Chapter Eleven
Ramona
Three days later, Bob walked into the common room under his own power.
He’d been walking more every day since he’d gotten home from the hospital, but there had always been a wheelchair somewhere close by.
He’d use it when he got tired or if he needed to go farther than his legs were ready to take him.
Yesterday, I’d only seen him use it once, and that had been after he’d spent most of the morning outside with Anchor and Skull.
This morning, the wheelchair was nowhere in sight. It seemed being stubborn as hell was good for something.
I sat at the table with a cup of coffee between my hands after our mind-scrambling morning kiss and watched him cross the room.
He caught me and his eyebrows lifted. “What?”
“Nothing.”
“You were staring at me.”
I smiled.
He stopped beside my chair.
I tipped my head back to look at him. “I was admiring your progress.”
“My progress?”
“Yep.”
“Does that mean you’re checking out my ass?”
My eyes dropped and I leaned to the side to do just what he said.
Bob laughed.
I looked back up at him. “Well, now I am.”
“Good.”
He leaned down and kissed me.
Just like that.
No hesitation. No looking around to see who was watching. No awkwardness because we’d spent the past three nights sleeping in the same bed and had finally crossed the line from pretending we weren’t attracted to each other to making out like teenagers in the middle of an afternoon nap.
It was just a kiss.
Quick. Warm.
And just like that, something we did now.
Bob straightened and stole the piece of bacon off my plate.
“Hey.”
“You weren’t eating it.”
“I was saving it.”
“For me?”
“No.”
“Then you should’ve eaten it faster.”
I stared at him as he popped the whole thing into his mouth. “You’re getting healthier and more annoying at the same time.”
He pulled out the chair beside me and sat down gingerly. “Means I’m healing.”
“Fantastic.”
“Morning,” Pearl called as she walked into the common room with Anchor behind her.
“Morning,” Anchor grunted.
Pearl headed for the coffee while Anchor stopped near the table and looked at Bob. His eyes went to the hallway, then back to Bob. “Where’s the chair?”
“My room.”
“You walking all day?”
Bob shrugged. “Planning on it.”
Anchor nodded once. “Good.” That was it. Anchor chuckled and kept walking.
I looked at Bob. “That’s all he had to say?”
“About what?”
“The wheelchair.”
“What about it?”
“You’ve been using it since you got home,” I pointed out.
He nodded. “Now I’m not.”
“And Anchor just says good?”
Bob looked at me like he honestly didn’t understand the problem. I shook my head. Men. Especially these men.
“You wanted balloons? A parade?” Bob asked.
“I mean…” It was pretty damn amazing that Bob was walking, let alone breathing, after having his throat slit.
“Doll, what are you getting at here?”
I leaned closer. “I think it’s a big deal.”
Something shifted in his expression. Then his hand moved beneath the table and landed on my thigh. His thumb rubbed once over my jeans. “Then I guess it’s a big deal. Maybe we can celebrate later.”
Pearl plopped down in the chair next to me and set her coffee cup down. “I’m gonna say it.”
“Pearl,” Anchor called.
She waved her hand in his direction. “Shush, handsome.” She looked at me. “What’s the deal? I mean, I think we all know the deal, but we need some clarification on the deal.”
I glanced at Bob. I knew exactly what she was talking about, but Bob and I hadn’t really talked about what we were doing. I mean, I knew what I was doing and what I liked, but I didn’t know exactly where his head was.
Bob leaned back in his chair and draped his arm over my shoulders. “Clarification?”
Pearl nodded.
“Agreed,” Shay called from the couch. “I’m all for the kissing, but I’m going to be real disappointed if it’s nothing.”
“She’s only been here for a week,” Anchor pointed out. “Maybe just lay off.”
He wasn’t wrong.
“I almost died,” Bob said bluntly. “I’m not going to fuck around knowing this could all be over in a second.” His eyes connected with mine. “I like Ramona.”
“And?” Shay drawled, her eyes on me.
“I like Bob?” That answer seemed pretty obvious to me. I didn’t think people kissed if they didn’t like each other.
“You sure about that?” Anchor asked.
“Anchor,” Pearl hissed. “Don’t question her.”
He leaned against the bar and took a sip of his coffee. “She didn’t sound too sure about it.”
“Whose side are you on?” Shay asked him.
“Whatever side that makes Bob happy and ends this conversation,” he grunted.
Bob chuckled next to me.
I looked him in the eye. “I like you.” I didn’t want him to think that I didn’t know or that this was nothing to me. I didn’t know exactly what it was, but I liked it. A lot.
He leaned in and pressed a kiss to my lips. “I figured, doll,” he whispered against my lips. “Though it’s nice to hear it out loud.”
The front door opened, and Piney walked inside with grease on both hands and a dark smear across the front of his T-shirt.
I leaned back from Bob but stayed close to him. Bob grabbed my coffee and took a sip.
“Your RV runs,” Piney announced.
I froze.
Bob slowly lowered my coffee. “What?”
Piney wiped his hands on an old rag. “Your RV. It runs.”
I shoved my chair back so fast the legs scraped across the floor. “You’re serious?”
“No. I covered myself in grease before eight in the morning to fuck with you,” Piney deadpanned.
I ignored that and headed for the door.
“Ramona.”
I looked over my shoulder to see Bob was standing.
“What?” I asked.
“Where are you going?”
“To see my RV.”
He stared at me. I stared right back.
“You can’t go alone.”
I rolled my eyes and headed back to him. I threaded my fingers through his and tugged him to the door. “Then you’re coming with me. I’ll give you the grand tour, and then we can take it for a ride.”
Shay pumped her fist in the air. “Field trip!”
Prime walked into the common room with a scowl on his face. “What the hell is going on?” he asked.
Shay jumped up and leapt to him. “Piney got the RV running, and we’re all going to take a ride in it.”
“Hold up, hold up,” Piney called. “I said it’s running. I’m not too sure it’s ready for a field trip.”
Prime looked at Anchor. “You’re good with this?”
Anchor shrugged. “I’m staying here. If your girl wants to go with Ramona, then Pearl can tag along.”
“I don’t want to be roped into this,” Prime grunted. “I should have stayed in bed.”
Shay pressed a kiss to his lips and smiled wide. “Come on, sleepyhead. I promise it will be fun.”
Prime pretty much melted into Shay and wrapped his arms tight around her. “The shit you talk me into,” he growled.
Pearl stood and grabbed her coffee. “I’m in.”
Anchor looked at the cup in her hand. “You’re taking that?”
“Obviously.”
“You don’t even know if the RV has cup holders.”
I gasped. “She has cup holders.”
Pearl pointed at me. “See?”
Anchor shook his head and pushed away from the bar. “I’m surrounded by lunatics.”
“You’re coming too?” I asked.
“Something tells me I’m not going to want to miss this. Skull will be here if we need a tow or to be bailed out of jail.”
Pearl smiled wide. “Both of those outcomes could be exciting.”
Anchor grabbed her hand and pulled her under his arm. “How about neither of them happen and we manage to go for a ride without a dramatic ending?”
I looked at Bob. “How many people are we putting in my RV?”
He shrugged. “You invited the club.”
“I invited you,” I pointed out. “Shay invited herself.”
“I invited Prime,” Shay beamed.
Prime grunted. “Nobody invited me. I was taken hostage.”
“Same thing,” Shay said.
Piney held up both greasy hands. “Before everybody starts loading into this fucking thing, maybe let me explain what I fixed.”
“Is it going to explode?” I asked.
“No.”
“Are the brakes working?”
“Yes.”
“Steering?”
“Yes.”
“Then I feel like we’re good.” What more did we need?
Piney stared at me. “How the hell have you survived living on the road this long?”
“Luck and low standards.”
Bob laughed and squeezed my hand.
We headed outside with Piney leading the way.
Seems like the news of my RV coming back from the dead had spread in the thirty seconds since Piney walked through the door, because Lost and Cross followed us outside too.
Bob kept pace with the rest of us, and he wasn’t at all winded like he had been a week ago.
He really was getting better every day.
When we got to the parking lot, the RV was exactly where it had been since I’d rolled onto Skull Island. Still crooked. Still old. Still desperately in need of a wash.
But now the hood was down.
I smiled. “There she is.”
Bob looked at me. “You missed it?”
“Her,” I corrected him. “And yes.”
“It.”
I wrinkled my brow and frowned. “Don’t start.”
“It’s an RV.”
“She can hear you,” I whispered.
Bob looked at the RV, then at me. “You’ve lost your fucking mind.”
“And yet you like me.”
His mouth twitched. “Apparently.”
I tugged him toward the driver’s door.
Piney stepped in front of me. “Wait.”
I stopped. “What?”
“Before you start her, listen.”
“I’m listening.”
“Oil was low. Changed it. Battery was damn near dead, so I replaced it. One of your belts looked like it was being held together by prayer, so that’s new. Found a loose connection that was probably half the reason she kept dying on you.”
“See?” I looked at Bob. “She just needed some love.”
“She needed maintenance,” Piney corrected.
“Same thing.”
“No. It’s really fucking not,” he grumbled.
“What else?”
Piney glanced toward the front of the RV. “I want to look at the brakes again before you take it off the island. They’re working, but they’re not as pretty as I’d like.”
My excitement dipped a little. “So no field trip?”
“Not off the island.”
Shay groaned.
“But you can drive it around here,” Piney added. “I already did.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You drove my RV?”
“Somebody had to make sure it worked. And I parked it right back in the spot you had it.” He motioned to the RV. “Crooked as fuck.”
“Did you enjoy yourself?” I asked.
“More like I feared for my life. This thing pulls to the left if you’re not paying attention.”