The girl whispers something to him, and he immediately breaks into a sprint, not stopping until he’s practically knocking me over and his arms are wrapped around my torso.
It’s the kind of welcome back hug you’ll always remember.
“What the fuck? I thought you weren’t getting out till later?” he exclaims, face still animated with life.
“I wanted to surprise you,” I say casually, frowning when I realize he’s analyzing my face and all my new scars. I got a pretty evil one that goes over most of my face, and I’m pretty sure he notices my crooked nose too. None of it has healed very well.
“You should’ve seen the other guy… or guys,” I comment, trying to play it off like I’m not still reliving the moment in my head.
“I still can’t believe they did this shit to you. I’m sorry I got you dragged into this, Brother.” Eddie looks genuinely sorry, almost as if he’s been thinking about it nonstop since it happened.
It kills me to see him beating himself up like that, so I take a step back, grinning too wide. “I honestly had it coming. I pissed quite a few people off while locked up. They just happened to be friends with that Moseley bitch.” My eyes briefly settle on his newfriendbefore I whisper loudly, “Who’s the fox?”
“That’s Sammie. She’s my latest hire.”
She’s pretty, I’ll give her that. A tiny little pint-sized firecracker with long brown hair pulled into a tight ponytail, and eyes that could knock a guy off his feet. But she’s not Amber, andeven though she’s hot as fuck, something just feels off about her. “I’m guessing you didn’t hire her for her mechanic skills?”
Eddie immediately gets defensive, slapping my shoulder in the process, “No, fucker, I did. She’s better than me at a lot of shit around here. The fact that she’s hot as fuck is just a bonus.”
Laughing, I shake off my warning bells, and do my best to be happy for him. “Damn, dude. It’s good to see you smiling again. I haven’t seen you smile in forever.”
“That’s because you were locked up, my friend.”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. But seriously, even the few times you came to visit me after the ‘incident’ you still didn’t smile. Between Amber leaving you, and your dad, I wasn’t sure if you’d ever smile again.”
“I’m smiling because you’re home, Voor, that’s it.”
Voor… it feels so weird being called something other than Wes or Wesley.
It isn’t the first time they’ve used it on me, but it still feels strange, like it doesn’t quite belong to me yet. I haven’t earned it like the other guys have. My gaze instantly falls on a pair of bikes in the corner. Looking at them sitting there all chromed out and beautiful, makes me jealous. I’m ready find out which one is mine, so I can ride freely with my two best friends. It’s something I’ve been dreaming about, almost as much as I dream about Poppy.
“And having some shop eye candy helps.”
She overhears our conversation, her cheeks flaring an embarrassed pink.
“It definitely helps,” he says almost dreamily. Then he quickly snaps out of it, looking at a car in the bay like it’s a monumental task for him. “Man, I got a few things I need to do around here, so I can’t really shoot the shit like I’d like to. Unless you wanna get your hands dirty?”
I haven’t touched a car in years, but the thought of getting greased up and wrenching again, has me practically bouncing on the balls of my feet. “Fuck, dude, I’m not even out of the clink for five minutes, and you’re already putting my ass to work? Damn, it’s great to be home!”
After throwing my bag onto a chair, I hand him a wrench, leaning over the car to watch him take a few bolts off an alternator on a Mercedes. He’s quiet for way too long, and I break it by asking about the only woman left in his life that I know. “So, how’s your mom?”
He pauses for a second, then shrugs it off like he doesn’t care. He does. He’s just not great at showing his emotions. “I don’t know. She hasn’t talked to me since Dad died.”
“That doesn’t seem like her.” His head shoots up, eyebrows scrunching into a caught off guard scowl. The man’s a pro at facial expressions, but he can’t hide the pain in his eyes. He needs his mom right now, and even though he’ll never say it out loud, all he wants is for her to forgive him. Though I don’t know if that’s possible.
His mom, Bunny, is a psychic, one that reads palms and tarot cards, and spouts prophecies like she’s a shaman. She’s never been one to turn her back on her family, but according to Rich, it was kind of Eddie’s fault that his dad died. Had I been there, I would’ve jumped in front of that bullet and taken it for both of them, if I could. She’s always been the most loving person ever, so to hear that she’s hardened to the point of pushing her only son away, has me wishing even more that I could’ve been there that day. “Then again, the woman could always hold a grudge,” I joke, trying to lighten the mood. It doesn’t help.
“When I tried to see her during the holidays, she told me to fuck off and get off her porch. It’s why I moved into the house Old Man Peterson left me. My presence at the house in Reno just made her even angrier.”
“Do you think she’ll ever forgive you?” I question, handing him a tool before leaning over the side of the truck again.
“I hope so. But it would take a miracle for that to happen. Like my dad would literally have to come back from the dead and tell her to forgive me in order for her to let me back in.”
“Damn, I’m sorry you’re going through that, Brother.”
“It’s okay; things are starting to look up. You’re home now, and now there’s this… development.” He motions to the girl in the corner, who can barely see over the side of the car she’s working on.
“She is fucking hot.” But something tells me that’s all she has going on.
