“Me too.”
The sound of dogs’ claws on the wood floors ended the quiet moment.
“Thank goodness we have company,” Raven said. “I was gonna start bawling.”
Startled by a new person in the house, Pollack descended into a barking fit while Professor played tough guy by growling. Raven barked back at Pollack who decided she couldn’t argue with crazy and ran away.
Already laughing before he turned the corner, Aaron took a minute to realize who was sitting with me.
“Raven came home,” I told him and he smiled wider. “She speaks dog too.”
“Pollack has never met a challenge she couldn’t run from,” he said then glanced down at a growling Professor. “Hush.”
The dog grudgingly quieted, but kept an eye on Raven who stood up and shook Aaron’s hand.
“You planning to make an honest woman out of my sister?” she asked in a voice more suiting of a protective dad.
“Yes, sir.”
Laughing, I hugged Aaron who wrapped an arm around me.
“Do you have a place to stay?” he asked Raven.
“I have cash to get a motel rom.”
“Fuck that. We have a spare room. I’ll need to clean out some shit to make it more comfortable, but you should stay here.”
“How did you even find Aaron’s place?” I asked, bending over to pat a still agitated Professor.
“Mom told me. I think she was just praying I didn’t try to stay at her house. What the fuck is that?”
I started to stand up when she grabbed me and pulled up my tee. Knowing she saw the faded bruises, I also knew what she would do.
“Did you do that?” she screamed at Aaron who blocked her punch.
“No,” I said, pushing her back. “It was Larry. When he found out I was sneaking out to see Aaron, he freaked and attacked me.”
“Fuck!” she hollered, pacing back and forth as Professor returned to growling. “Did your man at least fuck up Larry?”
“No,” I muttered, checking on Aaron who likely thought Raven was nuts. “He trashed his car though. Ruined it.”
Raven stopped pacing and stared at Aaron. “You killed Gloria?” When Aaron nodded, my sister’s eyes lit up. “I bet Larry wept like a little bitch over that too. Oh, man, he loved that damn car. Loved it more than his balls, I bet.”
“You can’t attack Aaron,” I said, staring up at her with my pissed off face.
“Oh, stop. He’s a big boy and he has some fast moves too. No worries. I just can’t believe you killed Gloria. That’s fucking beautiful. I never would have thought of that, but the old man loves his car. Way to cut out his heart and make him look at it.”
“Apologize,” I snapped.
“It’s not necessary, Lark,” Aaron said, being too nice again when it came to girls. “She was just protecting you.”
“Fuck that. She could have hurt you because she’s stupid.”
“Stupid?” Raven growled.
“I said Aaron was a good man. Would I really say that about a guy who hits me?”
“No, but Aaron’s right. I was protecting you. I’m just tired and cranky and hate men. I’m sorry I tried to crush your pretty skull, big guy.”
“Apology accepted.”
“And I’m sorry I upset you, Lark. You’re fragile now and I’ll need to keep that in mind when you push me like you just did.”
“I’ll kick your ass if you touch my man again.”
Raven squinted at me. “I get shivers when you turn Thunder Kitten on me.”
Smiling grudgingly, I sighed. “What now?”
“Show me the room then the shower and I’ll wash away my grumpy attitude. It’ll be all rainbows and snowmen afterwards.”
“Snowmen?” Aaron asked.
“She really likes snowmen.”
“Fuck yeah, snowmen rock.”
Aaron smiled at me and I could see he was truly okay with Raven staying. I had worried especially after she freaked on him, but he understood that Raven was more than my sister. She was my best friend and she was finally home.
Chapter Thirty Eight - Lark
Walking into the roller derby practice rink, I wondered if I would ever get another chance to be on the team. In my mind, motherhood meant strollers, colicky babies, and a life homebound. Of course, Lori was on the team and had two kids, so there was hope I might join Raven in the battle again.
“Look what the cat coughed up then shit on a little,” Sarah said, grinning at Raven who waved like a beauty queen. “We thought you’d be hooking in LA by now.”
“We prefer the term escorting,” Raven announced then high fived all of the girls who skated over. “Heard you guys never win without me around. Way to suck, ladies.”
The team glared at me in unison and Sarah snorted. “Heard that, did you?”
“I never said that,” I muttered in mock terror. “She lies.”
“Yeah, we know. So what happened to Dexter?” Chantal asked.
Raven rolled her eyes and the girls laughed.