And yet, when I found myself no longer reupping my contract as a young twenty-something, that’s exactly what happened.
More money in it, too, which was nice.
“What about you?” Trooper asked after finishing his drink. “Got any plans for this one?”
I grinned at the idea. “You’ll see when the time comes.”
“You know I love a good surprise.”
CRASH!
THUD!
“Ah!”
“God damn it,” I groaned as I downed the rest of my beer.
Trooper chuckled. “You want to check, or should I?”
I pushed myself onto my feet. “I’ll do it. Better go make sure Ranger doesn’t break the poor girl.”
“I expect details,” Trooper called out after me as I headed inside.
Making my way for the basement in the hopes that the girl wasn’t fucking dead after pissing off our in-house Mountain Man.
9
RANGER
“Son of a fucking nutsack, stupid goddamn—come on,” I grumbled.
I tossed some soup into a bowl and thrusted it into the microwave. Why the hell Trooper didn’t give a shit about feeding the girl was beyond me. Everyone needed food, and we sure as fuck weren’t in the business of starving people to death. So, while the scent of tomato soup permeated the kitchen, I set my sights on making my favorite sandwich for our very noisy guest.
Bologna and mayonnaise, with a hint of Dijon mustard.
“Hey, Troop!” I bellowed.
I heard the front door crack open. “What?”
I reached for some produce in the fridge. “You think the girl downstairs likes tomato on her sandwiches?”
The pause told me everything I needed to know. “Why the fuck would I care?”
“Why the fuck would I care?” I mocked beneath my breath. “Thanks for nothing, asshole!”
The front door slammed closed, and I set my sights on slicing the tomato as thin as possible. No use in putting chunks of tomato on a sandwich if she was only going to pick them off. Me? I loved a good sandwich. A bit of salt, some pepper, lots of meat piled high with lettuce, tomato, and onion.
If she didn’t like it, it was her problem.
“Dinner time,” I murmured.
I carried the tray downstairs, with the staircase creaking beneath my footsteps. Even as a new construction almost four years ago, the damned floors sounded like they’d cave any second whenever I was around. The basement door hung wide open behind me as I turned myself to the side, making room for my fucking shoulders.
Always with the shoulders.
“You hungry?” I asked as I touched down onto the carpeted floor of the basement.
Not hearing her answer agitated me, but when I looked up to find her, I saw why she was pissed.
