Not me.
The kid.
He shifts beside us, then looks at Legend. “Prez.”
Legend’s eyes cut to him.
“She needs a room,” Derby says. “Food. Tire can wait till morning. Truck’s a piece of shit, but it’ll roll if I patch it. Kid needs sleep.”
I should argue.
I should say I can manage.
I should say I’m not helpless, not some stray woman to be sorted by men with leather cuts and blood under their nails.
But August is shaking in my arms, and I’m so tired I can feel it in my teeth.
Sophie reaches for him, then stops before touching. She looks at me first. “May I?”
That almost breaks me more than anything else.
May I.
Permission.
A choice.
I nod.
Sophie’s voice softens. “Hi, August. I’m Sophie. I have snacks inside. Maybe even something chocolate if the men haven’t eaten everything like raccoons.”
August lifts his head a little.
Derby mutters, “Raccoons got better manners than half this club.”
Sophie’s mouth twitches. “See? He agrees with me.”
August studies her through wet lashes. “Do you have dinosaurs?”
Sophie takes this question seriously. “Not real ones.”
He considers that. “Stuffed ones?”
“I can find one.”
Derby looks pained. “You can’t promise dinosaur inventory in an outlaw clubhouse.”
Sophie ignores him. “And if I can’t, I know a man who owes me a favor and can go get one.”
Her eyes flick to Derby.
His face hardens. “Absolutely not.”
August looks at him. “You know where dinosaurs are?”
“No.”
“He does,” Sophie says.