Free All We Are (8th Sin Book 2) by Holly Hood Page B

place. It doesn’t look like much. And the first time I looked at it I thought it was out of business actually.
    “Good to know,” he says and with that he climbs out of my car, because I offered to drive instead of hopping on the back of his bike again.
    I hurry out of my door and meet him on the sidewalk. “You like hamburgers right?” He looks like a guy who likes hamburgers.
    I hope he does because the thought of this whole encounter turning into a horrible mess freaks me out. This is the first time I will be able to really figure him out outside of a bar.
    “I think everybody likes hamburgers.” He opens the door, letting two little old ladies out. They give him a polite smile and he offers them the same stoic impression he gives just about everybody he comes across.
    I’ve been lucky enough to witness some of his smiles—and grins and each one was glorious.
    He lets me go in first and follows after me. “Where do you want to sit?” I turn, hair brushing against him, he’s that close. He looks down on me and shrugs.
    So I take charge and find a space nestled in the back right next to the window.
    The waitress comes over and we both order the exact same thing—a hamburger with everything and crinkle cut French fries.
    Every few minutes the cook calls out an order and the man a few seats away coughs and shakes the paper in his hands. “Do all of you live there?”
    He lifts his glass of ice water and takes a drink before he gives an answer. “I moved my dad in last year when he got sick. The other guys just sort of come and go.”
    He looks at me. I touch my face biting down on my lip. “I live with my friend Sophie…well sort of. I used to live with my parents but I left one day and just never came back.”
    He nudges his place mat and looks away.  He’s not really giving me much to work with.
    I clear my throat and try again to create a back and forth conversation. “Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
    A shake of the head is all he offers.
    “An only child…I thought…”
    He shakes his head. “Like I said, brothers because of circumstance. My dad has run into a lot of trouble his whole life. Which put me in the hands of a lot of different people while he was taking care of things.”
    “Like foster homes?” I couldn’t imagine.
    “No. He’d never do that, just family members or friends of the family. Whoever could take me.” He raises eyebrow, blue eyes staring me down. “What about you?”
    “I have a brother. He’s older than me.”
    “Are you close with your dad?” I ask, it would make sense if he is willing to find a way to pay for his medical expenses.
    “I like to think we have come to an understanding over the years.”
    “What does that mean?”
    “It means I didn’t always get along with him.” He rests his arms on the table looking out the window. “But as I get older, I don’t see him like I once did.”
    I wonder what he means by that.
    The waitress comes back with our food. She sets the plates in front of us and refills my iced tea before leaving us alone again. I shake the ketchup bottle and cover my fries handing it over to him.
    He squirts ketchup on the side of his fries and sets it in the middle of the table. “Thanks again for getting the sale done so fast.”
    I wave a hand, dismissing his kind words. “Jackson is the one who did everything. I just ran around delivering paperwork. But you are welcome.”
    “Why aren’t you in college?” He gives me a look. “You got to be at that age where you’re trying to snag your ideal career.”
    “I was in college. I wanted to be a lawyer but I dropped out and started working for Jackson at his homeless shelter.” I take a bite of my hamburger and chew thoughtfully. “And then I discovered other things that changed everything I had plans for.”
    I stop talking when I realize what I am getting into involves him more than he would ever know.
    “Like what?”
    I shake my head. “I don’t know, just