“What’s so funny?”
I look up and Rowan is walking back into the living room, followed by Capone. She’s changed into another thrift store outfit—a pair of worn jeans and a tight, vintage t-shirt that says “Mountain Dew” on the front. The material is thin, because the t-shirt is probably older than dirt, and hugs her br**sts like a glove. I’d be dead and buried not to notice her ni**les are popping hard against the soft cotton and while she may have put on panties, she certainly didn’t put on a bra. She’s f**king sexy as hell but I really can’t be thinking like that. We have more serious things to worry about.
“When you’re done staring at my boobs, want to tell me what’s so funny?”
My eyes slowly lift to hers. “You’re not wearing a bra.”
Rowan smirks at me. “And you find that funny?”
“There’s never anything funny about a beautiful, bra-less woman. That’s something I take very seriously,” I tell her with a slight grin of my own. “But apparently, I got sidetracked from what I thought was funny.”
I’m actually startled when Rowan breaks out into a soft laugh. It’s rich, warm, and filled with amusement. Completely at odds with the general taciturn nature I’ve seen so far.
“Well, you better get used to it, roomie. I hate wearing bras. Too confining.”
Holding my hands up in mock surrender, I tell her, “Hey... no complaints here. In fact, I’m betting there isn’t a man on this planet that would complain about it.”
She snorts as she walks by me and grabs the Donald Duck tie that I had looped over the front doorknob. “I’m going to take Capone for a quick walk.”
“And we’ll talk when you get back?”
She regards me for a moment and I can see barriers starting to form. But then, she takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “You’ve done a lot for me, Flynn. I owe my life to you. We’ll talk some when I get back.”
I watch as she bends over to knot the tie around Capone’s collar. She regards me as a hero, a thought that both pleases me and scares me at the same time.
I hope I won’t be a failure to her.
While Rowan is out walking Capone, I decide to give Tim a call. He answers on the second ring. “Man, you’re missing a helluva game.”
“Damn,” I respond and walk into the living room to turn the TV on. I quickly find the Jets game and mute the volume.
“So what was so important today that you ditched me and the Sam-meister?”
I sit down on the couch and let out a pent-up sigh. “Dude... it’s a strange and f**ked-up story.”
“No worries... it’s almost half-time. I can lend an ear to you for a bit.”
How do I start my story with Tim? He’s going to give me the same shit that Nix and Emily did, except he’ll try to be more subtle about it. Outside of my family, Tim is the only one that knows what happened to Marney. He’s one of the few that understand what drives me at times.
“So, that girl that was chained to the bed yesterday?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, she’s sort of staying at my apartment for a few days.”
Tim makes sort of a low whistling sound through his teeth, which is his version of saying, What the f**k?
Pressing on, I tell him, “I had to take her out today and get some clothes. She lost everything in the fire. That’s why I had to ditch.”
“Doesn’t she have any place else to go?”
See, I knew Tim would be subtle. I read that question to mean, What the f**k are you doing bringing a strange woman to live in your apartment?
“Nah, man. And she left the hospital with only a set of surgical scrubs to her name. She was going to sleep out on the streets with that dog of hers. I had no choice. It was the right thing to do.”
Tim is silent for just a minute, and I can tell he’s choosing his next words carefully. “Flynn... buddy... she has some serious shit going on. She was chained to a bed and I don’t even really want to know how that came about. Are you sure this is the wisest thing for you to do?”
If he weren’t a firefighter, Tim would make a great politician. What he’s really saying is, Not only is that not the right thing to do, it was the craziest f**king move you could make.
It’s a good question and the answer is, It’s probably not the wisest thing. But there is no backing away now. Like I said... I’m fully invested in helping Rowan.
Before I can even tell Tim that, he pushes on. “Flynn... just listen to me for a second. This woman... she was chained to a bed. I can only assume that she was there against her will, and that is some serious felony shit going on. She almost dies in a house fire, so I’m thinking there may be attempted murder involved. I don’t even want to think about the emotional baggage she’s bringing into your life. I mean, for all you know... she could be scamming you. This is a mistake, man. I know you don’t want to hear that, but I need to say it anyway.”
I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. It gets tiring... having my motives questioned all the time.
Still, it is with patience that I say, “Tim... you’re my best friend, and I respect the shit out of you. But this is the right thing. She needs help and I had to fight her hard to get her to take it. But more than that... she’s a good woman, Tim. She deserves to have someone on her side right now. I don’t know what her background is, or what led her to this situation, and frankly, I don’t give a shit. I just know that... in my heart... it’s the right thing to help her.”