Under Locke (62 page)

Someone smacked my ass.

I didn't even have to turn around to see the little boy, probably around five, zipping passed me like there was no tomorrow. "Booty!" he shrieked.

I must have stood there for at least a couple minutes digesting the fact that I'd just gotten fondled by a kid who more than likely still peed in his bed at night.

And the laugh that burst out of me kind of hurt.

It was only natural that I took off running after the little turd.

~ * ~ *

"Uncle! Uncle! UNCLE!" Dean wailed at the top of his lungs, thrashing carefully enough not to kick me. Well, kick me again. He'd already got me in the stomach at least three other times but that was the risk you took when you were tickling the crap out of a little kid. Getting smacked and peed on. I'd take a smack over pee any day.

I dug my fingers into his sides even harder. "What'd you say?"

"RIS! Ris is the master!" he gasped.

"Who's the master?" I laughed, tickling him even more.

Dean thrust his head back, his blonde hair going everywhere. "You! You!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!" he shrieked.

"All right," I laughed, loosening my grip on his sides.

The poor little guy's face was all red but when he managed to get his breathing somewhat under control, he shot me a big, goofy smile. After chasing him around for a couple of minutes, I'd finally grabbed him and spent the next ho
ur
playing with him in the pool. I learned after dunking him in once that apparently, he had an obsession with booties in general.

What the hell do you say to that?

Nothing, that's what.

We'd gone diving for pennies in the shallow end, played Marco Polo with two other girls around his age, and then started the tickling game.

"Again?" he asked, panting.

"Boy, your mom already told you that you needed to get out." I had no clue who his dad was. I didn't even recognize his mom either but the woman kept
mouthing
out her thanks to me each time she'd walked by to check on Dean.

He blew out a fart. "Okay."

I squeezed his sides before leading him over to the steps. Dean stopped on the lowest one and took a quick look around. There were still about ten other people scattered throughout the pool but he didn't find whatever he was looking for because a second later, he'd thrown his arms around my neck in a hug.

"Can we play again another day?" he asked in a quiet voice.

Oh hell, he was going to make me cry. "Any time you want, buddy."

Dean squeezed me for a split second before dropping his arms. "Okay." He looked around again and took a step back, whispering, "Bye, booty girl." And then he was out of the pool and heading toward his mom while I stood there in water that reached my chest where I kneeled, smirking in his direction.

I needed to find out who was his daddy. I'm sure
that
would explain a lot.

Finding myself alone for the first time in an hour, I dog-paddled toward the deeper end where there were less people. But there was someone there, sitting at the edge of the pool, cross-legged and with a look on his face that
was the
child of amusement and affection.

Oh hell.

How could I stay mad at him for things that had been before me? Okay, well, I could if I were a complete jerk but I wasn't. My heart and brain knew that things between us were different and scary. Yet there he was, waiting for me. Brave and sure like always when I happened to run away from him.

"Hi."

"Hi, baby," he greeted me, planting both hands on the edge of the pool.

I clung to the side, holding just my head above the water. "Did you eat?"

He nodded solemnly, touching the tip of his finger to my cheek. "Looked like you were havin' fun."

"I was. Dean's funny."

"Saw him slap your ass." His finger trailed down to outline my jaw. "Think we all saw you runnin' around after him, babe." Dex kept the trail going down the column of my throat. "Everybody heard you two laughin' your asses off."

I gulped.

"Is this thing even a bikini?
”

I nodded.

He didn’t look like he believed me. “I like it, a lot. But maybe not so much in front of all these damn perverts.” Dex scowled for a moment. “And fuckin’ Amy walkin’ around tellin’ people you should be lookin’ for a sugar daddy. I thought I was gonna have to beat the shit outta Wheels when he overheard her.”

“Leave that poor man alone. Why are you always getting into fights with him?”

“Always been like that between us.” A deep line formed between his brows. “Why are you defendin’ him? If you saw the way he looks at you, you wouldn’t be thinkin’ he deserves it.”

I couldn’t help but roll my eyes and groan. What a drama queen. “Oh please. I didn’t think you were old enough to need to get your eyes checked.”

Dex’s eyebrows shot up in glorified indignation. So sensitive! As always, he chose to pick up on the least important thing. “You have no fuckin’ clue do you?” Dex licked his bottom lip. “You get me hard as a fuckin’ rock, honey. ‘Specially
watchin' you with
the kids
for so long
,
" he whispered. "Couldn't keep my eyes off you, neither could he
.
"

Bloody hell.

I tipped my head into him, feeling his fingers stretch to span the side of my neck in a possessive grip. "You ready to get outta there?"

Uh, heck yeah.

"Let me get out from the stairs," I told him, tipping my
head
in the direction where I'd come from.

Dex frowned. "Just get
o
ut from here."

"I can't really..." I sighed
, thinking of the hundreds of times I’d gotten out at the YMCA.
"Because of my arm."

The frown that had been on his face was wiped clean off. Dex got into a crouch, slipping his hands under my arm pits. "I've got you, babe."

He had me up and out of the water before I could argue
with
him about it, both of us on our knees for a moment before he was helping me to my feet. Dex grabbed my hand and led us toward where he'd been sitting before. There were less Widows in the circle by then, a few of them drifting around the yard with their families or eating.

He must have grabbed my bag at some point when I was with Dean because he bent down to pull out my towel. "Gotta get dried off before you get si
c
k," Dex said in a deceptively soft voice.

I looked at the sky. "It's sunny."

He stood up, holding the pale gray towel wide. "Humor me, babe."

It wasn't like I was planning on getting back into the water anyway, so I nodded and let him wrap the towel around my shoulders so tightly it made me feel like a human burrito.

In the blink of an eye, he'd snatched me up before settling onto the chair he'd been sitting in before. Dex nestled me sideways onto his lap, his arms circling me tightly. His lips pressed into my temple. It seemed normal enough to anyone looking at us, but not me. I knew Dex too well. I recognized the possessiveness of his gesture and it'd be a lie if I said that I didn't get a thrill from it.

Luther was sitting in his chair, looking around the yard. Alone.

I let my head rest against Dex's shoulder. "Sorry about earlier."

He hummed, his strong arms tightening. "I get it."

"You do?"

"
Oh yeah
," he said in what sounded like a growl. Was it a growl? I kind of hoped so. Rawr.
“Those boys better pray I never seen ‘em in the flesh.”

“Don’t get your panties in a wad.”
I snickered. "I didn't sleep with either one of them, Dex."

His breath hitched at the same time his grip jerked. "The thought of you...you with...holy fuck, I can't...I can't say it."

Dex was jealous? Jealous?
Holy crap
, I think my ovaries started going into overdrive as he stuttered.

"Thinkin' about you..." he cleared his throat roughly. "You don't gotta worry. I don't like shittin' where I eat."

The blank look I gave him must have been enough for him to understand that I didn't get what exactly he meant.

"Becky was a mistake, Ritz."

I watched him out of the corner of my eye. "Right."

He sighed, his hold becoming more possessive. "You were there that mornin', babe. I had too much to drink the night before
.
"

I had been there the day afterward. The words just kind of flowed out before I could catch them. "Yeah, and you slapped her ass like it wasn't that big of a mistake."

Dex had the decency to
wince. "Can't say I don't wish I could take it back. What's done is done, Ritz. I don't
get shit-faced often
for that reason, babe. Learned my lesson with my pa."

Uh huh. I knew he had a point though. In all the time that I'd known him, and all the nights we'd spent together, he rarely drank more than a few beers. It was definitely never enough that I thought for a second he wasn't completely in total control. The guy was usually more sober than me.

And he was right about his dad. From what I figured, the older Locke was an alcoholic and if Dex knew that... well, he wouldn't want to go down that same road. At all. For a man that seemed to value his control, falling for that stuff must have been hard to swallow.

"And that redhead? Sky?"

He groaned, bouncing his legs beneath me. Dex nipped at my earlobe. “Nothin’ happened with her that night you’re thinkin’ about, babe. Or any other night since you walked into my shop with your sorority girl clothes.”

The question that came out of my mouth wasn’t intentional. I swear, but all these fears that lurked in the recesses of my brain hadn’t gone off to die overnight. A part of me still needed their protection, I guess. “So why did she bring your cut to the shop and say you left it with her?”

“Who the hell knows. My best guess, she was just tryin’ to be a bitch and wanted an excuse to check you out since you were stayin’ with me.”

This sneaky, creepy sensation flooded my stomach with some form of dread…

“You’re the only girl I’ve ever taken home, Ritz. Guess she was jealous I shot her down the times she brought it up.”

I was going to throw up and Dex’s face was my target.

That's it? That's
what
I was going to get?
A stinking confirmation of the
times
in his past that she’d wanted him to take her to his place but he hadn’t?

I guess that's all I genuinely needed and wanted. Did I want details? Hell no.

Hell. No.

Okay, maybe a tiny, sadistic part of me wanted something but that was stupid. Whatever I learned could not be unlearned. No thanks.

I was strong enough to accept the role Dex had carved out for me. He'd told me more than enough times his feelings in a vague but powerful way. I needed to quit being a baby and embrace that. Accept that I knew him better than any other pe
rson
. Could that be enough for me?