7. 7
7
M alice watched the fear flash across Bonnie’s face and wished he could just do away with the asshole now. His gut told him it would save them both a lot of trouble and her more than a little heartache. But something told him that wouldn’t go over well, not with her and he knew it wouldn’t look good for him.
Not to mention he had to think of his brothers now. He wasn’t on his own anymore. Doing something rash would splash back on the Demented Souls and they didn’t need that. No. What he needed to do was get this woman settled with a plan, then go get in the truck and head back to the ranch.
He wanted to make sure she was safe from the asswipe. What he really wanted to do was take her home with him to make sure the fuckwad stayed away, but living in the bunkhouse like he was made that impossible.
It took them another twenty minutes to come up with a plan they were both happy with. Or could at least live with. He wasn’t sure either was particularly happy about it, but it was the best they could come up with, given what they had to work with. Part of that plan was making sure she had his number, and he had hers, just in case. He watched as she left, then he climbed into the ranch truck he’d brought to town and went back to the ranch, determined to find living arrangements other than that fucking bunk house. Soon. Or he’d be finding a quite spot outside to lay his bedroll.
A n alarm in the next room reminded him of his vow to find somewhere else to live. He tried to come up with a solution as he shuffled his way into the dorm style shower, hoping there was enough hot water left to wake up his brain and ease some of the soreness from his muscles.
Ghost had moved into one of the cabins when they’d come back from North Dakota with Robyn. Malice wondered if maybe there was another he could move into. If he had to stay in this bunk house much longer, he was going to be getting in more trouble than he wanted to deal with.
He’d learned a long time ago that while he could handle communal living like this for a short while, long term just wasn’t feasible. The same things that had happened last time were starting already. He was getting more and more cranky and before long there would be fights. He didn’t want it to get that far. He liked most of these guys and didn’t want to alienate them if he could help it. He’d need to talk to Lurch, hopefully today if he could manage it, then he hoped they’d have an alternative figured out. Or at least in the works, even if the solution wasn’t immediate.
Finished in the shower, he dressed and stopped in the kitchen for a cup of coffee before going up to the main house for breakfast. The communal meals he didn’t mind so much. It meant he didn’t have to worry about cooking or what to make. If he managed to talk Lurch into letting him have one of the cabins, he didn’t plan to skip those. But another month, hell maybe another week, of dorm living and he’d be ready to kill someone.
He grabbed a jacket and headed up to the main house, hoping he’d have a chance to speak with the foremen, though he wasn’t sure which role would be better to approach the man as, ranch foreman or Souls president. He made his way to breakfast, deciding it didn’t matter. He’d talk to the man and let him decide which role would make the decision.
“Hey, pass the biscuits, before there aren’t any left,” Jake said from across the table from Malice.
He picked up the basket, which was only half full by the time it made it to him and handed it across the table. Then took the large bowl of scrambled eggs that was being passed his way and scooped a pile onto his plate before passing it down.
Every meal, or at least the breakfast and dinners served here on the ranch went much the same way, and he didn’t want to think about the amount of food this group put away, much less what it took to cook it or what it cost. He’d skipped dinner the night before, as he’d been in town and eaten at the diner, but any given day, one or two, sometimes more missed dinner, few missed breakfasts though. And sometimes even the women joined them to eat. Though that was more often for dinner than breakfast.
Malice focused on eating, getting through the meal, and getting his orders for the day, then trying to pull Lurch to the side so he could talk to him. Breakfast seemed to last forever, though he knew they usually put away an amazing amount of food in under half an hour. Near the end of the meal, Lurch stood and issued orders for the day. When he was done, he put his plate in the sink and went outside. Malice hurried to do the same. He wanted to catch the other man before he went too far.
“Hey, can I talk to you a minute?” Malice called after the ranch supervisor as he followed him out the door.
Lurch stopped, turned on one bootheel and looked at him for a moment. “You talking to me?”
“I don’t see anyone else out here.” It didn’t take him but a few steps to catch up and stand next to the other man.
Lurch frowned as he glanced around. “Sure. I’m headed to the barn. Can you walk and talk?”
“Wouldn’t be much good to you if I couldn’t.” They started toward the barn again and it was several steps before he spoke again. “I wanted to ask if it was possible and if so, what would it take, for me to get one of the cabins like Ghost and Robyn are living in.”
Lurch scowled his way but didn’t stop moving. When they reached the barn, the other man unlatched the doors and swung one open to the far wall, latching it open, while Malice did the same with its mate. When that was done, they both stepped inside where Lurch hit the switch for the lights.
“Why do you want a cabin? You plan on moving your girl in with you like he did?”
“No. I’m not into girls.”
“I didn’t know you swung that way. Not that it matters, but if you don’t bring your dates home, I don’t think the guys will care. I don’t see that as a reason to need a cabin.” They moved farther into the barn, where the man in charge counted bags of feed, checked supplies, and made sure all was right.
“I don’t ‘swing that way’ I meant I’m not into girls, I prefer women but that’s beside the point. I’m not planning on bringing anyone back. I just need some space. I can deal with something like the bunk house short term, but very long and I start to lose my shit. I’m getting close to that line, and I don’t want to lose my shit on one of the brothers. I don’t want to do that. It will cause more problems than it’s worth all the way around. Easier to get a little space and head it off before it becomes a problem.”
“How much longer you think you can deal with the bunk house?” Lurch didn’t look at him as he spoke, but continued with whatever he was doing.
“A few more weeks max, but I don’t want to push it that far if I don’t have to. It’s warm enough I’ll find an out of the way spot to throw my bedroll and sleep outside if I need to. That would buy me some time, if I need it.” He could get away with it all summer if he needed to, but he’d prefer not to have to do that, at least not for too long.
“That won’t be necessary. I’ve been checking out the cabins, trying to decide which ones need the least work, and what we can do quickly. We can have one or two livable in a couple weeks.” He paused, inspecting something Malice couldn’t see, then turned to face him again. “I knew this was coming. Ghost warned me you’d need a space of your own. I believe what he said was that you’re a grumpy fuck, but some of that can be mitigate if you don’t have to live in the bunk house too long.”
Malice couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped at his surprise. He wasn’t surprised his old partner had called him grumpy. It wasn’t the first time. And he was sure it wouldn’t be the last, what did surprise him was that the other man had thought to mention it to the foreman. He’d have to remember to thank Ghost. His forethought would make things easier for Malice and hopefully make this process faster.
“That’s great. Any way I can get started as soon as I get my work for today done?” He didn’t say that if he could, he’d probably take his bedroll with him and sleep there tonight.
“I’m going to go take stock of a couple of them this morning. Finish your chores this morning and come find me, call if you need to, then I’ll let you know. I’ll walk you through the place and we can make a plan to get things done so you can move in.”
“Sounds good. Now, if you don’t mind, I’ll get started on my day. Suddenly, I’m eager to get it done.” Malice turned toward the far end of the barn where he’d parked the truck the night before, and headed in that direction. His first job was to unload the feed he’d brought in the night before. As he made his way to the far end of the large barn, he thought he might have heard Lurch chuckle behind him. But he didn’t care.
There was a plan for him to move out of the bunkhouse, and hopefully soon, so he could handle more than he could have an hour ago. Things were looking up.