“Hell no.” A rough laugh barked out.
I grunted and put the sprayer back on its hook before walking all the way around the frame.
My boots scuffed on the concrete floor, mixing with the clink of metal from Callie.
We worked in silence for over an hour.
Every minute that passed, her body relaxed by degrees, the tightness in her jaw the last thing to go.
I waited her out, using the time in the shop to my advantage. “Not sure if Hawk told you, but if you ever have trouble with the hydraulics on bay two, the button likes to stick. All you have to do is put a little oil underneath.”
She nodded, her full attention on the engine. “Thanks.”
“Looks like the same engine you took apart last week.”
Her shoulders hunched forward. “So what if it is.”
“If it is, and if it’s for Mikey, then the engine isn’t the problem. Mikey is.” I stayed several feet away, my body turned to the side to keep from looking confrontational. “Mikey likes to buy his fuel from a cheap shop a couple towns over. Been telling him for years he’s ruining his bike but he likes the deal. Feels like he’s sticking it to the man.”
Callie cursed long and low, her head going side to side before she cupped her hands on either side of her head and propped her elbows on the counter. “You mean I’ve been rebuilding this engine for no reason?” She shot to her feet. “I even asked him about the fuel. Iknewit didn’t smell right. Son of a bitch.” She stared straight ahead and took several deep breaths.
“I’ll talk to Mikey again.” It was the least I could do.
“What’s going on here, Diesel?”
I stiffened at the sound of my name on her lips.
I hadn’t heard it since we lay tangled in bed together, and it punched straight through me, taking my breath and leaving me craving her touch. “Not sure what you mean.”
Her head lifted from her hands.
She pressed her palms against the edge of the bench and stood, turning slowly to face me.
Three feet separated us, but the way she looked me over cut it to nothing. “What are you, Hawk, and Colt doing? Hawk gave me some excuse, but I want to hear from you.”
Some excuse. I knew what Hawk had told her. He’d given her the truth, and I had to do the same. “We have rules, Callie.” I let myself say her name out loud, just to taste it and to see if she reacted the same way I did.
Her eyes fluttered shut then widened, the pupils dilating at the same time she pulled in a sharp breath through her nose. “I know that.”
“We have rules to keep the men from turning on each other. If we let multiple men claim the same woman, then things get messy.”
Her chin lifted, her eyes going cold and narrow. “Women are not property to be claimed.”
“That’s why any time there’s a problem like this, the woman is the one to choose.” She could do that. She could choose one of us and this would all be over. “But then there are still hard feelings.”
“Because a man who’s been rejected usually decides it’s the woman’s fault and tries to ruin her.” She said it so calmly it must come from experience, and the urge to punch something threatened all over again.
I let her have that truth without argument. “Hawk and Colt have history. And they both have enough responsibility to strangle them. One wrong move and Hawk could lose his leadership. If the members think he’s going weak, someone will take his place.”
She didn’t move. The whole garage went silent as death around us.
A rhythmictick, tick, tickcame from Callie as she tapped her blunted nails on the metal workbench.
She gave me another of those long looks that worked beneath years of locking myself away from feeling…from emotion.
A few strands of hair fluttered around her face in a light breeze from the overhead fan, and she didn’t brush them away.
She barely moved at all, but when she did, it was to take a step toward me instead of away.
