11. Caleb
Caleb
I sniff, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out what the foul smell is that’s invaded my truck. I glance over at Brady, and his hand covers his nose and mouth as though he thinks that will help. I gather my shirt up to my nose and smell it, then gag.
“Fuck! It’s me!” I yell, and Brady bursts out laughing.
“It’s both of us!” he admits. “That’s why Lilly and Avery opted to drive separately.”
It hadn’t dawned on me that the girls didn’t want to ride with us. I assumed they wanted to drive separately, so they could eat and get back to work. We started cleaning my house at seven a.m., and I’ll confess, it’s been a slow progress.
No one has lived there for years, and the last person who did live there left behind a mama cat with her litter of kittens. They’ve been having the run of the place ever since.
After lunch, Brady and I have to pack up and head out for a job the crew has booked six hours away. It’ll only take a week, but I’m trusting Lilly and Avery to have the house cleaned when I get back. With how this morning has gone, I’m counting on a fucking miracle.
“I can guarantee they smell just as bad,” I assure him.
“Probably not. How is it that chicks can work as long but not sweat as much?” he questions, and I laugh.
“They’re not working as hard ,” I smirk.
“Shit, I don’t know if I can stomach lunch,” Brady grumbles as I pull into Jack’s parking lot.
“I never thought there would be a time when you wouldn’t eat a cheeseburger from Jack’s.”
“As bad as we smell, we may not get served!” he grins and hops out of my truck.
We trot across the parking lot, meeting Lilly and Avery at the door. Despite how shitty we smell, Lilly still gives Brady a peck on the lips. Damn, if there isn’t a part of me that wishes someone treated me like that.
Brady nudges my arm as we head to our usual table. “Told you.” He pulls Lilly against him and jokingly takes a big whiff of her.
“Oh my God, gross! You’re going to make me stink, Brady!” Lilly laughs. “You both need to go wash up!”
She pushes at Brady and shoves him hard enough that he backs into me, causing me to stumble. I wrap my arms around him, wrestling and jostling him about until he pushes me hard and I collide with someone behind me.
“Ugh!” The irritated woman I just slammed into yells, and I instantly apologize. Then I realize it’s Casey. “Grow the fuck up, you two!”
“Aww, Case, you know you love it!” Brady teases.
“I used to, about ten years ago,” she snaps.
“Sounds like someone needs the ‘D,’ and I mean bad,” Brady jokes, and Casey’s face flames about as red as her hair. She slams the empty tray she’s holding down on the table and storms off.
“She’s going to kill you one day,” I warn and then burst out laughing.
I resist the urge to go check on her, knowing she isn’t in the mood to hear from me right now. It doesn’t matter how distraught she looked. I can’t fix that for her. Not yet.