Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 46130 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 231(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46130 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 231(@200wpm)___ 185(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
“Oh. I’m sorry, too.” She smiled at him and added, “Tomorrow is going to be better. Did you help that woman get home?”
“I made sure she got back to town.”
“That was nice of you all to stop and help her,” Harper chimed in.
“You gave her a bear?” Elizabeth asked, abandoning the dance floor to join the growing circle of Little girls around Faust.
“I think your Daddy wants to dance,” Faust pointed out.
“Oh, he really doesn’t. He volunteered to entertain us until you got back to tell us all the deets,” Remi told him, before pulling her bubble gum partially out of her mouth to twirl around her finger.
Faust rubbed his hand over his head and looked at their Daddies who observed with grins. “No deets. Molly had a flat. We stopped to help her. I gave her a bear because I thought she might like one. Storm and Blade changed her tire. I followed her back to town.”
“You thought she might like a bear?” Carlee asked with a grin.
“We didn’t know you were psychic, Faust,” Atlas commented.
“Fuck off, Atlas,” Faust snarled.
“Ooo! That’s more money for the swear jar.” Eden ran off toward the library.
“Walk, Little girl,” Gabriel ordered.
Eden peeked over her shoulder after slowing down. “Sorry, Daddy.” She skipped the rest of the way there and back.
“Ten dollars, please,” Eden chirped, holding the jar bulging with bills up for Faust to add his contribution to.
“I thought it was five,” he growled as he reached for his money clip in his front pocket.
“Inflation,” Addie suggested.
“And you used the F word. That’s double,” Remi pointed out.
“Right.” Faust put his hands on his hips and tried to stare her down. Remi didn’t blink.
“Her name was Molly? And she hugged you?” Elizabeth asked.
“Seems like some Daddies around here have loose lips. I thought what happened between brothers stayed between brothers,” Faust said, glaring at the men who’d all now gathered close.
“Ten dollars, please,” Addie reminded him. Eden held the jar a bit higher.
Faust shook his head and carefully peeled off the required amount from his money roll. He pressed it gently into the jar. He didn’t want to hurt any of the Littles, especially Adelaine. She hadn’t been with Bear too long.
“So, she hugged you?” Harper asked.
“Yes. She hugged me. It didn’t mean anything. She said the minister told her to stop hugging people,” Faust exploded, causing the Littles to back up closer to their Daddies.
“Faust…” Bear warned.
“The minister. So, she’s religious,” Elizabeth noted.
Ivy pulled a small notebook out of her pocket and wrote something carefully.
“What are you doing, Little girl?” Steele asked before Faust could.
“Oh, we want to find Molly for Faust,” Carlee explained. “We’re taking notes. Did she have any striking characteristics? A lisp? A limp? A missing limb?”
“What? No,” Faust said, looking at Carlee. He didn’t know what to do with her. A missing limb? That’s fucked up. “She was perfectly well formed.”
“Oooo!” the Little girls said in unison. Ivy added that to her notes.
“Welcome to the world of Littles, Faust,” Steele said, holding up his hand for a fist bump.
Faust just shook his head.
“You can’t leave Daddy hanging!” Ivy protested and practically climbed Steele to bang her fist against her Daddy’s before turning to glare at Faust.
Faust found himself apologizing before he even knew what he was doing. He didn’t apologize. For anything.
“That’s okay, Faust. You had a close encounter of the hug kind today. That’s got to set you a bit wacky.” Ivy forgave him and took advantage of being in Steele’s arms to rest her head on his shoulder. “We’ll forgive you if you give me more information to add to our notes.”
“Little girl. You are not to search for Molly. Leave that to Faust. He can find her,” Steele told her before looking at him. “That Morningside Methodist Church sticker in the window might help you, Faust.”
“Oooo!” the Littles said together again. Ivy dug her pad and pen out of her pocket and tossed it to Eden to add that to the notes.
“Thanks, Steele. I hadn’t noticed that at all.” Faust turned and stalked through the clubhouse to his apartment.
He forced himself not to pull his phone out of his pocket until he reached the privacy of his rooms. Closing the door, he leaned against it and did a quick search. It was in a good area. Hopefully, she lived close by. He’d go visit the church tomorrow.
He wouldn’t spontaneously combust if he stepped into a church. Would he? More likely, they’d chase him out with pitchforks.
Let them try.
Faust jumped in the shower and washed the day off. He worked getting the ground-in motorcycle grease off his hands. It seemed to weld itself in his skin as he worked each day to make motors growl. He realized he was stressing too much when his skin looked more red than sparkly clean. Pulling on a fresh pair of jeans and a T-shirt, he stopped for a minute to spread some thick cream on his abused hands.