Page 164 of Darling Venom
She pushed her plate away. “If this turns out to be some groundbreaking diet method, I’m telling you right now, I’m patenting.”
I was going to miss her when she finished her project, that was for damn sure.
“His mom was God knows where. Same for Terry. My mom showed up with Kel one day and said, ‘This is your brother. We’re taking care of him today.’ It was the first and only time I met him until Terry showed up on my doorstep with Kel in tow.”
She clung to my every word.
As if they were precious crumbs to savor.
“How old was he when you met?”
“Eight. Old enough to remember what happened.”
“What happened?”
“We were out at a restaurant for lunch. He was crying because he wanted to know where his mom went, so I distracted him with that pull-my-finger joke.”
“The one where you pull and fart?”
I matched her smile. “I made the sound with my mouth, but yeah.”
“Let me guess.” She leaned closer as if we were sharing a secret. “Kellan wanted to try?”
“Yeah. So, I pulled his finger, and he farted. But that wasn’t all he did.”
“No.” Her jaw dropped. She fell back against her seat. “No way. In the middle of a restaurant?”
“He started crying. Mom let him tie her sweater around his waist, and we left so fast, I don’t think the staff understood what had happened. Kel couldn’t look me in the eye for a solid week when I saw him the next time, which was a feat, considering he was living with me. He bought my mom a sweater every year for Christmas after that.” I snorted. “I think he took some of them from his mom because they were used and smelled of perfume half the time.”
Charlie threw her head back and laughed. I could see why Kel loved her. She was edgy yet sweet. Somehow able to sink under your skin in such a short amount of time.
She was lethal.
She was Venom.
His venom.
My smile dropped when I realized what we were doing. Smiling. Laughing. It seemed eerily close to happiness, and I’d never earned that right. I was destined to die a miserable fuck.
And I deserved it.
I cleared my throat. “How often did you spend time with him?”
“Not often enough. Our meetings were always on his terms, and for the most part, I was too much of a coward to fight that. I eventually sought Kellan out, but he declined.” She shrugged, rearranging the noodles on her plate in the shape of a circle. “I think he was saving me from his bad reputation rubbing off on mine.”
“He had a hero complex?”
“With me, at least.”
“I never knew.”
The words were spoken under my breath, but she heard them.
“It must be painful sharing a heart with all that grief.”
I swallowed.
Looked away.
