“What, like a couple of weeks?”
“No, kid. You can stay forever. I might not be around for all that long anyway.”
“Why? You dying or something?”
I smiled grimly and poured myself another drink.
“Something like that.”
He mulled it over, chewing the inside of his cheek. It was hard not to notice how girlish his looks were. The kid really should have been born a girl, not that I judged people who switched that around later in life. Fuck, it’s their body. They should be happy with it.
I took out my wallet and took out all the money. I had a couple of thousand bucks in there.
“If you need anything, use this. If you want to take off, take this.” I grinned. “That way, you don’t have to rob me.”
I got an incredulous look from those massive blue eyes.
“I don’t steal,” he muttered defensively.
I crossed my arms.
“No judgement, kid. But why else were you in the parking lot late at night?”
“I was looking for a hose.”
“Hose?”
He nodded.
“I wanted a drink of water.”
Man, that hit me like a ton of bricks. Thinking about this kid not even having a sip of water did not sit well with me. He had nothing and no one. Well, from now on, that would change. If he wanted to stick around, he had me.
“You don’t have to go through that again. If you want.”
“Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why are you doing this? If you really aren’t a pervert?”
I smiled.
“I never said I wasn’t a pervert. I’m just not that kind of pervert.” My smiled faded and I took a drink. “Anyway, you remind me of someone.”
“Who?”
I shook my head. I wasn’t ready to open that Pandora’s box. Instead, I grabbed the bottle and my cup and went into my room.
“I’ll pick you up some clothes and a phone tomorrow.”
The kid just stared at me.
“A phone?”
“Yeah. If you need anything, you can text me. Like I said, I’m not home that much.
“Oh. Thanks.”
“Second door on the right is the guest bedroom. Do you know how to make a bed?”
He nodded, looking offended.
“I’m eighteen, not four.”
I ignored that. I’d put him at sixteen at the most. And even that was a stretch unless he was the world’s latest bloomer.
“Linens in the hall closet. It’s the skinny door.” I heard a soft ding. “I think your laundry is done.”
He stood up and finished his whiskey. I noticed he still shuddered the way a girl did when she took a shot. I almost laughed. But then he looked at me and it was like I was seeing him for the first time. No tough guy attitude. No shrugs. No lies. He just looked at me with those huge eyes and that heartbreakingly sweet face.
“Thanks, Shane.”
Chapter Four
Parker
The other shoe is going to drop. It has to. This whole thing is just too good to be true.
I lay on the twin bed in the dark, ignoring the dull pain in my side. The alcohol had done its job, numbing the pain somewhat and giving me a false sense of bravado. Enough to sleep in a stranger’s home, at least.
He’s given me a nice room, I thought.
The bedroom wasn’t big. Just big enough for two twins with a dresser between them. There were wool plaid blankets at the foot of each bed and a small desk by the window. A kid’s room for sure, but for a kid who had lived here in 1950. That kid might be a senior citizen by now.
The place was practically a museum. A really cool one. They didn’t design things the way they used to, if you asked me.
I had to admit, I really liked it. It looked like the kind of cabin I had all over a Pinterest board, back when I took an interest in that kind of thing. Back when I had time to think about the place I might want to live someday. When I had a computer and a safe place to use it.
Before him.
The door had a flimsy lock on it, but I decided not to be paranoid about it. There was no way that it was part of a setup. It wasn’t like Shane knew I was coming, after all. He’d looked as surprised as I was by his offer.
Still, I’d locked the door and wedged the back of the sturdy wooden chair under the knob. I thought about moving the dresser against the door, but I didn’t want Shane to hear me.
Just in case he was as good as he seemed. It didn’t seem possible, but what if it was? I didn’t want to ruin things before he had a chance to prove me wrong.
Because right now, he seemed like a miracle to me.
No one had shown me kindness in so long. Shane was filling a void and making me aware of the void, all at once. I had pretended I didn’t need anyone for a long time now. But I did. And maybe, just maybe, the cranky, beautiful biker in the other room might be it.