Chapter 29 Zander #2
Getting my hands on the Beast was like a dream come true.
It’s one of the few projects we never got to.
The motorcycle had been sitting in his garage for years, but the parts were hard to come by, and other things always got in the way.
Getting it running was a dream that he never got to achieve, and when he died, Trent threw himself into it even though he didn’t know a thing about mechanics.
He'd never cared to learn, instead worrying about his GPA and sports. But when he lost his dad, I think it was something he regretted. We had planned to work on it together, but before that could happen, things fell apart with us, and just like that, it wasn’t a dream I could make come true for him or me.
No matter how often I asked, he wouldn’t bring it in.
He knew what that bike meant to me, and whether he just didn’t want to accept help or he intended to hurt me, I'm not sure, but it did, not that I would tell him.
Just a handful of times with Jade was all it took, though.
He wanted her, and he’s willing to play nice if that’s what it took for us to let him be around her.
Little did he know, she wasn’t one to be told she couldn’t do something.
Rick had already told her how we felt about Trent, which clearly did nothing.
But I wasn’t going to be the one to tell Trent that, not if it got my hands on that bike.
I could see it in his eyes when he looked at her that first night, but he was really a goner after the party. His need to be around her was something I could relate to. It should piss me off or make me jealous, but I found it didn’t, not even a little bit.
Not anymore.
I had been mad at first, but now I see I was only angry for her.
He'd almost left her behind in that hell, in a literal hole in the ground. He didn’t deserve to look at her like that.
But even knowing that, she still seems to enjoy being around him, she didn’t hold it against him, so far as I could tell.
He makes her smile; at the end of the day, that was all I wanted for her.
Who was I to say shit if he made her happy?
Watching him with her was like watching her with Kratos. She could be good for all of us. Shit, I had seen how Rick and Spencer looked at her that first night, and I think she could be good for them too.
If they would just let her in.
Rick has warmed up a bit. Honestly, I’m not sure how she crawled under his stony exterior, but I can see the cracks.
To anyone else, they might say he’s just doing his job, but there were hints you could find if you looked hard enough, and after years with him, those hints screamed at me like a banshee.
I can also see that he's struggling with it, which is why I’ve left him alone so far. Usually, I would be the first to give him shit about this little crush, but doing that could push him to lash out at her, and I couldn’t chance him pushing her away. He's not good with feelings.
No, I’ll let him figure it out on his own.
For now.
I turn my attention back to the manual in my hands and push the thought of Jade from my mind, or try to. She never really leaves me fully nowadays, and I can’t say I mind.
The thought of Trent’s dad makes my chest tight. I remember how our lives have taken turn after turn to get us here.
A few days after that fight, Jake told me that Sin’s leader had been there while I fought.
He told Jake I was welcome to the fights whenever I wanted.
For years, I stayed away, but in the year that followed Trent’s dad's death, I was there so often that I became their main event. Now, we run those fights under Vengeance, and while I don’t have as much time to participate, I still go when I can. I'm still undefeated.
It’s crazy to think something like that small decision shaped my future. I would have never known I was good in the ring if I hadn't tagged along with Jake on that run. Shit, I would have never known I could be good with cars if I hadn’t gotten picked up after that fight, either.
Now, cars are as much a part of my identity as fighting, maybe more.
The whole thing reminds me a lot of how Jade was dropped into our lives.
I bet Jade would dominate in the ring.
I shake the thought away before it can take me too far down the rabbit hole. I need to know more about this bike so I can get it running. Thinking about Jade in the ring, dripping with the blood of a guy three times her size, won’t help me with that.
Shit.
The manual drops to the table with a thud as I reach down to adjust my cock that, now, strains painfully in my jeans. Clearly, even that small thought was too much for me. Now I get to try and focus with a boner, perfect.
Carding my hand through my hair, I look over at the clock on the wall. I have just over an hour until I need to be at the garage to meet Trent, but seeing as I don’t think I’ll be making any headway on reading, I could probably head out now.
Or I could look for Jade.
I grab the manual and head out of my room in a rush. I make it all the way to her door before I remember she’s not here.
Rick was supposed to take her out shopping today. Considering he was looking for her just a few hours ago, and I haven't seen either of them since I assume they’re still gone.
Damn.
Disappointment runs through me so hard that I have to take a breath and fight it off. This is a good thing. They need time together. Honestly, going to her when thoughts of her just had me hard as fuck probably isn’t a good idea, anyway. I don’t want to pressure her or make her uncomfortable.
I shake off the crappy feeling trying to take over and plaster a smile back on my face. I wonder how their shopping trip is going.
Before I reach the stairs, the sound of a door opening behind me has me looking back over my shoulder.
I assume it’s Spencer since we should be the only ones here, but I can’t make myself not look to know for sure.
With our lifestyle, the need to be on our toes is so far integrated into us that we don’t let our guard down, even in our own house.
To my surprise, it’s not Spencer but Rick coming out of his office.
Huh, maybe Jade’s here after all.
Rick looks up at me as he closes his office door. I can’t stop my eyes from darting to her door in a silent question, and because he knows me so well, he can easily understand.
“She’s not here,” he says, shaking his head at me as he walks down the hall toward me.
“I dropped her off on campus about thirty minutes ago to study with Hazel and Trent,” he tells me.
Trent’s name rolls off his tongue like it leaves a foul taste in his mouth.
Yeah, things are rough with them, but at least Rick hasn’t beaten the shit out of him yet.
Considering how badly I know he wanted to the night we found her, that's something. Not to mention, he brought her there, so that’s progress.
I nod and head down the stairs. Guess I’ll just head to the garage early after all.
I follow Rick into the kitchen and stop short as I look at the mountain of fresh fruits and vegetables on the island counter. I turn to him in question as he moves to the sink, where I can see he was busy cleaning them to be put away before he went to his office for whatever he needed.
He doesn’t even look up to see my reaction, but he must know I have one.
With a sigh, he explains. “Jade’s only ever had basic foods.
She said she had tried a banana once and potatoes for dinner, but that’s about it.
Hard to buy food when you have no idea what you like.
” He continues to wash the fruit, but I swear I can see the slightest hint of red on his cheeks.
His words make sense, but I know him better than that.
He can say whatever he wants, but I see what's really going on here.
Fuck, I want to call him out on it so badly.
Rick is a stickler for rules and the process. I can’t remember the last time he bought this much food. Fuck, I don't know if I've tried everything that's on the counter right now.
We have money to spare, we could easily have an overflowing kitchen every day, but he doesn’t like to waste.
Fruits and vegetables don’t have a huge shelf life, so he usually just rotates out what he buys and shops often.
I can’t even get him to buy oranges every time he goes, and I could damn near live on those.
Rick broke his own rule for Jade, and the best part is that she doesn’t even know it. But he does, and I do, too. So, he can try for casual all he wants, but we both know I’m not buying it.
Too bad I still stand by needing to let him handle this one on his own for now.
I have to physically bite down on my lip to keep myself from commenting, but try as I might, I can’t keep the smirk off my face.
He must have been waiting for me to say something because he looks up at me in confusion after a few minutes of silence. I shrug and head to the fridge to grab a water bottle for the ride, feeling his eyes on me as I head to the door that leads to the garage.
If I wasn’t planning on leaving before, I am now. No way can I keep my mouth shut for much longer, no matter how much I know I need to. Nope, it’s better to just take myself out of the situation. I can laugh about it all I want on the drive to the garage.
“Zander,” Rick calls just before I reach the door. I stop and look back at him over my shoulder. He’s still at the sink, but his attention is on me, the water running over strawberries that sit forgotten in the strainer.
“Do you have a moment before you head out?” he asks, shutting the water off and grabbing a towel to dry his hands, leaving the strawberries in the sink.
I glance up at the clock. I still have forty-five minutes, and since the shop isn’t far, I should have more than enough time. Worst case scenario, I call Trent and tell him I’m running late. I don’t think he’ll mind a little extra time with Jade.