The thought of that thing almost made me spin in his oversized sweats and T-shirt I’d been forced into wearing before leaving. It was now Drew who seemed to be markinghisterritory rather than him allowing me to mark mine. Not that I needed to.
I was so lost in my thoughts, I almost walked into Deeks as I wandered down the residential corridors to the main room. He’d obviously planted himself on a chair parked between the hall and the office door, not willing to let me leave without his companionship. I was oddly unaffected by it after everything I’d seen over the previous twenty-four hours, and the eye roll and nod told me he was grateful to not have to run aroundafter me.
“Christ, it’s about fucking time, kid.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Deeks,” I said quietly, tucking my wavy hair behind my ears.
“Sure you don’t. Come on, I’ll buy you a drive through coffee so you can get ready for work.”
“You sure know how to woo a girl, Deeks.”
“Better than hog tying your ass and driving you around. Doubt the boss would look too kindly on that.”
“Oh, he knows me. I’m sure he’d understand I drove you to it.”
Deeks laughed and pulled open the door of The Hut, allowing the sun to bathe me in the first of its rays. I paused in its path and closed my eyes, my skin accepting the heat of it with open arms.
“I do believe I like you in a good mood, Ayda.”
I didn’t bother responding. I didn’t even open my eyes. I just stepped out and spread my arms before dropping them to my sides with a sigh of contentment. If it had been any other situation, with any other man, I would probably have started to blush and hidden myself away after the walk of shame from his room, but this was different. I went into the situation with a clear head and open eyes. Trying to sneak out of there would have implied I’d done something wrong or regretted it in some way, and I didn’t. The Hounds were all par for the course. If I wanted Drew in my life, I just had to accept that. I think I already had in most ways.
The drive to my house was spent with the windows down, the humid breeze already licking at my skin as the earthy smell of the fields being turned over filled my senses. I lived out on a county road. I had neighbors, but there weren’t many.The place had been my parents’ dream. Their retirement plan had been to build a barn and breed American Quarter horses, give them some barrel racing training and sell them on. The barn had never been built, so as I neared our property, all I could see was our little house that sat at the front of our land, the sun still climbing in the sky behind it.
It was the first time since my parents had died that I could actually see their dream in my own mind. I could see the horses in paddocks and the people we were able to hire to help train them. At that time of the morning, it would have been buzzing with life.
I was so lost in my fantasy, I almost missed Tate sprinting along the side of the road, covered in sweat as he turned into our drive, while Kenny pulled up alongside Deeks on his bike behind me. Apparently, running wasn’t something he thought he should be doing at this time in the morning, and I could already see him grumbling to Deeks as they came to a stop.
“What’s the matter, Kenny? Kid too quick for you?” I asked, pushing the door out of my way and hopping out with a little too much enthusiasm considering my legs were just remembering how to function properly.
“Oh, she has jokes,” Kenny mocked, dropping his helmet on his seat and pulling off his gloves. “What the hell put you in such a—” The slap to Kenny’s chest from the back of Deeks’ hand was the thing to silence him, but Tate, who was pacing with his hands on his waist and panting for breath, narrowed his eyes at me.
“I know that look,” he said, rubbing his chin before dropping to plant his hands on his knees and smirk at me. “Someone finally got laid.”
“Christ. Do I have a neon sign?”
The three of them nodded, forcing me to roll my eyes as I headed to the house. “Fuck all of y’all. I’m gonna be late for work.”
“Save me some hot water, sis.”
It was an innocent comment, but the flashes in my mind made me stumble over my feet like a teenager caught in a love spell. I heard Deeks and Kenny chuckle and Tate’s whispered ‘what’, but they couldn’t have known, could they?
The thought didn’t stay with me long. I was rushing to get ready around the three men in my house. For as long as I’d been followed by Deeks, it was the first time he’d been in our home, and all of them together made the place look tiny.
Four bowls of cereal and a carton of milk later, I was out the door and heading to work, while Tate headed to Sunday practice. It was such a normal day, but at the same time it wasn’t. I felt lighter and more focused than I had in… well, forever. Even Janette and Rusty seemed surprised by my disposition as I paraded through the tables and took orders politely, then delivered them with a smile.
Deeks sat at the counter, drinking his body weight in free refills and wearing a smirk that rivaled Drew’s, so I ignored the implied assumption and shot him a grin as I popped the door open, the dirty dishes in my hands rattling from my enthusiasm. My ponytail slapped me in the face as I turned and came to a sudden halt.
Janette, Sam, Rusty, and Ben were all standing with their arms crossed, staring at me.
“This is an intervention,” Rusty ground out. “I ain’t gonna deal with this shit again, y’hear?”
“For what?” I asked, sliding the plates into the sink, earning myself a scowl from Ben. “And deal with whatagain?”
“Whatever drug you seem to think is the answer to all your problems,” Sam said quietly, her eyes skipping to where Deeks was adding enough sugar to fuel a power plant to his coffee.
“Drugs? You think I’m on drugs?”
“Yeah, sweetie. It’s okay. We all need a pick me up on occasion, but you don’t need drugs. I know it’s been a really bad couple of months, but things will get better,” Janette said, not much conviction in her words as she narrowed her eyes at me.
