Chapter Sixteen
S ighing, I let myself into the house. My back and feet ache like a motherfucker after spending all day in the shop. All I want to do is face plant on the couch and not move until morning, but I know there are a dozen things that need to be done before I can even think about sitting down.
Why the hell was I in a hurry to grow up fast when I was younger again? This adulting shit is for the birds.
I head into the kitchen to tackle the dishes. Walking up to the sink, I stop and stare.
What the hell?
The sink has been leaking for longer than I care to admit, but suddenly it’s not. Reaching out, I tap the underside of the faucet where the water comes out, finding it dry.
Huh. Maybe the landlord is finally starting to pull his weight around here.
I turn on the faucet and soak the sponge, getting it soaped up, and I dive in. Singing under my breath, I start with the plates and bowls before moving onto the cups and finishing off with the silverware. Right as I’m finishing, I hear the door open up.
“Hey,” I call out as I shut the water back off.
“Hi, sweetheart. How was your day?” Mom asks as she walks into the kitchen.
“Good. I came home, and the sink was fixed? How was yours?”
Mom frowns and shakes her head. “It was okay. You know how it is.”
“Do you work again tonight?” I ask, leaning against the counter.
“I do, unfortunately. Did the landlord call you and tell you he was stopping by?”
I shake my head. “No, I figured he called you.”
“Huh.”
“What’s wrong?”
She frowns. “Well, usually they should give us a heads up before coming in, but with our landlord, I’m a little confused considering he’s never actually made repairs for us in the past.”
“What else was fixed?”
“I noticed the shower had hot water this morning.”
I think about it, and she’s right. How did I not even notice that my shower wasn’t cold this morning? Then again, it’s not like I’ve been cranking it over where it wouldn’t heat up anyway.
Shit, maybe I will take a hot shower before I crawl onto the couch for the night.
“So for him to be doing it now is odd, especially where I was three days late with rent.”
“You were late on rent?” I ask as I hear whooshing in my ears.
Shit, if we’re behind, we might get evicted. We cannot afford another place. Between security deposits and first and last months’ rent, we would be fucked.
She raises a hand, trying to stop me from my spiral. “We’re paid up now. You have nothing to worry about.”
“If you say so,” I mumble, my heart still racing.
God, I don’t know what I would do if we lost this place. Maybe I should get a second job to help bring in more income.
“Sloane.”
“Huh?” I ask, shaking my head.
“I said your name three times. Where were you?”
“Sorry, I was just thinking. What’s up?”
“Where’s your brother?”
“Oh, he’s with Gunner. I was going to send Lee by himself, but Gunner offered him a ride,” I lie, not wanting her to know that I gave Lee permission to start working a few hours a week. She doesn’t need to worry.
She bites the corner of her lip and looks worried.
“What’s wrong, Mom?”
“What do you know about this Gunner?”
“That he’s my boss. He’s a little gruff, but nice. He doesn’t care that I’m a female working in the shop, and he gives me a ride home every night since my car still isn’t fixed.”
I leave out the fact that I know what he tastes like.
“Is that all?” she asks, sounding suspicious.
“Just spit out your question, Mom.” I sigh.
“Is there something going on between you two?”
There it is.
“We’re friends,” I say which is the truth but also a lie.
We are friends, but we feel like so much more. I just don’t know exactly where we stand. We haven’t had that talk, and I’m too scared of his answer to bring it up.
“You don’t ride on the back of a friend’s bike or go out of town with them. I never even asked, but where did you sleep?” she points out.
“We’re just friends. You have nothing to worry about. Seriously, where is this coming from? You’ve never asked this many questions before. I know I’m your kid, but I am an adult. I pay half the bills. I think I earned the right to make my own decisions.”
“Well, maybe I should have,” she mutters. “What about the others at the shop?”
I shake my head at her change of subject. “They’re a great group of guys, and I enjoy working with them. They treat me with respect. Why?”
She sighs and sags against the counter. “I haven’t said anything, but I don’t like you working there.”
I cross my arms over my chest, trying to hide my hurt. “Why not?”
“Because they’re bikers, baby. Those aren’t the type of men I want you associating with. They do bad things,” she says gently.
“I know who they are, Mom.” I roll my eyes. “Trust me, I was leery too, but they are genuinely good guys. They are working on my car for free. They keep me safe.”
“Sweetheart, they can’t be good and do what they do.” She rubs her hand through her hair. “You can’t trust them. They will seem sweet and caring, but before you know it, they will hurt you. I don’t want to see you hurt, baby.”
“Mom, we don’t know what they do. All we know is rumors, and even then, are the rumors you’ve heard about the Saints or another MC?” I challenge.
“I’m not talking about rumors, Sloane.” She steels her voice.
“What do you know then?” I cross my arms over my chest.
She deflates. “About the Saints? Nothing, but I’ve had run-ins with groups like them in the past. I’ve seen what they can do. I don’t want that for you.”
“You’re being awfully judgmental against a group of guys you are barely willing to look in the eye. Maybe don’t throw stones when you don’t quite live in a glass house yourself.”
She sighs, shaking her head. “There’s no changing your mind, is there?”
“No. Until they prove to me that they don’t deserve it, they have my loyalty. And honestly, even then I don’t know if I would walk. We need the money, and they gave me a chance to do what I love without getting hazed constantly. We can’t afford for me to be unemployed.”
She looks at me with such disappointment.
“I have to go change for work. Just do me a favor and watch your heart, okay? And if you see anything suspicious, you should report it. We don’t need their kind of trouble in our town.”
“Yeah, fine,” I say as she walks away.
I hate that she feels that way. That she is like everyone else in this town. I have seen the guys fix a car for free or go out of their way to pick up groceries and drop it off at a single mother’s home. They might do sketchy things sometimes, but they do a lot of good too. I only wish she could see it too.
“What the hell was that?” I whisper under my breath as I finish the kitchen.
Never, and I mean never, has she tried to give me advice and sway me away from someone or something, so why is she now? On top of that, before today, I would have told you that my mother was the least judgmental person I’ve ever met. Something about the whole interaction leaves me with questions.
I don’t know what exactly is happening with Mom or the house, but I’ll sure as hell figure it out one way or another.
“Killin it, kid,” I call out.
Lee looks over at me and smiles. “Thanks.”
Goddamn, it’s not very often, but every once in a while, I catch a glimpse of his sister in him. They both react to praise the same way. Like they’ve never been told they’ve done good at something. Although in Lee’s case, I think the only one who praises him is his sister.
“You’re picking up a lot faster than I thought you would. Which is good news for me,” Crow tells him.
The kid’s chest puffs out in pride, reminding me that he’s only sixteen.
“What’s next?” Lee asks us.
We just replaced the drywall in his closet after removing the mold.
“I found a soft spot in the hallway in front of the washing machine,” I tell Crow.
He nods. “Yeah, I noticed that the other day. I was going to ask what you wanted to do about that. It’s going to take more than a few stolen hours to get that taken care of.”
“Shit, I didn’t even think about that,” I say as I rub my jaw, thinking it over. “I’ll take Sloane out and leave you two to it. Your mom works late this week, right?”
“When doesn’t she work late? She’s never home, and when she is, it’s not for long,” Lee grumbles.
Crow and I share a look.
The kid is starved for attention, rightfully so. All he wants is a little time with his mom and sister without worrying about shit hitting the fan, and he’s never had that. The thought of them constantly living in fight-or-flight mode tears me up.
I’ll do better by them. I have to. I can’t stand the thought of them always waiting for the other shoe to drop.
The door opening has us scrambling.
“Shit,” I mutter as I look at my watch.
How in the fuck did I lose track of the time?
“Lee, I’m home. Where are you?” Sloane hollers.
“Back here,” he calls out.
Sloane walks back to Lee’s room and finds the three of us standing around.
She frowns and crosses her arms over her chest while she eyes the tools on the floor. “What’s going on here?”
Stepping forward, I kiss the corner of her mouth. “Hey, Trouble, how did you get home?”
“Jagger gave me a ride since you never came back.”
“You got on the back of another man’s bike, Trouble?” I ask gruffly, trying to keep my temper in check.
She rolls her eyes. “Of course not. Even I’m not that stupid. He brought me home in the tow truck. Now explain yourselves.”
“Sorry, I should have been there, but I lost track of time.”
“Gunner…” she hisses.
Crow clears his throat. “Sorry, Sloane, this is on me. Lee told me the wall needed fixed in his closet, so I came over to take a look. I realized it wouldn’t take long and figured it would be a good learning opportunity for Lee here,” he says as he slaps her brother’s shoulder.
Lee sways a little under my brother’s hand and smiles. “Yeah, good learning opportunity.”
Her eyes narrow. “And let me guess there have been other good learning opportunities around our place, hasn’t there?”
“This seems like a couple’s issue, so we’re just going to give you guys some privacy to work this out,” Crow says as he steers Lee out of the room.
Sloane steps out of their way and then closes the door behind them. “I need you to tell me what’s going on here, Gunner,” she says without looking at me.
“We’re just trying to help you out and make your life a little easier, Trouble. That’s all.”
She rubs her temples. “How much do I owe you?”
“Nothing.”
“No, Gunner, I have to owe you something. You guys have done too much. I don’t like owing anybody anything.”
I walk over to her and pull her into my arms. “You owe Crow and I nothing. Honestly, Lee is doing a lot of it with points from us. It’s not a big deal.”
“But it is.”
“I’m just trying to make your life easier. It fucking kills me every night when you get off the back of my bike and come in here to this shit show.”
“It’s not your job, though.”
“It is. I take care of what’s mine.”
She scoffs. “And I’m yours?”
“Damn right you are,” I mumble as I pull her in for a kiss.
She is mine, no question about it. I’m completely gone for her. Sloane Evans fucking consumes me. She walked into my life with her brand of chaos and made me want things I never wanted before.
“You can’t kiss me like that just to get your way,” she says breathlessly when I pull away.
“Of course I can.”
She pinches my side, making me chuckle.
“You know what I just realized?”
“That you’re a pain in my ass?” she quips.
“We just had our first fight. Do you know what that means?”
“No, but I’m sure you’ll tell me.”
“Make-up sex. I’ve never had it, but I’ve heard it’s good as hell,” I say as I rub her body against me.
Sloane sighs and pulls her head back to look me in the eye. “As tempting as that is, we aren’t having sex in my brother’s room while he and Crow are waiting in the living room to see if we’ve killed each other.”
I scoff. “Please, no one’s killing anyone in here unless it’s death by orgasms.”
“Orgasms will have to wait,” she says as she pulls out of my hold, taking my hand in hers. “Now come on, I want to see what else you guys have fixed when I haven’t been looking before you take us out for dinner.”
“I’m buying you dinner now?” I ask as she opens the door.
“Yep. It’s the least you can do, and a slushie for the road.”
“Of course, can’t forget the slushie.” I chuckle as I follow her down the short hall.
Crow is sitting on the couch, looking at his phone, while Lee paces back and forth, looking worried.
“Are you mad?” Lee asks when he sees his sister.
“I’m not mad, but I don’t like secrets. Is there anything else you want to tell me?” She lets go of my hand and crosses her arms over her chest.
Her momma bear is coming out in full force. Jesus, that shouldn’t be as hot as it is.
“Nope,” Lee says quickly.
A little too quickly.
Sloane opens her mouth to push the subject, and I step in.
“Who’s hungry? I’m buying.”