❛❛Ha, told ya she's gonna come!❜❜ The words lacked the distinctive slurring of the past hours that Rafe had spent in the cell. It even earned a funny glance from the irritated deputy, but the guy seemed more peeved by the fact that his emergency contact showed up, after all - and that it deprived him of a reason to keep THE TALL MENACE behind bars for the night. Even for his standard, Rafe went off the fucking rails tonight. His knuckles still hurt, bruised and bloody from dishing out. A familiar sensation, even through the heavy fog of inebriation.
When the doors swung open, Rafe's head was spinning. Both from the booze and the sudden realization kicking in. The tiny, reasonable part in the back of his head started to cuss and writhe. Fuck. What the hell was he thinking? Why was the stupid, smug grin still plastered across his face as if this was a win? It made his gross mug look even worse, you bet. Shit. Rafe pulled on the cuffs chaining him to the bench and huffed. If he avoided looking at her, maybe there was a chance that she'd just piss off again. God knows he nailed that for a whole, fucking year. THE HAPPY ENDING he deserved. But instead, his drunk brain steered his gaze up, just in the moment their eyes met again for the first time in forever. And instead of mirroring the nausea forming in the pit of his stomach at her sight, the skeevy grin just widened and swallowed any hint of resemblance. ❛❛Hey, Miss Jessica...❜❜
To say that Rafe wasn't weirded out at least a little bit by the family would've been a lie. He was shit at lying, anyway. Got told so by his brothers and Nana, whom he'd parked in the shade of the church for now while he approached the others in the parking lot. HE'D NOTICED THEM BEFORE. Hell, they stood out like a sore thumb at mass. Some people were looking at them the same way they sometimes eyed his own family, so maybe that was the main motivation why he decided to check on them. Someone should, right? And if anyone knew about cars acting up here, it was him.
❛❛Yeah... if ya ask me, you should get that checked❜❜, he told the father after a look under the hood. ❛❛Could be just the engine overheating and ya should be good to go after 20 minutes or so, but it could also be A BROKEN STARTER. Wouldn't recommend a bump-starting if ya wanna keep your catalyzer...❜❜ Rafe rubbed the back of his neck. A few month had passed since his base training and his hair finally started to grow longer again. The only downside to the military, in his opinion. ❛❛Uh... if ya want, I can make a call and get someone to tow your car. My family's workshop's just up the hill❜❜, he offered. His gaze wandered to the two girls and he tried not to linger too long on THE WEIRD-ASS OUTFIT. ❛❛I could take your daughters with my truck and meet you there, Sir?❜❜ // @nanlanmo