“Worth it.” He flipped me off as he walked away.
Rumi’s greeting was a good preview of how the rest of my day went. Harper’s cousins and honorary club cousins found me one by one throughout the day. Some of them threatened me outright. Others just insinuated that they were watching me and I better not fuck up.
And since we were brothers, they also made sure that it was clear they’d always have my back no matter what. You know, loyalty and all that.
Surprisingly, neither Leo nor Gray pulled me aside. I saw them throughout the day in passing, but I didn’t even have the chance to ask Leo about the Toyota’s power steering line. I’d told Dragon that I’d have the Dyna done, and I was racing against the clock to finish it before the end of the day.
My hands were aching, and I’d sliced a line down my forearm because I was rushing, but when Dragon walked in the garage at four o’clock, I was putting away my tools.
“Lookin’ good,” he said, crouching down by the bike. “Fuckin’ excellent.”
“Thanks.” I tried to keep my voice even, but there was something about praise from the man that always made me feel like a kid.
The first time I’d walked into the garage, I was a scared teenager with two years of high school auto classes, fourteen piercings in my face, and nowhere else to go. I’d been sure that they’d throw me out on my ass. I’d already been turned down at every job I’d applied to after hitchhiking to Eugene with only a hundred dollars in my pocket. The Aces garage had been my last hope.
Dragon’s son-in-law had barely blinked when I’d asked him if they were hiring, he’d just jerked his head toward the clubhouse and brought me straight to the president. The rest was history.
“Owner comin’ to pick it up?” Dragon asked, rising to his feet.
“Tomorrow mornin’,” I confirmed. “Said they needed to get to the bank for a certified check and wouldn’t make it in time tonight.”
He nodded. “I’ll talk to Casper, but I’m thinkin’ a bonus on this one.” He pointed to the motorcycle between us. “That was a fuckin’ monster of a job—wasn’t even convinced it was salvageable. Hard to believe it’s the same bike.”
“I knew it was in there,” I said, scratching my cheek. I hated when I didn’t have a chance to shave.
“Work like this reflects well on the shop, so I’ll talk to Casper about gettin’ you a little extra cash in your pocket.”
“Appreciate it.”
He nodded and walked away.
“You’re such a fuckin’ suck-up,” Titus said, walking over as soon as Dragon had disappeared.
“You’re just pissed you can’t do shit like this,” I replied, grinning. “No bonus for you.”
“Fuck off,” he shot back. “But you’re right, I don’t have the patience for this shit.”
“If you can build that dollhouse with a million little parts, you could’ve done this,” I argued. “You just don’t want to.”
“Makin’ my kids think I’m the best dad ever,” he said, holding out his hands like a scale. “Working on the same bike for a month. Yeah, not the same.”
“It wasn’t quite a month.”
“I hope they’re payin’ through the nose.”
“Pickin’ up tomorrow because they had to get a cashier’s check from the bank,” I replied.
“Nice.”
“Tomorrow I’ll probably be changin’ tires or some shit.”
“Hey, they can’t all be exciting jobs,” Titus said, smiling. “What are you doin’ tonight? Wanna celebrate a job well done?”
“I haven’t got that bonus yet,” I replied dryly.
“Come over for dinner. The kids’ll be stoked.”
“Can’t,” I replied as I closed my bay’s door.
