Dragon

9 - This is not funny!

Dragon

I narrow my eyes at the little girl making her way over to me. Cute little thing must be lost.

“I like your hair.”

Weird thing for a kid to say to me.

My hair is long, too damn long, some would say. It could do with a cut; it’s touching my shoulders. It’s tied half up at the moment because it has a habit of flying in my face while I’m riding.

I watch as the girl tugs at her ponytail. Her hair is the same shade of brown as mine, but hers is really long, right down her back. She has mesmerizing eyes, a lot like my mother’s. Not the same shade; I’ve never seen a shade of hazel quite like this little girl’s.

“Thanks, I like yours, too.”

She smiles widely at me.

This whole thing seems a little strange. I feel as though I should know her or something.

“My name is Greer.”

“Dragon,” I tell her with a nod of my head.

“Why do they call you that?” She asks.

I smile. “It’s just a nickname. My real name is Connor.” I have no clue why I just told her that! I don’t usually share my Christian name with anyone, but it just slipped out of my mouth.

“I know.” She giggles.

She knows my given name?

How?

I look at my brother. Storm shakes his head at me.

“What the hell is going on here?” I ask him.

I swear to God, if these fucker.s are using this little girl so they can set me up with her mom, I’ll kill them!

“Greer! Where the hell are you?!”

“I have to go, that’s my mom.”

I startle when Greer runs at me and wraps her arms around my waist, resting her head on my stomach for a moment.

What the fuc.k?

“I’m so happy to finally meet you, Daddy.”

What the actual fuc.k?

I open my mouth to say something, but she’s already running down the hill away from us.

“Did she just call me Daddy?”

My brother nods.

I can’t help myself. I burst out laughing so hard and loud that I can hardly stand. “This is not funny, you fucker.s,” I say that, but I'm still chuckling to myself. “Couldn’t you think of a better way to get me on a date? You had to use someone’s kid like that? You should be ashamed of yourselves.”

“We didn’t,” Rabid grumbles.

“You really think we’d stoop that low?” Cobra raises his eyebrow at me, and I laugh louder.

“I don’t know what the fuc.k you’re laughing at, little brother.” Storm stands with his arms folded across his chest, staring at me as if I’ve just killed our entire family. “The information that eight-year-old girl just gave us proves she’s your kid.”

“Eight?” I scoff. “Are you fuckin’ stupid? How the hell can I have an eight-year-old kid?”

“From the fact that you fucke.d her mother. Kyla Swanson. Or have you forgotten about that and the promises you made to her?”

What the?

Kyla?

I got her pregnant?

She had my baby?

We made love once!

Oh, shi.t. I didn’t use a condom because I didn’t have one. I was too young and stupid to think about the consequences. Kyla had my baby, and she was all alone without me. There is no way Kyla would lie about me being the father. I know that, I do not even need to question it.

“Wait,” I rub the back of my neck with my hand. If that kid is mine, then... “Kyla’s back?” My heart is fuckin.g banging out of my chest. She’s back; my Kyla is home!

“What the fuc.k, Dragon?” Rabid snaps. “We just told you that you have an eight-year-old daughter, and all you care about is her mother!”

I blink at my cousin, then look at Storm.

How the fuc.k do they expect me to react?

They just told me that the girl I love is home and that we have a daughter.

Did they think I’d be jumping for joy at the prospect of being a father to a child of that age?

“Don’t you dare go looking for Kyla and forgiving what she’s done, Dragon. She had your child and then kept her from you for eight years!”

“Forgive her?” I’m in shock, and I’m not sure I heard Storm correctly.

Does he believe that I’m angry with Kyla?

Or that I should be?

I can’t be angry with Kyla for not telling me about Greer; I know how bad her mother was. She was strict and not always nice in the way she spoke to Kyla. That old bitc.h would have forced Kyla to keep quiet. She probably took Greer from Kyla until she was old enough and brave enough to take her back.

Sure, there’s no real excuse as to why Kyla kept Greer from me. But there could be a hundred reasons at the same time. I have no clue what the hell Kyla has been through all these years, but if that kid is mine, then I have to find her. I have to know why she didn’t come home sooner.

“Dragon!”

“What?” Fuc.k, I must have spaced out.

My brother is a huge man, six-foot-four, built like a brick shithouse. Storm takes after our dad in every way a man can. He’s even been mistaken for him once or twice by a couple of old men, who laughed it off when they realized my brother is obviously over thirty years younger than our dad.

Cobra looks like Dad, too.

Me?

I look a little like my dad, but I have a lot of my mother in me. I have her tanned skin, dark hair, hazel eyes, and bright smile, just as Hilly does.

That little girl had the same qualities.

Fuc.k!

“Why the fuc.k didn’t you tell me you fucke.d up this bad?”

“Right. Because I was just supposed to fuckin’ know that I knocked up my best friend the day before I turned fifteen? I didn’t know, you son-of-a-b***h!” I won’t have Storm speak to me like he’s my father.

Fuckin.g prick.

“This is why you’re not interested in dating, isn’t it?” I grit my teeth at Rabid. “Because you’ve been waiting for Kyla to come home?”

“Fuc.k this.” I’m not in the mood for this. I need to think, and I can’t do that with these fucker.s asking questions that I won’t answer.

I walk away from them and ignore their calls for me to come back because we’ve got things to do. Fuc.k them; they can pick up the slack. I need to find Kyla.

The only trouble is, I don’t have a clue where to look. Maybe I should calm my racing heart first. I don’t want to find Kyla while I’m in a state.

I am in no way angry with Kyla; I know she’ll have an explanation as to why I’m only now finding out about my daughter. But I need to sort my head out before I speak with the woman I have always loved. I won’t go rushing in and scaring Kyla, not to mention Greer. I won’t mean to, but I can come across as harsh sometimes.

The wind blows against my face and through my hair as I wonder what Kyla looks like now. I imagine she grew to be stunning, and I bet her smile still reaches her eyes. Kyla was always the most beautiful creature I’d ever laid eyes on.

Thinking about her as a woman, I can imagine she grew into her breasts and has curves in all the right places.

Don’t most who give birth fill out a little?

I can’t even begin to imagine what Kyla has been going through the past nine years. She must have been so scared when she found out that she was carrying our baby. Her mother won’t have made things easy; I know that without asking.

Kyla’s father was incredibly strict, and her sisters weren’t exactly caring towards her. I hate to think that Kyla was all alone through her pregnancy. I should have been there for her, but I know her mother would have threatened Kyla with all sorts of things to keep me in the dark.

I know Kyla will tell me everything as soon as I find out where she is. I also know it’ll take a long time for me to make it up to Kyla, even though she’ll say there’s nothing to make up for.

I don’t know if I’m ready to be anyone’s father. I’m twenty-four. Christ, I’m still a child! But I guess it’s time to grow up. It’s my turn to take some of the burdens from Kyla’s shoulders. Not that our daughter is a burden. I could see what a fantastic job Kyla did in raising Greer just by looking at that little girl.

But what if I’m not a good father?

What if I mess up when it comes to Greer?

I don’t know anything about raising a child!

My parents will be shocked to learn that I have a daughter, but I know they’ll support me. Family is everything to us, and no one gets left behind.

I don’t need to worry about what the Snakes will think of my little girl. I know they’ll welcome Greer with open arms. They’ll even welcome Kyla without question.

I’ve waited for this day for nine years, the day Kyla came home.

But what if things have changed, and she no longer wants me?

What if the promises we made didn’t mean as much to Kyla as they did to me?

What if Kyla is married now?

What if Kyla has more children with her husband?

What if Greer calls someone else Dad?

Jesus, I never thought about that! The girl I love may have married someone else. They could be happy with kids of their own, and I don’t want to ruin that. Though my gut is clenching at the idea, and my heart is aching, I would never do anything to hurt Kyla. It doesn’t matter if she has moved on; it was a childish dream to think she wouldn’t.

God knows where I would fit into their lives. But I am Greer’s dad, and Kyla must want me to be a part of my daughter’s life.

Why else would Greer have come looking for me?

I’m not going to sit here guessing the reasons why Kyla didn’t find me before Greer did; they’ll only be wrong.

I have so many questions that need answering. Only Kyla can give them to me; I just don’t know if I’m ready to hear it yet.

Then get ready, Dragon. You have a child who needs you, so get your head out of your ass!