AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He’s flashed my middle finger, which sparks more snickers. “The point is Steven deserves to be loved and cared for and not bullied. It shouldn’t matter if he looks a little scarier than the others-”
“He acted scarier than the others.”
“He acted out of instinct.”
“He tried to attack a small child.”
“He tried to eat her toy!” Clamoring noises from the bucket precede me further snapping, “Those stupid neon colored squid toys were a terrible fucking decision.”
“Kids love them.”
“Yet you get your panties in a twist when Steven does.”
“Because he was the one who tried to eat it!”
“If not food…why food shaped?”
Bewilderment bursts through his green gaze. “Fucking…really, Bryn?”
“We both know how close to feeding time it was, which is why he was so easily excited, and made the very painful mistake of ramming his face into the glass that child was standing next too.”
“You’re blaming the kid?” His head tilts sarcastically to one side. “That’s the route you wanna take?”
“While I do like sharks more than children, no.” An unexpected churn to my stomach has me placing a palm on it in question. “I’m blaming our piece of shit merchandizing department.” Sharp twists cause me to slightly wince in pain. “Those toys are clearly a neon-colored lawsuit waiting to happen.”
Rather than focus on that statement, he kicks his chin at the other subject. “You okay?”
“I think-” my balled fist rushes to momentarily block bile from leaking out. It takes more energy and effort than I expect to force the burning back down to my stomach, yet the instant it’s returned to where it rightfully belongs, I grumble, “I think you made a terrible choice bringing us waffles from that discount diner.”
“It’s not a discount diner,” Calen poorly argues. “I got a discount at the diner because I took my car to his brother’s mechanic shop, Roscoe’s Wheels & Waffles.”
“We should’ve just had sandwiches from Mo Mo’s.”
“We always have sandwiches from Mo Mo’s!” He tosses his hands defeatedly into the air. “I thought it’d be fun to try something new!”
“Yeah, well, I’m pretty sure I’m about to say, ‘Beam Me Up, Potty’.”
“That’s…that’s definitely a reference I could’ve done without.”
“And now you know how my stomach feels about your brunch poison.”
My colleague rolls his eyes in exasperation while I bite my tongue from adding a line about not completely joking.
Sure, I know Calen would never poison me, but I’ll admit. I’m still a bit suspicious when it comes to new food or dishes, I didn’t order or weren’t around when they were made.
To say I’m paranoid would be an oversell; however, I’ll take somewhat skittish.
Not quite the nervous shark – a species of the requiem shark – around humans but nowhere near a whale shark.
That whole Raggedy Insane situation left a bad taste in my mouth – lame joke totally made on purpose. Learning the how and why she set me up, to everything about her connection to my new step-dad – Mom and Clark are currently away on their honeymoon – gave me answers as much as new trust issues in all things Wilcox related. And while my fiancé loves to remind me the threat has been eliminated – since he literally banished her from the states for whatever remains of her Bride of Chucky life – I can’t help the nagging thoughts that her attack was more of a first, rather than a last.
Maybe she won’t strike again but someone else she knows or who has the same mindset just might.
Especially now that we’re constantly in the spotlight.
I swear every week there’s a new mogul or media or model out to strike.
And because of how cleverly camouflaged our last predator was, I have no choice but to be overly cautious of everyone that isn’t directly Mom or Wes related.
