Page 77 of Unleashed

I’m not sure how to get out of the predicament I’ve found myself in. Primarily, because I don’t know how I got here in the first place.

One second, I was getting laid in the most fantastic of ways, and the next, my entire existence was packed up, loaded into a collection of various pickup trucks and rental vans, and moved to the Bradshaw estate.

Specifically, Trevor Bradshaw’s home.

It wouldn’t be so bad if it was just me this happened too. I could grab a few things and hightail it to a hotel until I figured out what the fuck to do now.

But it’s not just me. It’s me and Zara.

And Zara isn’t remotely interested in hightailing it anywhere.

She’s already made herself beyond comfortable, and has taken over the great room. The television mounted on the wall is playing her favorite cartoons as she sprawls across the floor in front of it, surrounded by piles of coloring books, crayons, and markers.

The worst part? She’s not there alone.

No. Trevor Bradshaw couldn’t keep things simple by going to his home office or having an emergency at McKinley Security Systems. He had to park his ass right next to my sister and has spent the last hour coloring with her.

And all I can do is sit here and stare at them, wondering what the fuck I’m supposed to do with this shit.

The alarm on Trevor’s front door beeps as it opens, and footsteps interrupt my brainstorming session. Which is fine, because I’m getting fucking nowhere.

I’m expecting to see Brooke, coming to make sure Zara and I are doing okay. But it’s not my best friend’s smiling face that greets me.

It’s Deidre Bradshaw’s.

Which takes everything from bad to worse. Because while I don’t know what the fuck I’m gonna do about Trevor, I do at least know how to manage him. I don’t have the first clue how to manage Deidre Bradshaw. She is such a foreign concept to me, I can’t even really wrap my head around her existence.

“Hey, honey.” I assume she’s talking to her son until she comes at me, all motherly warmth and concern. “How was the petting zoo?”

“It was awesome,” Zara answers for me, her well of optimism nowhere close to running dry. “Trevor bought it so the next time we go, I’ll be able to visit all the animals.”

“What?” I stand from the barstool I’ve been sitting at for the past hour, my attention snapping from my sister to the guilty-looking man next to her. “What is she talking about?”

Trevor and my sister have been chatty, but I assumed it was about how they’re now best friends and he’s gonna buy her a miniature cow and a pony. Or rambling about plans to go swimming in Toby’s pool or hunting shiny rocks along the creek.

Not for one second did I suspect the conversation was about how he bought a fucking petting zoo because he wanted my little sister to be able to access the entire facility.

Trevor has done a lot of questionable shit in the past week, but this really takes the cake. It’s unhinged. It’s insane. It’s…

Probably the sweetest fucking thing any man has ever done in the history of the universe.

And I sort of hate him for it. Because how can I be expected to keep it together when he does shit like this? How do I keep my wits about me when he’s wearing friendship bracelets and coloring Barbie illustrations while buying fucking petting zoos?

Trevor slowly stands, his eyes fused to me. Like he’s gauging just how angry I genuinely am.

I kind of hope he can figure it out, because I don’t even know anymore. Am I angry? Happy? Confused? Homicidal?

Honestly, I think it’s a little bit of all of it.

I know cuteness aggression is a thing, so there’s gotta be a level above that where your feelings go beyond cute. Beyond aggression.

Homicidal affection. That’s what I’m going to call it. I’m starting to like Trevor Bradshaw’s face, and it makes me wanna poke him with something sharp.

“I know it seems like that might have been a little bit of an overreaction, but hear me out.” He holds both hands up, like he thinks he can placate me. “I talked to the kid in the hut as we left, and he explained that he was concerned when we got there, but he didn’t know how to tell us about the issues we were gonna have. He knew he couldn’t call the owner for help, because the owner’s basically abandoned the place.”

I don’t know why, but I keep my mouth shut, choosing to listen to the rest of his explanation. I’m curious. Interested to see what sort of a spin he can put on this to make it make sense in his head. I am a little concerned it might also make sense in mine, but I’m gonna cross that bridge if I come to it.

“So I got the owner’s information from him, and made an offer. He accepted, and now our family has an amazing place to take Birdie and the twins.” He hesitates for only a second before adding on the part that makes it really fucking hard to be mad at him. “Plus, I can keep any animals Zara wants there, so she can visit them whenever she feels like it.”