Page 29 of Ravaged By the Dark (The Righteous 2)
“J.J., wait!” she called after him.
“It’s okay, go catch up. I’ll get the coins and find you guys.” Arek offered, and she mouthed a thank you.
She dodged a pair of kids running and then had to crane her neck to see past the many groups. She was starting to get nervous when she spotted J.J. watching two kids race motorcycles. The sound was loud as the tires pretended to screech on the pavement.
“Nae Nae, look! It’s so cool.” J.J. pointed to the massive screens showing a highway with the two bikes racing along, dodging traffic. A siren sounded, and the top of the screens flashed that a police car was giving chase.
“Don’t be getting any ideas. You’re not getting a motorcycle ever if I have any say over it, and if you ever drove it like that, I’d have to…never get you ice cream again,” she threatened.
J.J. rolled his eyes at her, the exact way she would do to him.
“Don’t be such a square.” Renee’s mouth fell open.
Where the hell did he learn that?
“J.J. I found that Pac-Man game I mentioned,” Arek called out as he found them. “And no one is playing it right now.”
“Can we go play?” J.J. smiled up at Arek like he was his whole world, and Renee bit her lip. Worry wiggled in the back of her mind.
She needed to have a serious talk with Arek. She couldn’t allow J.J. to get any more attached if Arek was not planning on sticking around long term. It was a tough conversation considering they were just getting to know each other, but she couldn’t risk J.J.’s heart being ripped out. He’d already had too much of that.
Besides, Arek opened this door by first dropping by her school and now her house. It wasn’t like she tried to con him with a cute kid. At this point, Arek was entrapping her with his affection for her brother—she was well within her right to have theconversation.
She watched as J.J. grabbed one of the small stools and pulled it over to the game to stand on as Arek waited patiently. It took a few tries for J.J. to get the hang of it, but once he did, she had to admit he was better than she would’ve been.
She leaned up against the game and smiled as the boys played. She yawned when they hit round ten, and Renee wandered over to the Donkey Kong. This was a game she’d played once or twice in her teens. She was still terrible, and she groaned as the monkey killed her with a rolling barrel again.
“You done trying to play this,” Arek asked teasingly.
She gave his arm a swat for the insult.
“Where’s J.J. going,” she asked Arek as she watched him walking toward another machine.
“While you were busy pretending to play over here, those other boys were impressed with J.J.’s mad skills. They asked him to join them. Don’t worry, we’ll stay close, but he seemed like he could use some time with people his own age.”
A sadness pulled at the corner of her lips.
“I can’t afford daycare, so he only has a few friends when he is in the free school program, but I don’t let him hang out and play at their houses.”
“Why?”
She wasn’t sure how to answer that question and not come off sounding like a bitch.
“I live in a poor neighborhood, but the kids he’s friends with live in a really dangerous part of town. Too many kids getting caught in the crossfire and….” She didn’t want to mention Tyson directly. “There are a few nasty gangs in those spots. I don’t want him getting talked into something or tangled up with that life. They can be very convincing.”
The image of Cody crossed her mind.
“Come with me.” Arek laced their fingers together, and he guided her to a darkened corner of the arcade with a tall table and stools. “Sit,” he ordered.
She lifted an eyebrow, searching his expression closely. “Just sit, please. Always so skeptical.”
Renee did what he asked and sat, making sure to keep her eyes on J.J., who was not far off. Arek walked around to stand behind her, the heat of his body pressing into her own. Her body had an instant reaction to him. It seemed to like doing that, even if it was an inopportune time. Arek rested his hands on her shoulders and gave them a gentle squeeze.
“You know what your problem is,” he asked.
“Oh, this should be enlightening. Please tell me, O’ wise one, what is my problem?”
Hot breath fanned her ear as Arek spoke. “You need to relax.”
