Page 11 of Nightmare’s Playground

I opened my mouth, then closed it.

Well, fuck.

I didn’t have chicken nuggets. In fact, I didn’t have any food at all. That was going to be a problem.

“Let’s get inside first and then we’ll figure it out.”

JJ pushed out his bottom lip, no doubt ready to complain.

Seeing my struggle, Joy’s lips twitched. Then, like a good Southern woman when she saw a man in over his head with children, she took pity on me and offered to help.

“Let me…” Stepping closer, she wrapped her soft fingers around the key in my hand, tugged it free, and moved to unlock my door.

“Oh,” she said at the emptiness inside.

“Yeah.” I sighed. There wasn’t a damn thing inside.

Furniture had been another thing on my list of things to do.

The whole ‘move in next door to Joy’ thing had sort of happened suddenly. It was only the day before that Denali asked me if I wanted to move.

Although when he’d said it, it sounded a hell of a lot more like an order than a question.

I’d been ready to turn him down since I was still getting on my feet, and I didn’t have the first and last month’s rent lying around.

When he told me there was no deposit needed and that the first three months were on the house, I’d jumped on it.

“Uncle Jax!” Samuel shouted, holding his butt with both hands and hopping from foot to foot. “I gotta poop.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. This fucking kid. It was hard not to laugh when everything he did was funny. “Boy.” I sighed.

“I gotta go!” he shouted again.

Joy giggled.

“Come on. He can use my bathroom.”

Fuck me.

I was supposed to be staying away from her. Denali hadn’t said the words, thanks to Becky, but he hadn’t needed to.

I’d understood him loud and clear. His baby sister was off limits. Especially to me.

Before I could come up with a single reason why that wasn’t necessary, Joy took Samuel’s hand and led him across the landing.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

With a heavy sigh, I grabbed the handle of Mathew’s pumpkin seat and followed her with JJ dragging his feet beside me.

“She seems nice,” JJ said.

She did.

It didn’t matter.

I’d seen the way she looked at me. I wasn’t being conceited—I’d just been in the world long enough to know when a woman was interested, and Joy wasn’t doing a damn thing to hide it.

Opening her door, Joy waved us inside, already pointing Samuel down the hall. “Second door on the left, sweetie. There’s a stool under the sink if you need it.”