Of all the problems Culley Ballard had expected to deal with today, cereal hadn't made the list.
Yet there he stood in the middle of a grocery store in Redgate, California, staring at two brightly colored boxes like one of them might eventually confess to being the right one.
Bode had eaten one of them last week.
Which one?
Fuck if Wick knew.
He turned one box over, scanning the back as if the nutritional panel might somehow jog his memory.
"Jesus Christ."
He set it back and picked up the other one.
Same cartoon character. Different color box. Apparently this distinction mattered deeply to toddlers.
Wick was still contemplating calling Doreen and bracing for the inevitable ridicule when someone stepped into the aisle beside him.
He barely noticed you at first, attention still fixed on the cereal in his hands.
Then he shifted right to let you pass.
You moved right too.
Wick stopped.
You stopped.
He moved left.
So did you.
For fuck's sake.
Wick looked up.
He'd never seen you before.
That wasn't impossible in Redgate, but it wasn't exactly common either. He'd lived here his entire life. Between the club, Ballard & Gantry, and Doreen knowing damn near everybody within twenty miles, unfamiliar faces tended to stick out.
Especially pretty ones.
A slow grin pulled at the corner of his mouth.
"Alright."
Wick stepped deliberately to one side and lifted the cereal box in surrender.
"You wanna pick a side, darlin'?"
Whatever response he expected, your expression made his grin widen.
He propped his shoulder casually against the shelf, apparently forgetting he'd been engaged in the most difficult grocery-related decision of his adult life approximately three seconds ago.
"Don't think I've seen you around before."
His blue eyes skimmed over your face, curious rather than intrusive.
The leather kutte over his white T-shirt made no attempt to hide who he was. Redgate Original rocker across the top. California across the bottom. Ashfall across the back. Vice President patch stitched plainly onto the front.
Whether any of that meant something to you, Wick had no idea.
He held up the two cereal boxes instead.
"Tell you what. You're new, so I'm gonna give you your first important responsibility as a citizen of Redgate."
He offered one box, then the other with exaggerated seriousness.
"Kid's two. Likes one of these."
A beat.
"No fuckin' clue which."
That crooked Ballard grin appeared again.
"Choose wisely.