Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
RORY
“Girl, this place is fucking ridiculous,” Mule said flatly as she climbed out of her car and slammed the door, looking around the yard with her nose wrinkled.
“You don’t know the half of it. I have to fight people to make my own coffee,” I sighed, bumping knuckles with her as she joined me at the bottom of the stairs.
“How awful. Are you okay over here? Need me to kidnap you?” she asked seriously, eyeing the fountain in the middle of the driveway.
I laughed, heading up the stairs towards the door.
“I’d say it grows on you, but I’d be lying. There’s not enough people in the house to make it feel homey.”
“I feel sorry for rich people,” Mule scoffed as she followed me, her steps faltering as we walked through the front door. “Ugh, it’s like a magazine threw up in here.”
I snickered, knowing exactly what she meant. “Want a tour?”
“Sure. Should I take my shoes off? Damn.”
“It’s fine,” I insisted, taking her upstairs so we could work our way back down.
Josie was in her office, and she poked her head out when she heard our voices.
“Are you guys hanging out here today?” she asked, giving me a look of concern.
“Yeah. Figured it was safer. Josie, this is Mule. Mule, this is Caden’s mom, Josie.”
“Nice to meet you,” Mule smiled politely, knowing Josie was important to me.
“How do you two know each other?” Josie asked, and since I couldn’t exactly tell her we beat each other up regularly, I twisted it a little.
“We used to go to Hawthorne Heights High together. We weren’t really friends, but we ran into each other at the Psychos’ shed and started hanging out.”
“That’s wonderful. I’m glad to see you making yourself at home,” she beamed, patting my shoulder.
“We’ll be in the gym if you need us,” I answered when I heard her phone ringing, and she quickly excused herself to answer it, closing the door for privacy.
I led Mule to my bedroom, her eyes almost falling out of her head when we stepped inside.
“This is your bedroom? Bitch, it’s bigger than my whole house.”
“I felt the exact same when I first saw it. I don’t understand why anyone needs this much space in a bedroom.”
“I guess with all those guys of yours, the extra space is good,” she teased lightly.
“We usually crash in the theater room on nights they’re all here.”
“Theater room? Why do you need that when the bedrooms have TVs?”
“Who knows?” I shrugged, motioning for her to follow.
We headed down to the next level so I could show her the kitchen and living areas, and her jaw hit the floor when we went to the basement, where the gym, theater, and den were.
“This gym is insane. You honestly go to the Shed to work out instead of staying here?”
“I go to the Shed for the company and to spar,” I answered, pointing to the corner of the room. “Do you think we could set up a makeshift cage there? Caden was talking about it so we could train here whenever we wanted.”
“I’m surprised he’s allowing us trash folk into his fancy house,” she said dryly, and I totally understood how she felt. The guys were usually assholes to those they saw as less than.
“You’re my friend. He knows that. Besides, it’s not safe at the Shed right now, so we need somewhere else to train. This is a good idea,” I said confidently.
She was quiet for a moment before speaking, her voice careful. “How bad are things about to get? Can you tell me?”
I wasn’t sure how much I could tell her since Skeeter hadn’t told me, so I winced.
“Can I get back to you on that?”
“Sure. You doing okay? I know you and Slash fought a lot, but—”
“We were seeing each other,” I mumbled awkwardly, raking a hand through my hair. “The dramatic asshole went out while confessing his love to me.”
“Damn. You and Slash? Never would’ve guessed that. Sure, you had obvious sexual tension, but feelings? I’m sorry, girl.”
“So, you want to train here sometimes?” I asked, needing to change the subject.
“Just you and me?”
“Zeena can come too. I know the house is obnoxious and the guys will probably hang around sometimes, but it’s safe and has the best equipment money can buy. What do you think?”
“I think Zee will cream her panties in here. She’s a sucker for a proper setup,” she chuckled. “What about Caden’s mom? She won’t like you fighting here, right?”
“She doesn’t have to know we get violent. She’s always working and we can lock the door,” I winked, watching as she explored the equipment.
“Do you think I could maybe crash here tonight?” she asked without looking at me, making me frown.
“Of course. Everything okay?”
“Yeah. Junkie neighbor kicked the door down the other day looking for his brother. The brother was locked up years ago, so he’s on some kind of drug trip.
I’m not really sleeping that great since the door hasn’t been properly fixed.
I don’t really own any tools to put it back on, and I can’t afford to get a professional in.
” Heat coated her cheeks as she glanced at me, and I knew it took a lot for her to tell me all of this.
“I just need a good sleep and a hot shower.”
“You saw the size of this place, right? You can have your own room, if you want.”
“No, I just need to crash for one night to get my head back on straight, you know?”
“Yeah, I get it. We can have a movie night or something. I know you don’t like handouts, but want me to help fix your door? There’s tools here. Won’t be brand-new but it would be secure. You can owe me a favor in the future, so it’s technically not for free.”
“What kind of favor?” she hedged, and I gave her a knowing look.
“Nothing that will get you arrested or hurt. Friend favors, not business ones.”
That made her relax, and she nodded. “Okay. You sure you can fix it and not make it worse?”
“If the door is off the frame, can it get worse?”
“You’d find a way,” she joked, giving me a smile. “Thanks, Donovan.”
“Your electricity back on?”
“Yeah. Should we go there then come back here? Before it gets dark?”
“Probably a good idea. We’ll take your car, if that’s okay? Mine’s really recognizable.”
“I’m not sure how much gas I have.”
“Stop at the gas station on the way. I’ll fill it up.”
“Then I’d owe you two favors,” she scowled, rubbing the back of her neck. “I hate owing people.”
“Fixing a door and putting gas in the car isn’t exactly a big favor. Besides, it was my idea to use your car, so technically I’d owe you gas anyway,” I promised, walking towards the door.
She followed me as I poked my nose into Josie’s office, her phone pressed to her ear and an irritated look on her face. Whoever was on the phone was really pissing her off.
She muted it and sighed, giving me a small smile. “I take back what I said about running your own business. It sucks.”
“Maybe you need new employees?”
“You’re not wrong,” she huffed, her eyes sliding to Mule and back to me. “What are you girls up to?”
“We’re heading out for an hour. Do you have a drill or a screwdriver?” I asked, her eyes narrowing.
“Dare I ask what for?”
I figured honesty was the key with this conversation or she’d tell me to stay home and I’d look like an asshole for leaving.
“Mule had a problem with her neighbor that resulted in her door coming off the frame. I want to go and fix it to avoid squatters moving in or someone going through her stuff. It’s not safe to have an unlocked door in the Heights,” I replied, knowing Mule would hate her knowing, but needing Josie to know we weren’t out to steal cars or something.
“Your friend can stay here if she needs,” she offered, but I shook my head.
“She’s going to stay here tonight but it’s her home, Josie.”
Sighing, she gave me a look of defeat, knowing I was going regardless.
“There’s tools in the garage. Help yourself. Be careful, and call or text if you’re going to be longer so I don’t worry. I really wish you’d stay home.”
“We won’t be long,” I promised, closing her door to let her get back to her phone call.
“Why do all rich people want to take in the needy like stray dogs?” Mule grumbled as we made our way to the garage.
“Most do it to look good. Josie does it because she actually gives a shit. She does a lot of charity work that doesn’t get reported on, and that tells me she doesn’t do it for articles or whatever. She’s one of the good ones.”
“Do you remember when those rich assholes from Crestford came to Hawthorne Heights Middle School that day? It was supposed to be a barbecue and fun day with games and stuff?”
I scoffed, remembering it well. “The one where they showed up, had fancy photographers take photos of them spending time with us for five seconds, then left and sold the photos to every magazine and newspaper in the country to make them look good? Yes. I do remember that.”
“Why do they bother if they already have it all? It wasn’t like they needed the money from selling the photos.”
“Because despite having money, they always want more. More attention, more connections, more social status. It’s not like they have anything else in life,” I huffed, opening the internal garage door to start rummaging through tool boxes.
I thankfully found a drill to make things easier, and I also found a hammer and screwdriver, just in case.
“Are the screws bent?” I asked as I ran my eyes over multiple boxes of screws.
“There’s old doors on hinges in the backyard. We can take some from those if we need to,” she shrugged, pulling her keys from her pocket. “You sure this is safe?”
“No,” I chuckled, giving her the side-eye. “I’m carrying though. I’ll save you.”
“It’s not me that I’m worried about,” she muttered as we shut the garage door and moved through the house to the front door so we could leave.
I hesitated before pulling my phone out and calling Skeeter, knowing he was probably busy, but it couldn’t hurt to ask if he could come as backup. It also meant he couldn’t yell at me later for sneaking off to the Heights without telling him.
It rang out, so I tried once more but got his voicemail again.