The flaxen-haired guy smiled. He appeared the youngest of the trio. Both the younger guys resembled the older man a lot with their wiry builds and sharp features. They had to be family.
“Morning,” I murmured, watching as they set the ladder down. Then the droning of the chainsaw started, and they got to work.
I cranked up the music once more and fought my battle with the intractable weed.
After a while, I glanced back at the trio working on the tree. War stood there, his back to me, hands on his hips, head tilted up to observe the decimation of the great tree.
The older man had already scaled the ladder resting against the massive trunk, chainsaw in hand, and was sawing a thick branch. The younger guys carefully lowered the heavy bough to the ground, which was covered with even more leaves and twigs now due to their efforts.
War helped the older brother carry the huge branches to the truck they probably had waiting out on the driveway, the pair of them disappearing around the corner of the house.
The blond grabbed more of the scattered branches, dumping them together, then he glanced my way, hesitating for a second before strolling over.
I removed my earbuds.
“Hi, I’m Aaron.” He raked back his fair hair, mussing it even more. He appeared to be in his late teens.
“Charli,” I said, pulling off my ball cap and fanning my flushed face as the sun beat down on us.
“You look hot—” A blush reddened his face. “I mean with the weather being hot,” he choked off. “Not that you aren’t hot, shit—”
To save him, I laughed and pushed to my feet. “It is quite warm. Water?” I asked.
“Hell, yes, please.” He followed me to the open kitchen door. “So you’re working here, too. You a landscaper?”
“No, nothing so professional.” I huffed out a laugh. “I’m just a friend. Cheap labor,” I muttered, wiping my sweaty face on my t-shirt sleeve.
Then he stared. “Whoa, you’re the girl from Instagram.You’reWar’s girlfriend?”
Oh, man. What a tangled web I weaved.
Why couldn’t I be Pestilence’s girlfriend? Then I could get him to smite everyone and escape this interrogation. War would just create chaos. His moniker was so darn apt.
Wait,hestarted this with his refusal to have that darn pic taken down.
But you took it a step further.
Ugh, stupid conscience.
All I wanted was to get him to make a retraction of what he implied about us being a couple, but I’d taken the kissing snapshot of us and posted it. He’d called my bluff. Worse, the photo had clearly gone viral by now. Gah!
Aaron glanced back to the side of the house where War and the brother had gone with the debris. “Your boyfriend’s a terror on ice. I saw him smash someone’s face in once. Blood everywhere.” I frowned. Aaron grinned. “When that guy loses his temper, the devil probably runs. He’s one hell of a player.”
Did he think I wanted to know all this? I shuddered, despite the heat. But I heard the awe in his voice. “Yes, a real ace on ice,” I muttered dryly.
“More like a demon.” He smirked. “No one takes his puck.”
Thankfully, I’d never seen War play and never would. Sports violence? Yeah, so not me. I prefer my quiet time hanging with my friends or my books, or stuffing myself with chocolate and watching Netflix.
To get him off the subject of his man crush, I gave him a brilliant smile and said, “Let me get the water.”
The fridge was stocked with Aquafina and sodas but no beers? Hmm.
I got some water bottles and went back outside, handing Aaron three.
“Thanks.” He headed for the older guy. “Dad, catch,” He tossed one of the bottles.
Yup, called that relationship. Biting off a grin, I went back to my tiny, cleared patch. Jeez. It was already mid-morning, and I’d made so little headway. This yard was damn enormous. It would fit a huge swimming pool easily and still have space for a basketball court and then some.
