive me home now, Rose will know something’s up.”

“Same if we go to my house,” Charlie said. “Farrah can sniff out drama from a mile away.”

“Alright,” Draco said, getting in the car. “Then we can just hang here for a bit.”

I gave myself permission to lay down in the back of the car and stared at the roof while Draco and Charlie talked in the front seat. They discussed different ways to get the photos deleted, but I know it was a lost cause. There were too many copies and too many people had them. They were out in the world forever now.

“School’s almost out,” Charlie said, leaning over the back seat. “We need to find Curt before he does something stupid.”

The minute the words were out of her mouth, a sense of foreboding hit me so hard that I felt it in my chest.

“Isn’t Travis on the baseball team with you guys?” I asked.

“Aw, fuck,” Draco said, throwing open his door. “Practice starts in ten.”

I pushed my way out of the back seat, exiting on Draco’s side. By the time I reached the trunk of the car, Charlie was leaning inside it, grabbing a baseball bat from one of the boys’ bags. My eyes widened, but I kept my mouth shut as she jerked her head toward the ball fields.

“Don’t go running,” Draco said to me as we strode toward the back of the school. He walked like he didn’t have a care in the world. “No need to draw attention.”

“Everyone’s attention is on me already,” I replied, looking around as the bell rang and kids started trickling out of the school.

“Not for long,” Charlie said darkly. As we walked, she flipped the bat, spinning it over her hand and wrist to catch it again. I’d watched her perfect that trick for years, but it hadn’t ever looked so menacing before. “When it starts,” she said, looking at me, “you stay way the fuck back.”

“What?” I asked, tripping over my own feet. “Wait, what the hell are you going to do?”Chapter 7BrennaPresent

“Hey, handsome,” I called over my shoulder as Dragon walked past the bathroom door. “Everything okay?”

“All good, baby,” he replied, backing up to stand in the doorway. “It all went smooth.”

“How’s he look?” I asked, setting down my makeup brush.

“Pretty much the same as when you saw him last month, I’d imagine,” Dragon replied, bracing his arms against the frame. “Better dressed, now.”

“Funny,” I said flatly.

“He’s good,” Dragon said, giving me a small smile. “Had that wide-eyed look that all of us have when we get out. Like he’s waiting for them to come chasin’ him, tellin’ him they made a mistake.”

“They made a mistake putting him in there in the first place,” I muttered, scooping my makeup and brushes off the counter and into the little basket where I stored them.

“Doesn’t matter now,” Dragon replied calmly. “He went in, did his time, and now it’s over.”

I scoffed. I’d been in this life as long as he had—longer, if we were technical about it—and we both knew that for our grandson, it would never be over. He could move past it, the strong ones did, but he would always be missing the years of his life that he spent behind bars. He’d always remember what it was like in there. The loneliness. The fear that he’d never admit to.

“What time are we supposed to be at Trix’s?” Dragon asked.

“Seven,” I said, glancing at the watch on my wrist. When the doctor had told me that my blood pressure was too high and I needed to get more exercise, the kids had bought me a fancy watch that connected to my phone and measured my heart rate. It was sweet of them, but I didn’t like the bulky thing. I was only wearing it because we’d be seeing the kids later.

“I better hop in the shower, then,” Dragon said, starting to strip right there in the hallway. “You grab me some clothes?”

“You realize I’m in here, right?” I asked in exasperation, watching as he pulled his shirt over his head.

“Looks like you already showered,” he replied, jerking his chin toward the towel wrapped around me as he unbuckled his belt. “Too bad.”

I rolled my eyes, but couldn’t hold back a grin when he was naked.

“Should’ve been here about fifteen minutes sooner,” I told him, moving past him into the hallway.

“Shoulda waited for me,” he countered, reaching under the towel to pinch my ass.

“Then we’d be late,” I called as I went into our room to grab him some clothes.