Damaged and the Outlaw (Damaged #4)

“You shouldn’t talk about my family,” she said, swimming to where I waited.

“I care about your family. Other than Lark, my family is shit and I would waste them all to protect your family. I just know how people like those Devils view weakness. Once they smell it, they keep pushing.”

“I like Vaughn too, you know. I don’t want him to die, but it’s not easy for Cooper.”

“I wasn’t saying he was weak,” I whispered, my tone settling the anger in her eyes. “I’m saying if he gives an inch now that it’ll be more work for him later.”

“I know. He knows that too.”

“I’m sorry I upset you. Sometimes, I mouth off in a way that seems bitchier than I mean.”

Bailey sighed. “They don’t tell me anything. They act like I’m not smart enough, but they tell Tucker and he’s way dumber than me. I should know stuff too.”

“Maybe they don’t think you want to be part of the business.”

“I’d help Coop, if he let me. I know he works hard. He still has to do the law school shit. I want him to be with Farah and be happy, but he pushes me aside like I’m dumb and weak.”

“He’s just trying to protect you like you protect him.”

Bailey smiled slightly. “I do protect him. I don’t like anyone messing with my family.”

“You’re barely nineteen and they see you as a kid. One day, they’ll see you as a woman and give you more responsibility.”

“I could handle it too. I would work hard for the family, if they let me.”

“I know,” I said, swiping away the wet hair from her eyes. “One day, they’ll know too.”

When Bailey smiled again, she seemed so young. “I don’t want Vaughn to die.”

“He’s tough. So are Cooper and Judd. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Bailey nodded. “Do you think he’ll be your boyfriend now?”

“Vaughn isn’t interested in that shit and I can’t fall for anyone. Especially not him. I just needed to blow off steam and he’s great for that,” I said, smiling despite my worries over him. “I might have broken my abstinence plan when it came to fucking, but I’m still abstaining from falling in love with assholes.”

“I hope I find someone nice one day,” Bailey muttered, glancing at the sunset. “I see everyone in love and I get jealous. I’ve never been in love before. It looks fun.”

“It’s not,” I told her, grumpy now. “Love hurts and it kills a part of your heart when the relationship ends. Maybe you’ll get lucky and find what your parents have. Or maybe you’ll end up like me. A loser who embarrasses herself again and again. If I were you, I’d wait until you think it’s like your parents. Even if you have to wait for a long time.”

Bailey studied me then caressed my cheek. “You’ll find someone good. Everyone has a perfect person for them. That’s what my mom said and she’s always right. We just need to find our perfect person then everything will work and we won’t be lonely.”

“We’ll go on double dates and have playdates with our cute kids. It’ll be aces, baby.”

A laughing Bailey swam backwards. “Do you want to hang out tonight?”

“Sure. I had planned to bug Lark, but she might want alone time with her man.”

“We’ll be annoying like that one day and people will mock us.”

Following Bailey out of the pool, I doubted I could ever love a man who wouldn’t treat me like shit. Plenty of good men existed, but they didn’t interest me. Plenty of losers existed who I might swoon over. Yet, I didn’t want to give my kids a turd for a dad. Despite a great night with a bad man, I was going to end up using a honky-tonk sperm donor one day.

“Can I come?” Sawyer asked, appearing from the yard.

“We don’t know where we’re going.”

“I don’t care. Tuck is bringing the baby over. It’ll cry and everyone will pay attention to it and ignore me.”

“I know the feeling of being replaced,” Bailey said, smirking at her sister. “Little kids suck.”

Sawyer rolled her eyes and looked at me. “Can I come?”

“What do you want to do?”

“We could barhop and scope out hot guys.”

I frowned at Bailey who shrugged. “I didn’t teach her that.”

“A girls’ night out sounds great. We’ll clean up and meet in an hour. We can pick up my car before we come home.”

After Sawyer high-fived me followed by her sister, she ran inside to announce in the loudest voice imaginable how she was ditching the baby stank for the night.

A grumpy Bailey nudged me. “You better not ignore me and pay attention to her.”

“I can pay attention to both of you. I had two little siblings, remember?”

Bailey’s frown faded and she hugged me. “Your life makes me sad.”

Hugging her back, I shrugged off her worry. Bailey wasn’t convinced though.

“I wish I could hit you over the head and give you amnesia, so you’d forget all the bad stuff that happened to you.”

“I like remembering who I am.”