Snake's Addiction(21)
“We’re going baby shopping. I’m taking you to the mall. Are you okay with that?”
“Baby shopping?”
“Clothes, diapers, that thing they shove in their mouths.”
“A pacifier?”
“Yes. We’re going shopping for all of that.”
“Why are we going shopping?”
“I got the short end of the deal.” He pulled out of the parking lot. She noticed he paid careful attention to his driving. It was still icy, and snow was pushed in little mounds on the sides of the road. “Milford is a problem.”
“He’s a doctor, Snake. He’s not a problem. Just persistent.”
“I don’t like him.”
“I doubt a lot of men like him. I don’t like him either. I’m not interested in the games he plays.”
“The nurse games.”
“Yeah. He likes to fuck as many nurses as he can. I hope they all gang up on him. It would be awesome to see.” She chuckled, thinking about him being encircled by the women he’d fucked and dumped. “The same could happen to you.”
“No. I only fuck women who know the score.”
“Lydia didn’t.”
“She did know the score but decided to change the rules in her head. Crazy bitch.” He made a whooping sound while also circling his fingers against his head.
“She’s not crazy. She’s just a little different.”
“The bitch is crazy.”
“The bitch is still my friend.”
He was silent for a moment. “Have you heard from her?”
She glanced over at him and shook her head. “No, I’ve not heard from her. It sucks, but she’s quit her job. She’ll probably call me in a couple of weeks or months to let me know she’s still alive.”
“She’s always been like this?”
“Yeah. Her dad is a businessman who travels. He used to leave her and her mother for months on end before he even called. Providing there was money, her mother didn’t care. Lydia missed him though. She got the whole disappearing act from him. She’s under some illusion that it makes people care about her a little more. It doesn’t, but there you go.” Jessica shrugged.
“And you’re still friends with her?”
“I’m sitting in your car going to pick out baby items. I don’t think I’m going to rate that high in the friends ranking.” She tilted her head to the side to crack her neck. She did the same to the other side. “God, I’m tired.”
“Don’t worry about what she thinks, baby. Only worry about what you think about.”
“That’s how people end up lonely without any friends, Snake. You start caring about yourself and only yourself, no one is going to want to know you.”
Chapter Six
Snake, with Jessica’s help, carried through all the baby shit they’d bought on their trip. The conversation they’d had on the drive up to the mall was still ringing in his head. He wasn’t lonely. He had a lot of brothers and women around him. The women didn’t mean much to him, but his brothers did. He didn’t always think about number one.
“Is this it?” she asked.
“No, we’ve got to make a stop at the clubhouse first.” Snake closed the trunk of the car. “See you later, man,” he said, shaking Spider’s hands. He was the one house sitting for Ripper and Judi until they got out of the hospital.
“You’re a reptile and he’s an insect, why?”
“Baby, it’s a long story to get involved into our names. Just know never to mess with me or if you like messing with me, never do shit that’s going to involve me having to hurt you.”
He turned the ignition over and pulled out of the street. This was the same street where Lexie and Devil lived, along with Vincent and his woman, Phoebe. Snake liked the street. It was a good one to raise a family away from the shit. When they’d first arrived in Piston County, the town had been separated into what looked like two parts, the good part and the bad part. The biggest problem was the bad part was most of the fucking town. Judi had been in the thick of that bad part, forced into prostitution at an age when she should have been giggling about boys behind her hand. Whenever he thought about what happened and what he saw, he wanted to kill the motherfucking pimp all over again.
“Have you killed people?”
“You’re a nurse sworn to protect people. Don’t ask me a question you know you’re not going to like the answer to.”
“I’ve got a feeling I’m not going to like the answer to most things you do.”
He glanced over at her, wanting to reach out and touch her, but knowing he couldn’t do it, not yet. The roads were damned slippery, and most of the drive he’d taken slowly. He wouldn’t even ride his bike in this weather. It was downright fucking dangerous, and he didn’t have a death wish, especially not with Jessica in the car.