~ * ~ *
“I like having you around,” Slim told me while we were seated on the couch, waiting for Blue and Dex to finish up whatever they were doing for closing.
“Why?” I asked him carefully, smiling a little.
“Because Dex is hilarious when he’s pissed off.”
I gave him my best bug eyes. “You like seeing him mad like that?”
He nodded like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “Trust me, you know Dex a few years like we do, him getting pissed is like an early Christmas present. He never gets riled up enough to lose it at Pins. Mayhem is another story but here? Never.”
I’d thought about that after I’d finished off my soda with him in the back. His mood had switched to laid-back Dex in the blink of an eye. He’d asked me about what my life had been like back in Florida, and if I’d ever dealt with so many insolent people before at any of my other jobs. The answer to that last question had been a blatant“no”that made us both laugh.
Despite the fact that I had no doubts Dex wouldhave kicked that guy’s ass if hehadn’tleftand that it was kind of scary that someone could get so angry, I had to say, it was kind of hot.
Pretty hot.
All right, it was plain hot.
But I didn’t know what to do with it and knew I shouldn’t do anything with that thought.
Dex was my boss. My boss who’d been a dick to me in the past, but still was a dick to other people. On the other hand, this was still the same man who had opened up to me about things that were undoubtedly difficult for him. And the same one who knew things I hadn’t told anyone. The caring grump.
“How’s your piercing?” Slim asked.
Not wanting to pull up my shirt while I was sitting—my pants were really tight and that was the excuse I’d use for the little roll hanging over the waist band— I stood as I told him. “Good, I think.”
I pulled up my shirt, just over the belly button. “It’s only sore if I touch it, but that’s normal, right?”
Slim nodded, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees to look at the green gem in the middle. “Yeah, that’s normal. It looks good.”
I pushed the ring up and down like he’d told me to, to keep the skin from healing around the metal. “I like it.”
The alarm beeped from the hallway, followed by the sound of motorcycle boots on the tile floor as Slim reached up to poke at my rib cage with his index finger. “One day, you have to let me do something here. I think it’d look pretty wicked, Ris.”
I snorted at the same time that familiar figure came into my peripheral vision. “Let me think about it.”
Dex stopped and eyed our placement critically through narrowed eyes before I yanked my shirt back down and shot him an innocent smile.
“Ready?” I asked.
He nodded his reply.
I called out a goodbye to Blue and Slim when we were out of the shop. All of us except Dex were used to walking toward the lot together each night. Dex always parked in front of the shop. Every single time. It was like the universe and all of its inhabitants knew that spot in front of Pins was his and only his.
Dex had barely gotten on his bike, having passed me the helmet when he said, “Igotsomewhere to go tonight. I'm taking you to your car, and you can drive back to my place from there.”
I pretty much knew how to get to his house, and while I wasn’t crazy about the idea of staying there alone when he lived in the middle of nowhere, I couldn’t really argue or be a baby about it. “Okay,” came out of my mouth but it was reluctant.
He parked in front of the driveway again when we stopped at Sonny’s place. It was eerie how quiet the house seemed. Usually by the time I came home from work, Sonny had already turned on the porch light, and another light inside of the house would be on as a welcoming beacon for me. But there were no lights anymore, his SUV was gone, and his bike, along with Trip’s, were under the carport.It hit me how mad the sight of itmade me.
All because of our dad.
I’d barely taken the helmet off when I frowned at Dex. I asked him the same question he'd snapped at me for earlier. “Still nothing from Sonny?”
His head shake was grim. “Not yet, but it ain't a big deal. Knowin' them, they'redrivin’nonstop, babe.”
I let out a deep breath and nodded. There was no way I could realistically expect Sonny to keep tabs with me, and especially not with Dex. I couldn't imagine aman in his thirtiescalling his little half-sister to tell her every single time they stopped for gas. “Okay. Well, I guess I’ll get going.”
