“No, sir. Worse. I was involved in rush week for a sorority. It didn’t work out, but this,” I said, waving my arms around, “was almost as bad as the frat house I had to clean.”
“Almost? Damn, we’re gonna have to try harder.”
I ducked my head and smiled, cautious about how I chose to interact with the guy. Drew had made it more than clear he would prefer me to be respectful. I assumed that was notjust to him, but the rest of his friends, too. I just wanted to get through my shifts without being yelled at, spat on, or smacked round, all of which seemed like real possibilities.
“Not tonight, though. We’ll let the boss see how sorry you are before we let those boys loose in here.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Hell, darlin’, I ain’t no sir. You can call me Deeks.”
“Thanks, Deeks.”
He winked and backed out of the room, the door slapping closed behind him. It hadn’t so much as kissed the frame when he pushed it open again and stuck his head back in. “Have you done the one down the hall yet?”
“No. Not yet. Would you like me to—?”
He put his hand up to stop me. “Just wanted to make sure. You may wanna start with the private ones before you head in that direction.”
“Thanks for the advice.”
“It’s survival, sugar.”
He left me alone with the food for thought, and I gathered up what I needed to keep going. The place was a maze, and it seemed like no matter how many doors I knocked on, there was something more to do and someone else to help. I’d started a load of laundry for one guy, and now I had a mountain of the stuff.
I thought I was at least close to being finished, when I was directed to Drew’s office by another member of the pack and instructed to clean Mr. Tucker’s bathroom. I didn’t catch the man’s name, but he was taller than the others and a little more intimidating than most. Still, compared to Drew, he was a pussy cat.
I was tired, sore and resigned at that point, not evenquestioning the guy as I walked into a room that was probably the cleanest I’d seen up until now. The desk and chair were nestled in a corner, while the bookshelves that took up one whole wall were filled with mean looking dogs, motorcycle parts, and photographs in diamond plate frames. Some of the faces were familiar, others not so much. I was just glad I wasn’t tasked to dust. I wasn’t sure my muscles would last long enough to wrestle the dust bunnies that hid in the corners of those shelves.
I was so caught up in the mess that was behind me, I didn’t realize that the bathroom I’d entered was currently occupied, until it was too late.
I heard the water running before I saw him, but see him, I did. The glass was clear and his back was to me, but his sublime ass was what caught my attention and held it. The water clung to him, each droplet caressing the muscles and hugging the curves before joining with the others. My eyes followed the rivulets of water for what felt like a lifetime, but I must have made some kind of noise as my eyes lingered, because the cough that came was filled with amusement and belonged to none other than Drew Tucker himself.
We stared at one another for a second before the connection was broken when he brought the heavy bottle in his hand up to his mouth.
“Christ, I’m sorry,” I said, turning quickly and smacking my head on another open door, stumbling back so quickly I bounced off the glass of the shower before rushing from the room and pulling the door closed behind me with a thump of my head as I leaned back against it.
It was only as the breath rushed from me that I suddenly came to the realization that I dropped all of the cleaningsupplies when I smashed my head, because I’d needed my hands to grip the flash of pain.
Of all the people who lived in the place, it had to be Drew I walked in on. What were the odds of that? It was just my luck, and now I was probably going to have to explain myself for that, too. I just kept adding to my constantly growing debt to this man and his club. At the rate I was going, I'd be an old woman by the time I was free of the whole place and Drew Tucker.
Stuck without the things to clean, there wasn’t much I could do. I hadn’t so much as looked at the bathroom Deeks had warned me away from, and that was the last bathroom in the place, other than the one currently occupied and holding my things hostage.
“Shit, fuck, and damn it all to Hell.” I pressed my hand to my forehead and pushed my hair back with a nervous laugh. I might as well laugh while I could, because I hadn’t seen Drew’s face clearly in all my fumbling around, and I was pretty sure he wouldn’t see the humor in it. I guessed all I could do at that point was wait it out, and I wasn’t stupid enough to do that in the chair behind his desk, which left one place: the questionable couch that sat opposite.
I didn't have long to do much more thinking, because between one breath and the next, the stream of water behind the door I was leaning against was shut off, and I knew that it was only a matter of seconds before Drew Tucker would be out there demanding answers and remittance again. I just wasn't sure I had anything left at all to say that wouldn't get me in even more trouble than I was already in.
Chapter Sixteen
Drew
Iwanted to open the bathroom door wearing nothing but the skin I was born in, but given the look on her face when she saw me in the shower, I wasn’t convinced she could handle it. The last thing I needed was some woman passing out on my floor. I had enough messes to clear up as it was.
I dried my body off as quickly as I could, running the towel around the back of my neck, up through my hair and down my face before I tossed it to the side. I would have gone out there with that piece of cloth wrapped around my waist, if only the fuckers who did the laundry around The Hut had kept more of the things clean. Fortunately for Ayda, all they’d left me with was a small hand towel that wasn’t big enough to cover my left testicle, never mind my whole body. Picking up my sweats from the side, I slid my half wet legs into them, bounced on my toes and pulled the waistband down as low as it could go without flashing her my dick.
I finally pushed the door open, not knowing whether or not she would still be in the room, when I caught her freezing in place between me and my dirty old sofa. Her body was half twisted around, her head twitching back and forth as she tried to decide whether or not to look me in the eyes after spendingso long looking at my ass. Ayda’s uncertainty amused me more than I cared to admit. It was almost addictive, finding ways to make her second guess herself all the time.
All I could think to do was stand up tall in the doorway and fold my arms across my bare chest.
