Chapter 24
When I woke up, Hudson was gone, but he had left me another of his t-shirts, this one I remembered from when we were kids.
He’d been obsessed with Guns N Roses back then and it had the classic crucifix logo with the skull versions of the band members.
It was more grey than black from all the washes it had undergone.
The colors faded on the Appetite for Destruction logo, but it was soft, and it smelled like him when I pulled it on over a pair of shorts to head downstairs.
I tucked my phone into my pocket. I’d deleted Declan’s messages, but I’d had to call my boss a couple of days ago and I’d made the tough decision to tell him I didn’t know when I would be back.
I told him I’d be available if he needed me when I returned, but he was pissed off about being left in the lurch and was noncommittal to my suggestion.
The more time I was here, the more time I was spending with Hudson, Connor, and my brother, the more I was feeling at home.
Hudson had come as a complete surprise. He hadn’t been quiet about hating the fact I was home or trying to do everything he could to make my time here miserable, the minute we admitted there was more that we hadn’t known after that night, he’d changed into a completely different person.
Well, around me. He was still a scary asshole to the rest of his brothers, and I knew he was still the enforcer in training.
They all still went off to their meetings and the secrecy around club business was maintained, but with me, it was like he had reverted to the guy I’d been in love with all those years ago.
Now that was a thought that scared me and it was the one that had me offering to pick up my job again once this was over, even if it were in the back of my mind that I would never go back.
King hadn’t mentioned the troubles with the Kingsmen again and neither had any of the guys. Didn’t mean the threat had gone away, but King had given me all the information he felt I needed about that.
As far as I knew, there had been no more trouble with the other MC and there was more of an air of achievement and celebration around after everything going on with Andrew being taken in by the police. As much as I didn’t want to admit out loud, I was feeling happy here.
I was pleased to know I’d been excused from cooking duty while I was recovering, but I still helped the old ladies. There were a couple of younger kids finishing breakfast when I came in, but they were hurrying to get out for their ride to school so, I offered to clean up after them.
Once they were gone and I’d eaten, I made another cup of coffee, against Doctor’s orders, but I’d be even more miserable without caffeine. I went to sit out on the patio. It was shaded enough I wasn’t in direct sunlight, but I could still people watch from here.
After a while, I got bored and went to find someone to talk to.
Most of the old ladies were out at work.
I didn’t know where my brother or Hudson were, but I’m sure I’d find someone to keep me from losing my mind.
I wandered towards the garage where Handlebar was working on one of the bikes.
He had taken some parts of the engine out and they laid out on the floor.
He greeted me and humored me when I started asking what he was doing.
He was so handsome and welcoming and had a southern twang to his accent that hadn’t quite gone, even though he’d been in New Jersey for a long time. I ended up passing him tools and parts and he chuckled when I asked to help put things back together, but he showed me what to do.
Of course, it helped that he was hot, and he only wore a vest with his coveralls tied at his waist. Grease had never been so sexy. I could see why Cassie had a thing for him.
“So, how’s the love life?”
“Subtle,” Handlebar chuckled as he lay down on his side and reached his arm inside the machinery of the bike’s engine. “And I do okay. No need to worry about it.”
“I’m not worried. I’m just trying to be helpful.”
“That right?” he finished what he was installing and sat up, his stomach muscles crunching, the vest left little to the imagination. “Helpful to who, exactly?”
“A friend.”
“Right,” he wiped his hand over his brow, and I’ll admit it, I swooned. “Hand me that wrench.”
I passed it to him, and he leaned back into the bike. For a horrible moment I had visions of the engine turning on and mangling his arm, but this wasn’t exactly ‘Christine’ the bike wasn’t alive or in any shape to be switched on. My brain was deprived of stimulation.
“So what kind of girl floats your boat, or your handlebar?” I laughed.
He climbed to his feet, giving me a look that said he wasn’t sure what to make of me. “Different kinds,” he said.
“Come on, everyone has a type. Blondes? Red heads? Dark-haired, Italian, lawyers?”
He shook his head while looking into a box of bolts. But I could see his lips curl. Oh yeah, he knew who I meant. I jumped up on the workbench, my legs swinging.
“I bet you she’d say yes if you asked her out.”
“Asked her out?” he parroted.
“Yeah, on a date.”
He laughed again under his breath. “I’m not so sure about that.”
“You won’t know until you try,” I urged.
He put the pot down, wiped his hands with the rag again, then went back to the bike without responding.
“Oh,” I clicked. “You’ve already tried.”
He glanced at me without a word, then knelt back in front of the bike and started twisting something.
Cassie, what a fucking idiot. What did she do?
Why the hell would she turn him down? It was obvious she was attracted to him, and he liked her.
I would have a stern discussion with her the next time she came around.
“You should try again. I bet she’d agree this time. If I speak to her.”
“Leave it alone,” he said without looking at me. I sensed a bit of heat in his words this time, but I didn’t want to be deterred.
“You both like each other though, it’s obvious. I mean, she won’t admit to it, but I can see it when she looks at you or when anyone looks at you. Talk about possessive.”
He turned to me, his forehead bunched so a little angry line appeared between his eyebrows. “Look, I know you mean well, but you should drop this crazy notion anything will happen.”
“You don’t know that.”
He sighed heavily. I was wearing him down, and Cassie was going to be thanking me.
“I don’t like to gossip, Waverley, and I’m going to assume that I can trust you with what I am about to tell you. I don’t want to cause any trouble for anyone, least of all myself. You feel me?”
“Er, sure, okay,” I said.
“We had a night together. Just one. It won’t happen again.”
A night together? Oh, understanding dawned on me. He was such a southern gentleman, he didn’t want to say it so bluntly. Cassie had already screwed the hot mechanic. And she had not told a soul. But what happened? Why wouldn’t it happen again? It all made sense now why she got so defensive.
It wasn’t a crush. Was it a regret? I couldn’t imagine being with Handlebar was something any woman would live to regret. I needed to talk to her about this. But that would give away that Handlebar told their secret, and they were keeping it for a reason.
Handlebar faced me across the bike and even though we weren’t alone in the garage, no one had paid any mind to our chat. “Do us both a favor and just please leave it alone.”
I was about to protest when I realized there was a look of sadness on his face.
He didn’t want to discuss why Cassie was rejecting him.
Whatever happened between them had hurt him.
I nodded instead, feeling like a total asshole for pushing and joking with him.
The only thing I could think to do was focus on something that made him happy.
I hopped down off the bench and picked up what looked like a gun attached to a tube.
“What’s this and how do I use it?”
“That is an air powered impact gun, not a toy,” he said, taking it out of my hands.
“But what do you use it for?” I asked and grinned when he looked at me like I was an annoying kid in his workshop.
“Unscrewing nuts,” he said with an arched brow.
“I’m sure that is something you have no problem with.” I grinned at him.
“As I explained before, I do okay. Both with my tools and my…tools,” he put the impact gun down and pointed at a funnel behind me with a straight face despite his joke. “Grab that. We’re gonna change the oil now.”
“Yes sir,” I laughed. I’d leave him be. But somehow I had to figure out how not to let Cassie off the hook without letting on I knew what she’d done.
I stayed in the garage for a couple more hours, working with Handlebar until the bike was put back together and working like a dream.
I offered to run it around and make sure it worked, but I got the MC glare.
No one rode another man’s bike, especially not a girl, but it was fun to see the look on his face while he tried to figure out if I was going to steal the keys.
He put them in his overall pockets, to be sure.
He went to the fridge in the office to get us some water.
I glanced over at the counter where my phone sat.
It had been on silent all day and I’d not paid any attention to it, but as I turned, I noticed the screen light up.
I’d changed the screensaver to a picture of me and Connor a couple of days ago. It had been Declan until that point.
There were a couple of missed calls from his phone. He hadn’t tried calling for a while, so it was strange that he was ringing now.
“You gonna get that?” Handlebar asked, handing me a bottle of water then unscrewing his own to take a long drink. The phone went dark between us. “Avoiding someone?”
“Kind of,” I played with the lid of my water and the phone lit up between us again.
“Doesn’t look like he’s giving up,” Handlebar patted my shoulder. “Maybe you should answer and put him out of his misery.”