Page 83 of Rescued
He turns to me with a shy grin, his mismatched eyes smiling just as brightly as his lips. So fucking beautiful.
When I lower his hand, I don’t give it back to him. Instead, I hold it in my lap, twining our fingers together.
“I hope the kids like me.”
Arlo laughs. “It would be impossible not to like you. Plus, Salem already does. Getting a traumatized teen to like you is…” He blows out a breath. “A damn miracle, honestly. But you just have that kind of personality.”
My eyebrows draw together. “And what kind of personality is that?”
“Magnetic,” Arlo says without hesitation. “People flock to you. Austin, Luca. Me.” I glance at him in time to see his cheeks pink up. “There’s something about you that just feels… safe. You feel safe. Salem said you’re a straight shooter, and that if everyone was more honest like you, the world would be a better place.”
I frown. “I hate that one person telling him the truth one time set that precedent.”
“Yeah.” Arlo sighs. “You’re just… something else. It’s hard to explain.”
I rub my thumb over the back of his hand. “You feel safe with me, baby boy?”
“More than I ever have with anyone else.”
My heart thrums heavily at those words. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” Sighing, Arlo shifts, turning to face me. “Do you think I should make Salem quit cussing?”
A smile blooms on my lips. “He’s got a bit of a potty mouth, huh?”
Arlo groans. “He really does. And I don’t know what to do about it. Anything? The thing is, I don’t really care. Is that bad? Does that mean I’m not responsible enough to take care of them?”
I shake my head, turning into a parking lot when the GPS instructs me to. “No. I think there are bigger fish to fry than a few curse words. I’m far more concerned with if people are good humans than if they cuss. Although, maybe you should set a rule that he can’t cuss around Nora. Or at school. Time and place, you know?”
When I shut the truck off and glance at Arlo, his eyes are glued to the DCS building, his throat bobbing with a heavy swallow. “I’m nervous.”
I squeeze his hand, then shift to face him more fully. “You’ve got this, baby boy.We’vegot this. So we don’t really know what we’re doing. Who cares? Not a parent alive knows what they’re doing at first. And hey, we can’t be any worse than our own parents.”
Arlo snaps his head in my direction. “Yeah… You’ve never talked about your parents.”
“That’s because my mom blames me for Sarah’s death—rightfully so—and stopped speaking to me the day I turned eighteen.”
Arlo’s jaw falls open. “But that’s not your fault.”
“It was my fault.” I kiss his knuckles again. “But this isn’t about me. It’s about you and those siblings of yours. We’ll figure it out. People figure it out. It’s what they do. Plus, we have Deb and Art, and even Hunter’s mom, I’m sure. We’re not in short supply of people to help us navigate.”
“Us,” Arlo breathes, his eyes a little faraway and dreamy.
“Yes, baby boy.Us.It’s us from here on out.” He nods. “Alright, then. Let’s not keep them waiting.”
With a deep breath, Arlo steels his shoulders. “Let’s do it.”
We climb down from the truck, and I slip my hand into his, leading him toward the nondescript brick building. He’s inhaling deep breaths, something I noticed Salem doing on the phone with me when I talked to him about Arlo.
When we make it to the door, and I start to pull it open, Arlo tugs his hand from mine. “Wait! Wait, wait, wait.”
“Baby boy.” I turn on my heel, facing him. “What’s wrong?”
“What if Nora doesn’t even remember me? It’s been so long since I’ve seen her or even really gotten to talk to her. What if… What if she doesn’t want to come with me?”
I don’t really have an answer for that. I can’t really see it happening, but who fucking knows? All I know for sure is that Salem, at the very least, is expecting his big brother. “That’s probably not going to happen, Arlo. But you won’t know unless we go in.”
He breathes in through pursed lips. “Okay. You’re right. Let’s go.”
