And then he stopped. Shane leaned his forehead against mine, breathing heavily, our eyes still closed, and he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
"Astra," he mumbled against my lips. "Please don't hurt yourself."
And all at once, his body fell l...
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C H A P T E R F O R T Y - T W O
S h a n e ༶ ｡◕
I knew this was going to be a bad idea from the moment it was suggested.
"There is no way I'm taking this… this child out in public!"
"Yes. You. Are." Mother stuffed her purse into a bag as she got prepared to go out somewhere again. "I need groceries, Shane. Just buy them. Take Kyrie or a friend or something."
I looked at Natalia and I knew in that instant that I did not trust anyone around her, and I never would. There was no telling what this girl would do or say. "No."
"I made a new friend today," she said, out of the blue.
"Really?" Mother asked surprised, slipping her shoes on. Natalia grinned and gave one big nod, before going back to her colouring.
"Go and get ready," Mother said. I sighed. Natalia ran upstairs to get her coat and whatever else as Mother wished me luck and walked out of the house. Vince wasn't home, Father was asleep in his chair and all that was left now was for Natalia and I to leave the house too.
Getting to the store was chaotic. Parking was even more chaotic. And the chaos increased a million times the moment we walked into the store.
Well, I walked like the dignified human being I am. Natty sprinted inside screaming at the top of her lungs.
Almost immediately, she ran to a guy who'd positioned himself in the fruits aisle to do a tiktok dance. I decided to stand there and simply watch because I had a feeling that whatever was going to happen next would be quite entertaining.
The boy looked down at her awkwardly, an uncomfortable expression forming on his face. "Can you, like-"
She held up a hand to stop him. "Trust me," she flashed one of her charming smiles at him.
Since there was no way I'd be able to stop her, I took out my phone and started recording. Natalia looked over and waved, and I gave her a big thumbs up as encouragement. I felt like a proud dad. The boy walked over to turn on the recording button and song.
The dance started and. Holy. Motherfreaking. Tacos. Believe me when I say this girl could dance. She somehow knew every single last move and did them perfectly in sync to the supposed music that was just out of ears reach. Even the guy standing next to her had his mouth open in shock. There was no denying that her tiny butt was talented as heck.
A crowd had formed around us by the time the dance had ended. She flashed them all her innocent award-winning smile and they all erupted into cheers and claps. The boy she'd interrupted no longer looked annoyed and high-fived her, ruffling her hair.
"Your sister is very talented, young man," someone said.
"Actually, she's my daughter," I smiled back at the woman who'd said that to me.
