Page 22 of Ravaged By the Dark (The Righteous 2)
Renee laughed as she watched J.J. driving the kiddie bumper car. His smile was infectious. It was like a small ball of light in a dark world, and she couldn’t take her eyes off him. He still had a little ice cream on his face, and even that made her heart melt. As the cars came to a stop, J.J. ran out of the exit over to where she was standing.
“Can I go again?” J.J. jumped around, pulling on her shirt.
He’d already been through three times.
“Why don’t we do something else, let another kid have a go?” His lip pushed out in a pout, but then he spotted a shooting game and ran over. She laughed and followed.
“Here you go,” Arek said, handing her a bottle of water and a bag of caramel corn.
“Thanks.” She took the offering feeling a little guilty that she was taking advantage of his generosity. But he did say whatever they wanted he would pay for on this apology trip. She popped a few pieces of the delectable treat in her mouth and softly sighed. Small things had always made her happy, and right now, her senses were on happy overload.
J.J. had been on a high since the moment they arrived, his unbridled joy and million questions making her and Arek laugh. For the first time in a very long ass time, she didn’t feel like the weight of the world was crushing her.
“Sorry little man, but you’re too young to play this game,” the guy operating the booth said. J.J.’s shoulders slumped, but once more, Arek surprised her and squatted down to J.J.’s height.
“If you could pick any prize, what would you want,” Arek asked.
J.J.’s face made her giggle as he rubbed his chin, his brow furrowing as he thought.
“That one!” he said with conviction and pointed to the large, bright orange tiger.
“Alright then.” She watched as Arek handed over the money and picked up the BB gun. He looked comfortable with the toy gun. No, he looked downright lethal as he drew it up to his shoulder, face suddenly void of all emotion as he looked right through the target area.
She stared at his profile, her heart pounding and butterflies fluttering in her stomach. The game’s guy stepped behind the protective wall, and the music of the game started.
Red and white targets appeared from either direction. They started out slow, but soon they sped up so fast she could barely keep track. Her mouth fell open as each one was hit squarely in the center. No matter how fast they came, they fell just as quickly as they appeared. Renee’s overly active imagination pictured Arek in those sexy camo pants and no top. She licked her lips and needed to avert her gaze as her body warmed all over.
“Wow, man, no one has been able to get them all before,” the guy said as Arek handed the gun over.
“I have good hand-eye coordination. Does he get to pick any prize now?”
“Yeah, for sure. What does he want?”
Arek picked J.J. up, and his short arms reached for the tiger he had pointed at earlier. Renee had to turn away and wipe away the tears that were threatening to choke her. These were the things her mother should have been doing, making memories with her son. Instead, she chose a bottle and a man over her own children.
She knew that her mother had a problem, a disease, but it didn’t stop the pain. The knowledge didn’t make it any easier to deal with, and the fact that her mother never seemed to want to get better hurt all the more.
Why hadn’t she loved them enough to want to change?
Renee took a few deep breaths to steady herself before she turned back around. Arek was watching her closely, too closely. She couldn’t hold his steady gaze and instead smiled at J.J. as he excitedly re-enacted Arek winning him the toy. She couldn’t help thinking that to anyone watching, Arek looked like the sexiest dad in the world as he carried the massive stuffed animal under one arm and the remnants of the blue cotton candy in the other. Thoughts like that were dangerous, way, way too dangerous, and she quickly pushed them away.
As they strolled to their next adventure with J.J. leading the way, she turned her head and caught a glimpse of a man by one of the tents. She saw dark eyes glaring at her, and fear snaked up her spine. She was pretty sure she recognized him as one of Tyson’s men.
Was he really having her followed?
She didn’t think that he’d go that far, even though she’d accused him of it time and again. She stopped walking to stare at the spot, but a group of teens walked into her line of sight, and by the time they moved, the man was gone.
Arek touched her shoulder, and she jumped at his touch.
“Are you okay?” His eyes were cool as they scanned the area she’d been staring at for the man.
“Yeah, all good. Thought I saw someone I recognized is all.” She forced a smile onto her face and walked away. “Are you coming?” Renee called out as Arek stood perfectly still and examined the crowd.
She never saw the man again, and she started to wonder if her paranoia was making her see things. She slowly relaxed, not wanting the day to be ruined. The rest of the afternoon was filled with more laughter than she’d experienced in all her twenty-one years.
The nagging voice not to get too comfortable was still there, but she managed to tame it enough to enjoy this time with J.J. because it was his happiness she wanted, needed to hold onto at this moment. At least, that is what she kept telling herself.
“Nae Nae, that one?” J.J. asked as he pointed to the Ferris wheel. Renee had been hoping he would get tired before they made their way over here. She swallowed the lump in her throat as she stared up at the massive wheel. She hated heights, as in full-on panic-attack hated them.
