Own the Wind (Chaos #1)(15)
If that was a song from the show, it f**king had to be.
She pressed closer. “I dreamed a dream, Shy.”
“You’ll dream more dreams, baby.”
“I’ll never dream,” she whispered, her voice lost, tragic.
“We’ll get you to a dream, honey,” he promised, pulling her closer.
She pressed in, and he listened as her breath evened out, felt as her body slid into sleep, all the while thinking her hair smelled phenomenal.
Shy turned into her, trapping her little body under his and muttering, “We’ll get you to a dream.”
Tabby held his hand in her sleep.
Shy held her but didn’t sleep.
The sun kissed the sky and Shy’s eyes closed.
When he opened them, she was gone.
Chapter Two
Waking Up in His Arms
Six weeks later…
The bell to my apartment rang and, standing in front of my mirror in the bathroom, I jumped.
Dad and Tyra were there to take me to the hog roast.
It was time, according to Dad, that I got back into life. I wasn’t so sure but Dad was, and when Dad was sure about something, well… you got yourself together and hauled yourself to a hog roast.
I stared at myself in the mirror, seeing my hair out to there, more makeup than I usually wore, a sweet long-sleeved Harley tee I bought just last weekend, the first I’d bought or worn in ages, faded jeans that fit great, and a fabulous belt. I couldn’t see them in the mirror but I also had on high, spike-heeled boots that I usually wore under smart skirts.
Nice.
Stupid!
I looked awesome, so awesome even I could say I looked awesome.
It was still stupid.
The bell rang again and there was a knock following it but I couldn’t move. I just stood there, staring at myself in the mirror, wondering what the hell I was doing.
I heard the door open and I knew Tyra had used her key.
“Tabby, honey, are you here?” I heard her call, and I tried to get my feet to move but I just stood, frozen in front of the mirror. “Tab, you here?” she yelled.
She was closer, moving into my bedroom, I could tell.
My feet finally moved, taking me out of the bathroom and into the bedroom.
There she was, thick, lush, shining auburn hair and lots of it, great figure even after two kids, Tyra Allen, my friend, my saving grace years ago.
My stepmom.
The instant her green eyes hit me, they got wide and a smile spread on her gorgeous face.
“Wow, honey, you look great.”
See? I looked great.
I was still stupid.
I knew what she saw. For months, I went through the motions of life but I put no effort into it. I got up and went to work, came home, and tried to sleep. I hung with the family and pretended everything was fine but they knew it was all a show.
Especially Dad.
Kane Allen, known as Tack to everyone but Dad to me, was far from dumb, which was cool most of the time but wasn’t when I was trying to pull the wool, something which I never, not in my life, succeeded in doing with my Dad.
“I messed up,” I declared and watched Tyra blink.
“Pardon?” she asked.
“I messed up,” I repeated.
“How did you mess up?” she asked.
“I slept with Shy.”
She didn’t blink then. Her eyes got so wide I thought they’d bug out of her head.
She rallied quickly, stuck her hand in her back pocket and pulled out her phone. She jabbed it with her finger and put it to her ear.
“Tack, honey, go on without us,” she said into her phone. “Tabby and I’ll take her car and meet you there later.” She paused, then, “I don’t know yet, but she and I have to talk, and when we get things sorted out, we’ll meet you at Chaos.” Pause, then, “Handsome, I told you, I don’t know yet, but I’ll find out and we’ll sort it out, then we’ll meet you there.” Another pause with an eye roll, then, softer, “I got this, you know I do. We’ll meet you at the roast soon.”
Dad was worried, I could tell. This was not a surprise. He was the kind of dad who loved you so much he hurt when you hurt, and when you lost something precious he lost it right with you.
On that thought, I saw what I saw a lot when Tyra was talking to Dad.
Even though she dipped her chin and turned her head so I got her profile, I still saw Tyra’s face get soft before she said quietly, “Yeah. Will do. Love you.”
Then I saw something else I saw a lot when Tyra was talking to Dad: her face got softer and I knew Dad was telling her he loved her too.
Tyra was the bomb, so I was glad she had that from Dad and I was even more glad that she gave it to him.
She stabbed the screen on her phone, shoved it into her pocket and focused on me.
Then she asked, “You slept with Shy?”
I nodded but clarified, “Six weeks ago, but we slept-slept, not did the business slept.” Her brows went up so I further explained, “See, I was in a situation, he got me out of that situation, I asked him to get me drunk, he did, we played pool, we talked, we ended up in his bed, I sang him a song from Les Mis, then I passed out and woke up in his arms.”
Her head tipped to the side and her eyes grew sharp, and they did this about the time I stated I was in a situation.
As I said, my dad was far from dumb. Being really not dumb, for some reason I didn’t get, he married my mom, who was a lot closer to dumb than anyone I knew. However, being not dumb, Dad got shot of her and didn’t make the same mistake twice. Therefore, Tyra was also far from dumb, which also worked in my favor most of the time.