Page 32 of Ugly Duckling (Content Advisory #6)

Twenty-Five

I act like everything is fine, but deep down I want to strip for one night to see how much money I make.

—Sutton to Gunner

GUNNER

Packing for a weekend trip for two females was hard.

Whereas I would’ve just packed up the camper and left, leaving it for chance whether I had everything we needed or not, that was not how Sutton worked.

She was downright militant as she went through a checklist on her phone.

“Bug spray?”

“Got it,” I said.

“Chairs?”

“Got them.”

“Baby wipes?”

“Got them.”

“Sunscreen?”

“I think I got it.”

Her brows rose at me. “You think?”

“Well, I think I have it in the camper,” I said. “Does sunscreen expire?”

“Yes.” She laughed. “We’ll take mine. It’s not the baby kind, but at least we’ll have something.”

The rest of the hour we spent packing went like that.

And by the time we actually arrived at the campground in Uncertain, Texas, I felt like I was in need of beer.

Lots of beer.

Because Lottie spent the entire drive to the lake screaming her head off because we’d accidentally left her bear.

I’d turned around thirty minutes into the drive to go get it.

And then halfway back to the campground, I’d popped a trailer tire and had to change it on the side of Interstate 20 with cars whizzing past my face while Lottie and Sutton sat inside the truck strapped in just in case.

I had a full captive audience, too, as I pulled into the campground with the full club to watch my every move.

They all held up whiteboards once I’d backed the trailer in.

I’d gotten all nines except for a ten from Apollo.

I bowed as I got out of the truck, and Sutton snorted. “Show off.”

I winked at her as I walked to the cooler in front of Cutter and withdrew a beer.

“Long drive?” he asked.

“Lottie forgot her bear. Had to turn around and get it. Must’ve picked up a nail or something while I was turning around because I made it like ten miles before I busted a tire on twenty,” I grumbled as I popped the top and took a swig.

“Bummer.” His gaze went past me. “Your girl’s hobbling over here…”

I hurried back to her, picking her up at the waist and tossing her over my shoulder.

She giggled when I put her on the picnic table next to all the ladies. “Don’t move. I’ll be back with your chair.”

Twenty minutes later I had Lottie sitting around the campfire making s’mores with the rest of the kids, Sutton deposited in her chair, and the camper set up.

I sat down on a log next to Webber and gazed out at the lake behind me.

“This place is awesome.” I watched as a kayaker floated past a cypress tree. “It’s beautiful here.”

“Have a good buddy that’s part of The Uncertain Saints,” Webber said. “Invited us to come out and have a weekend with them. They’re a couple of campsites over.”

I looked in the direction he’d indicated and saw a bunch of tents surrounding a couple of campers like ours.

“I’ve heard of The Uncertain Saints,” I said. “Good club.”

“One of the best,” he agreed. “Heard the Combs were denied bail.”

“They were,” I agreed, taking a quick look back at Sutton. “They could’ve killed her.”

“They didn’t.”

“But they could have.” I shook my head.

“But they didn’t.” He caught my shoulder with his hand.

“You and Apollo. Creole. I’ll never know what it feels like to lose a child.

I hope to God I never do. Y’all have gone through enough.

If I have the power in me, I’ll break my back to make sure y’all never experience anything like that again.

The Combs won’t get out of this. Aleah, that piece of shit woman you had the bad taste in fucking, will rot in jail, too.

Yates won’t be able to find a job in Texas again.

We’ll make sure of it.” He squeezed just a little bit harder.

“Live your life, man. Soak it in. Don’t play the what-if game, because no one wins that one. ”

With that, he got up and headed back to the other campsite where he met a tall man with buzzed hair.

I looked back to the lake just as Lottie screamed, “Daddy, look!”

I looked to see her marshmallow on fire.

I shook my head. “You’re gonna burn it, baby.”

Sutton reached over and brought the marshmallow to her face and blew the fire out.

It was black around the edges.

With her fingernails, Sutton pulled the black off and tossed it into the fire before she said, “Now it’s perfect.”

“Yessss!” Lottie promptly dropped the marshmallow onto the ground. “Aww, dammit!”

We all laughed.