Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 160684 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 803(@200wpm)___ 643(@250wpm)___ 536(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 160684 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 803(@200wpm)___ 643(@250wpm)___ 536(@300wpm)
He wondered if the sloth had a name. No doubt it did.
After unlocking the door to her apartment, he held that door open too.
Fuck. This place was smaller than he’d thought.
“See if Brooks is home,” Steele ordered, carrying Effie inside.
But he didn’t need to go looking for him as one of the internal doors opened and Brooks stood there, staring at them both, wide-eyed. “What’s going on? Mr. Steele? What are you both doing here? Shit. Effie! What happened to Aunt Effie?”
“Shh, man,” Steele told him in a gruff voice. “Everything is fine. Your aunt is fine. And call me Steele. None of that mister shit. This is Grady, Effie’s other boss.”
Brooks nodded to him. “Right. Aunt Effie texted earlier and said she had to work late. That’s not good for her, having to work long hours. The doctors said . . . ”
“What did the doctors say?” Grady asked as he trailed off.
“It . . . it doesn’t matter. That’s Aunt Effie’s business. I wasn’t supposed to overhear them. But I don’t like her working late.” He glared at them both. “Why did you make her stay?”
“Brooks, calm down,” Steele said firmly, standing there with her in his arms like she didn’t weigh a thing. “We didn’t know she’d decided to work to cover a server’s shift. Or we would have brought her home ourselves earlier.”
Brooks visibly relaxed. “Oh. Sorry. I just . . .”
“You’re protective of her,” Grady said. “You shouldn’t have to apologize for that.”
“Uh, yeah. She’s all I’ve got. She’s always taken care of me. And she needs the same in return.” Brooks frowned. “She passed out after taking her painkillers? The prescription ones in the bottle?”
“Yeah. Does that happen often?” Steele asked.
Brooks shook his head. “No, but she doesn’t take them often. And usually, she waits until she’s home and safe to take them. She must have been really hurting.”
“Or she took them hoping she could keep working for a bit longer,” Steele said.
“She needs to go to bed,” Grady said firmly. “Where is her bedroom?”
To his surprise, Brooks went red.
“It’s all right,” Grady told him. “Steele will just carry her in and put her to bed. That’s all.”
“Um, no, that’s not it,” Brooks said. “Put her in my bed.”
Grady stared at him, not understanding. “She sleeps in your bed?”
“No! Jeez. That’s her bed.” He pointed at the couch.
Steele looked at the couch, then at Brooks. “She sleeps on the couch?”
Grady knew that tone of voice. He was only keeping it together because he held something precious in his arms.
“Yeah . . . I keep telling her to take the bedroom. But she always says that teenage boys need their privacy and that she’s shorter so it’s better for her to take the couch.”
Now he understood the red on Brooks’ cheeks. He wasn’t worried that they intended to do something to his aunt. He was embarrassed because he was sleeping in a bed while she slept on a sofa bed in the fucking living room.
And he understood why Steele was close to the edge.
Because it wasn’t good enough.
Effie was right. Brooks needed his own space. He needed good sleep. But she wasn’t right in thinking that she needed to sleep on the couch.
What about her back?
“This isn’t good enough,” he said.
Brooks’ shoulders drooped. “I know. But whenever I offer to quit school and get a job, Aunt Effie says over her dead body. She always said we were close to getting a better place. But then she lost her job and had to use her savings to keep us going. Really. Put her in my bed. I’ll take the couch tonight.”
Steele glanced over at Grady. He nodded. It would have to do. For tonight, at least.
Fuck. He’d intended on sleeping on the couch tonight, wanting to ensure she was all right. He guessed the floor would be all right. But he wasn’t sure how Brooks would feel about him sleeping on the floor of his bedroom.
“We should stay,” Steele said. “Make sure she’s okay.”
Brooks gave him an alarmed look. Glancing back and forth between them, he straightened his shoulders. “I have this. I can take care of my aunt.”
“She was pretty out of it,” Grady told him. “Almost like she was drunk.”
Brooks frowned. “Really? The pills aren’t usually that bad.”
“Has she ever drunk any alcohol while taking them?” Grady asked him.
Brooks jerked. “No! She doesn’t even like alcohol. I’ve only seen her take a few sips of Baileys during the holidays. Aunt Effie doesn’t drink or use drugs. She would never abuse drugs either. She hates taking painkillers.”
“Nobody is accusing her of anything, kid,” Steele said gruffly. “Let’s get her resting, yeah? Then we can talk about her care.”
Brooks led them into a large bedroom with a queen-sized bed, a desk with a few books on it, plus a nightstand with a lamp.