Chapter 39
“Waffles. The answer to your question is always waffles.”
-Celia
I felt like a truck had run me over. Not from the marathon shower sex with The God of All Orgasms. But from the tornado clean-up afterward. Trees were down across the MOM Ranch. It took everyone pitching in to clean it up.
Upside? I now was the proud expert of driving a Bobcat tractor.
Downside? Sore muscles that were kicking my backside.
We slept in on Sunday, getting a pass from attending church with his family. Then, after another two rounds of Sexy Time, Flint and I showered and headed for The Gracie Spoon for a late breakfast. Or brunch. Or whatever you called a diner meal at 11 o’clock in the morning.
When we entered, Sonni, the waitress, pointed to the empty table by the window, and we headed that way. I was thinking about waffles, or perhaps biscuits and gravy, when Flint stopped in the aisle. I ran right into him.
He stared in the direction of the back corner where two people huddled together, sitting on one side of the booth. The man had his arms around the woman as he whispered something in her ear that made her giggle. He kissed her cheek, then kissed her mouth in aNot Suitable for The Gracie Spoonkind of way.
But it wasn’t the outrageous PDA that caught Flint’s attention.
Nope.
What caught Flint’s attention was the woman in question was his sister. The guy? Flint’s arch-nemesis, Quinn Dorsey.
“What the fuck is going on here?” Flint’s voice raised over the din of the diner.
Oh, craptastic. In my ogling of their makeout session, I missed Flint on the loose. He stood by their booth.
“Calm down, big brother,” Adlen tapped Quinn on the side to let her out. Quinn wouldn’t move.
“Calm down?” Flint’s booming voice got… well..boomier.It’s a word. Look it up.
“Yes, calm down!” Adlen gave Quinn a mighty shove until he relented and let her out of the booth. He stood protectively to her side, with his hand on the small of her back.
“You want me to calm down when a guy who has made our lives hell has his tongue down your throat? Have you lost your mind?” Flint stepped within inches of his sister’s face.
Quinn pressed his hand to Flint’s chest. “That’s enough, man. Don’t talk to your sister like that.”
Flint turned to Quinn and leveled a Death Stare at him. Up until this moment, Flint’s reaction had been loud. Then, he went quiet. And even I knew when Flint got all whispery-quiet, the poop was about to hit the fan. “Get. Your. Hand. Off. Me.”
Quinn yanked his hand back like it was on fire, then wrapped his arm around Adlen’s waist, pulling her to his side. “C’mon, honey, let’s get out of here.”
Adlen leveled a dirty look at Quinn, then turned to her big brother. “Flint, you need to get over this right now. Quinn hasn’t been making our lives hell, despite what you think. When you calm down and can have a rational conversation, give me a call. You know how to find me.”
With that, she grabbed Quinn’s hand and led him out of the diner. I turned to watch her go, noticing everyone in the place stopped what they were doing to enjoy the drama. Some stopped mid-bite, their forks held in suspended animation, waiting for the world to re-start.
“Okay, show’s over, people!” I yelled to the crowd. “Nothing more to see here. Go back to your own business. Thank you.”
When everyone still stared, I clapped my hands and repeated my instructions, this time with Momzilla Glare. They obeyed immediately.
Rage and fury rolled off of Flint. I didn’t know how to help him. But I did know waffles could soothe even the angriest of beasts. I wrapped my arms around his waist and examined his face.
“Flint, they’re gone, and you’re hungry. Why don’t we get some waffles, or one of those Rancher specialty thingies, andchillaxfor a little bit.”
Flint shook his head. “Chillax?”
I bit back a smile. “Yeah. Chill, plus relax. All the cool kids say it.”
Flint’s face wasn’t red anymore. He took a deep breath, then looked at me with a smile. “I know of no cool kids who say this, but if it makes you feel better….”
