“Boyo, you sure you wanna go there? You need to think this through,” Poet warned in a low voice, further confusing me. “Even if she’s yours, accidents fuckin’ happen. She’d still need to go north, if not to the compound then at least to Sac where we’ve got boys.”

“I’m fuckin’ sure,” he answered, his words almost echoing in the silence of the room. It was then that I understood that something big was happening, even if I wasn’t sure yet what it was. Asa had used a swear word without once apologizing to my Gram.

He didn’t sound like my Asa.

He sounded like the man they called Grease.

Chapter 13

Grease

Callie was practically falling asleep at the table after dinner, but refused to go to bed no matter how much Rose bitched at her. It was kind of cute how she squeezed her lips into a stubborn line and refused to leave my side, but her eyes were so swollen and red from crying all day that it looked painful to blink. I was trying to figure out how I could get her to go to bed when Poet cleared his throat from across the table and motioned with his head for me to follow him outside. Problem solved. I thought maybe if I wasn’t sitting right next to her, she’d at least get some pajamas on. Shit, did I even pack her pajamas? I stood up from the table, putting my hand on Callie’s shoulder when she tried to follow me.

“You stay here, sweetheart,” I told her as I shook my head. Shit, she was looking at me like I’d kicked her. I wasn’t sure how to keep her from freaking out—she looked like she was ready to climb me like a tree again—so I pulled her chair out and crouched down in front of her. Her hands were folded in her lap, and looking down I could see that her knuckles had turned white from how tight she was gripping them. Poor baby. It was going to take a long fucking time before she felt secure, if she ever did again.

“Gotta talk to Poet for a minute—you go get ready for bed and I’ll be back in a couple minutes, yeah?” I told her softly, rubbing her cheek with my thumb. She wasn’t wearing any makeup, and for the first time I saw that she had a few little zits on her chin. For some reason that little imperfection, a sign of her age, made her even sexier. “Go get ready for bed, baby,” I repeated, watching her face until she gave a little nod.

Outside with Poet, I pulled a pack of smokes from my pocket and lit one up. I loved the first scent, that first deep inhale of a freshly lit cigarette. There wasn’t anything better. Poet was standing at the end of the trailer, leaning against the metal siding while he smoked his own cigarette, and I braced myself as I walked toward him. He wasn’t pissed, I could tell that much, but he also wasn’t happy with what was going down. Before I even reached him, he started speaking.

“That little girl is beautiful, I’ll give you that,” he told me with a nod, not even looking in my direction.

“It’s not about that. But yeah, she is.” I wasn’t sure where he was going with the conversation, but I didn’t want him to think my decision was about ass. I wasn’t sure why I felt the need to take care of her, but it went far beyond trying to get in her pants.

“You’re young, boy. You got your whole life ahead of ya, and so does that girl in there,” he rumbled, and by the tone of his voice I knew to keep my mouth shut because he was just getting started. “Girl’s not even seventeen years old. I know she’s got some sort of savior complex going on, and I get it. It’s not uncommon; I’ve had to deal with that shit a few times in my life. But changing your life for her, claiming her when shit’s out of control the way it is—it’s not gonna end well. She’s gonna get over this. She’s gonna move on with her life, and where’s that gonna leave you?”

“I don’t know,” I replied quietly, his words something I’d thought of already.

“You’re an adult. I’m not gonna tell you what to do, I just want you to think with something other than your dick for two seconds and tell me where you think this is going.”

“Can’t explain it, Poet. There’s something about her. I know she’s young, and shit is insane for her right now—”

“She’s not the only one who’s young, boyo.”

“I know that, too. But whatever the fuck this is, it’s strong. She’s mine. She’s been mine since she crawled across the floor and grabbed a hold of me at that party. It just is.” I had a hard time explaining what was going through my head because I couldn’t even figure that shit out. I wanted to take care of her, and as fucked up as it was, I wanted her to need me.

“Brenna’s mom wasn’t much older than Callie when we hooked up,” he mumbled, looking up at the sky. “I knew she was too young for me, but fuck, when she looked at me I felt like a fuckin’ superhero. So I took her, in more ways than one. I soaked that shit up, reveled in it. She wasn’t the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen, but fuck, the way she looked at me?” he shook his head. “It was like nothing I’d ever had before. So I get it. What you’re doing. Just be careful, yeah? Woman like that’s got the power to fuck up your life.”

“Not sure how careful I can be,” I admitted, putting out my smoke on the bottom of my boot.

“Yeah.” He paused for a moment before casually putting out his cigarette with his fingertips. Fucking crazy bastard. “How the hell did you get into her house? I figured cops would be swarming the place.”