Page 27 of A Bear's Nemesis
“My mom was mostly high and my dad was mostly bouncing from job to job, drinking with his human friends, coming home and shouting at us and then falling asleep on the couch.”
He paused, but something in Quinn’s face spurred him on.
It doesn’t matter if she knows, he thought. She’s out of your life soon enough.
“My earliest memory is climbing on the kitchen counter and going through all the cabinets, trying to find cereal,” he said. “My second earliest memory is of my dad, coming home drunk and trying to teach me to fight.”
By now, his hand was holding onto the seat, next to Quinn’s shoulder, and she glanced at it.
Hudson started to move it away, but not fast enough.
Quinn put her hand on his.
“I’m sorry,” she said, her eyes staring into his.
Her touch nearly tingled, it made him feel so alive.
He managed a smile.
“I got a lot of black eyes until I learned to fight back,” he said. “But they never tried to assassinate someone, so I guess we’re even.”
He winked, and managed to get a smile out of Quinn.
“At least you turned out okay,” she said encouragingly.
Hudson laughed, and he could see Julius smile in the front seat as he turned into the motel parking lot.
“What? Pull around back,” she said. Julius obliged.
“It took me a while to turn out okay, and that’s still up for debate,” Hudson said.
Julius pulled into a parking space and turned the car off.
Quinn raised her eyebrows.
“What do you mean?”
Don’t,thought Hudson. Don’t ask her.
“It’s a long story,” he said. “What are you doing tomorrow?”
Right away, he saw Julius’s hands gripping the steering wheel, a withering glare in the rearview mirror.
Quinn turned a pleasing pink color.
“Probably just working on the website,” she said. She sounded both nervous and befuddled. “Why?”
“Let us take you out,” Hudson said.
In the front seat, he could practically hear the steam coming out of Julius’s ears, but he didn’t care. She’d be gone soon enough, and besides, Julius might get shot soon. Time to live a little.
“Oh! Well, yes, sure, but um,” Quinn said, turning even pinker and fumbling her words, “... my parents.”
Hudson met Julius’s furious eyes in the rearview mirror.
“We’ll think of something,” he said.
“I’ll think on it, too,” Quinn volunteered, sounding eager.
