Chapter 29 Zander #4
His eyes narrow at the mention of Trent, but he doesn’t say anything, even though I’m pretty sure he wants to. He might not like Trent because of our shit, but we both know he’s a good guy. Probably better for her than we are, if I’m being honest.
If I weren’t in so deep with her already, I would probably encourage her to be with him.
It would be easier and safer, and she would be happy.
He would make sure of it. Call it selfish or fucked up, but whatever it is, I don’t care.
I’ll be here until she tells me she doesn't want me. Even then, I’m not sure I’ll be able to let her go, but fuck, I’ll try if that's what she needs from me. That's more effort than I’ve ever put in for a girl in my life, more effort than I’ve ever put in for anyone but the guys, putting her needs and wants above my own.
“If we can all agree to that, we should be just fine, and anyone who can’t. Well, they can fuck off,” I tell him in complete seriousness.
Rick looks at me for a moment, and I can damn near hear the gears working in his head as he thinks about what I just said. Then, after a minute of silence, he nods, and I see the decision in his eyes, his determination, even before he replies.
“I agree. Jade should be allowed to choose,” he says simply.
Now, we just have to talk to everyone else and ensure we're all on the same page.
“I’ll talk to Kratos about it when I go to the club tomorrow,” he says, as if he can read my mind.
“I can probably mention it to Trent when I meet him at the garage. I doubt he’ll be down for it, but who knows?
” I say with a shrug, because I honestly don’t know anymore.
Before Jade, he couldn't look at us without looking like he just sucked on a lemon, and now he's not only playing nice, he's gone so far as to let me work on the bike.
Jade’s changed everything.
With that handled, I fish my phone from my pocket to check the time. Trent’s more traditional and by the rules than we are, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen him look at anyone like he does Jade.
Shit, now I’m late.
I grab my water bottle and head toward the door in a bit of a rush.
“I’ll let you handle Spencer while you're at it,” I shout over my shoulder, and I hear him sigh just before the door closes behind me. I can’t help but chuckle at the thought of how that conversation will go down.
What I wouldn’t give to be a fly on the wall to see it.
Spencer can pretend he hates Jade all he wants, but I call bullshit.
I still don’t want to be the one who has that conversation with him, though. I’m more liable to beat his ass than talk to him with the way he’s been acting lately.
Though I don’t know if Rick will fare much better if Spencer starts his shit, he’s not one for feelings usually, but when people attack something he cares about, he’s vicious, and Spencer might end up on the receiving end of that without even knowing.
I make good time getting to the shop and end up only being about ten minutes late. Not terrible for me.
It helps when the speed limit isn’t a factor.
No cop in this city is stupid enough to pull us over.
Well, a few of the older ones might, but Rick’s dad would let me off, anyway.
He might be the only one not in Froggie’s pocket, but he’s not entirely straight-laced either, at least not when it comes to us.
I whip into my spot in the front of the shop and kill the engine. I don’t even bother turning the radio down from its pounding volume. I’m sure I’ll regret it when I start it back up later, but for now, I’m too excited to get my hands on this bike to give a damn.
I shut down the rest of the building for this appointment. Usually I have some of the lower guys here during the week to run shit when I can’t, but not today. I’m sure they didn’t mind the day off.
Trent has The Beast loaded in the back of his truck. Waiting just outside one of the bay doors, he stands, leaning up against the passenger side door.
If this were just a few weeks ago, he would have been raging at being left waiting, but now, the most I can say is he might look mildly annoyed, which I’ll take, even if he should know better than anyone that I’m never on time for anything.
“Hey, man,” I call as I pass him, heading to the door to unlock it and haul it open. He gives me a nod, but his eyes are glued to his phone, a slight pinch between his brows. He quickly pockets it and heads around his truck to the bed without a word.
I have to remind myself that we aren’t friends anymore. Once upon a time, I would have stopped to ask him what was eating him. Those days are gone, and while we might be able to get along right now, it’s not a magical fix-all. We have a long way to go before we get back to that.
If we ever get back to it.
I'm sure if he wants to talk about it, he will. He’s a big boy.
We pull down the ramp and get the bike down with ease. Our friendship might be over, but our ability to work side by side is rooted so deep into us, that it just works.
Not that I can complain, I can’t fucking wait to get my hands on this bike. The quicker I get to work on it, the happier I’ll be. I’ve waited years for this moment.
I wheel it into the garage and head into the building to grab the parts from storage. I ordered these parts years ago, hoping he would cave one day. Now I’m happy I did.
It takes a few trips, but eventually, I have everything I need. Trent sits on one of the rolling stools, again frowning at his phone.
“If you got shit to do, you don’t have to stay. If you want to help, that’s cool, but I can’t say I would blame you if you wanted to go back to studying, either,” I call to him as I rummage around in my toolboxes for some of the shit I know I’ll need.
I don’t mind either way, but I half expect him to jump at a chance to go back to Jade. I mean, hell, I’ve been stuck to her as much as she'll allow, and it still doesn’t ever feel like enough.
“You know you don’t have to be such an ass. I get that you wanted to work on the bike, and I didn’t let you, but I’m fucking trying to be civil here, and you guys aren’t making it easy,” he scoffs at me, anger making his words come out harsh and stopping me dead.
The frown on his face is still there, but now it’s also pinched in anger.
I hold up my hands in mock surrender, unsure when he lost his sense of humor. “Chill, I was just messing around.”
“Whatever,” he snaps, looking down at his phone again, even angrier than before I spoke.
Shit, I was only trying to cheer him up a bit, offer him an out. Guess that was a bad idea.
Yeah, whatever's right, though, he can be pissy all he wants, but I’m on cloud nine, and I won’t be letting his shitty mood affect me, no matter the cause.
I work in silence for a while, going over every part of the bike to see if I can find the issue before pulling it apart. Sadly, to the naked eye, everything looks fine, which means ripping it apart will be required.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t mind pulling it apart, but I also just want to hear this thing purr, and with the tear-apart job, it might be a few days, if not weeks, before I get that.
Regardless, I get to work. Can't fix shit just staring at it.
Eventually, Trent pockets his phone and comes over to watch. I glance at him over my shoulder and see that while he still doesn’t look happy, at least he doesn’t look like he wants to hit me.
Guess now is as good a time as any.
“So, I was talking to Rick this morning, and we kind of got on the topic of Jade.” He huffs, but I ignore him and keep going. These two and their bullshit grudge. “Anyway, we realized we wanted to make sure that she got to decide what she wants moving forward.”
Trent laughs before I can say anything else, and I stop what I’m doing to look over at him. Nothing about his laugh has a hint of humor; instead, it’s more mocking.
“That’s fucking great. You know, I know you guys are assholes, but sometimes you exceed even my expectations of what I think you're capable of,” he damn near spits the words at me through his teeth. His jaw is clenched tight, in a way that reminds me a lot of Rick when he’s upset.
I set down the gas tank I’d just finished taking off and turned to face him. Whatever crawled up his ass needs to be addressed if I hope to get shit accomplished on this bike today.
“Okay, I’ll bite. What the fuck is your problem?
” I pull the rag from my back pocket and wipe some of the grease from my hands.
I know I said I wouldn’t let his shit mood bring me down today, but his venom seems to have taken a turn towards me at some point.
I might not want to argue with him, but I won’t sit back and let him take his shit out on me.
It’s just not who I am, no matter how badly I want to work on this bike.
“My problem?” he shouts, pointing to his chest before he turns his finger to point at me. “I think you should be asking what the fuck your guys' problem is.”
I push to my feet as he starts to walk towards me, his face twisted in a look of pure rage that I haven’t seen on him in a long time.
“You want to talk about how you’ll let her choose.
You guys act like you’re here to help her, putting her in classes and buying her things, but you can’t even get over your bullshit to let her have a fucking chance!
” His finger connects with my chest, and I fight the urge to hit him.
I’m not sure what the fuck he's talking about, but something about the look in his eyes makes me hesitate.
Man, do I want to hit him, though. I won’t lie, I've been dying for the chance to lay into him for years now, but something feels off, and I’m never one to overlook a gut feeling.
I reach up and grab his wrist, pushing him back a step without dropping my hold on him, but I make no other move against him. Judging by the quirk of his brow, I’m not the only one who’s shocked that I didn't hit him.
We both know I've done worse for less.