Be My Hero(30)

Mason moved closer to me as he wiped down the bar with a cloth. "Well,  thanks all the same. Hey, uh, Gamble, or Ten, or someone mentioned you  work at a garage during the day, like an auto repair shop?"

"Yep." I stacked the last of the clean glasses under the counter before  glancing at him. "Murphy's Repair down on Bullview Road. Why?"

"Really? That's great. I mean, Reese bought this . . . we'll call it a  car for now. It's a real piece of work. I don't trust it to last a  month."         

     



 

"Sure, I'll take a look at it," I said before he could even get around  to asking. I knew I probably sounded too eager. But for a chance to  visit Lowe's place, where Eva was currently staying, I was all for it.

He lifted his eyebrows in surprise, but then a gleam entered his gray  eyes as he smiled knowingly. "So, you don't mind coming over some time?"

I shook my head. "Not at all. My next night off is Saturday."

Lowe nodded. "I'm off Saturday, too."

I slid my hands into my pockets and rested my back against the bar,  trying to play it cool. "Sounds like I'll be swinging by then."

"Sounds like it."

And that's when Ten chose to appear and slap the top of the bar. "Hey,  if you two ladies are done flirting with each other over there, I'd like  to clock out sometime tonight and get the fuck home so I can mourn over  a bowl of ice cream because no one wanted to buy my luscious body  tonight."

"I'm ready to go whenever you guys are," Mason said, glancing over the  bar as if to double-check his work. "Just finished cleaning my section."

"Me too." It was late and I should've been beat, but I knew I wasn't going to sleep a wink tonight. Or tomorrow night.

In two more days, I'd get to see her again.

These were going to be the longest two days of my life.

"Hey, where's Hamilton?" Mason jerked me from my anxious daydreams with  his question until I too was looking around for the fourth member of our  crew.

Ten hitched his chin toward the exit. "He drove Cora home since her ride left her a few hours back."

"He did?" Lifting my eyebrows, I turned toward Mason. We shared a  similar look, and I knew he was thinking the same thing I was thinking.

Ten, of course, had to verbalize all our thoughts. "Yep, our baby boy's  turning into a man tonight." He sniffed, wiped at a mock tear, and set  his fist over his chest. "It's just so heart-wrenching. I'm gonna need a  whole gallon of ice cream, I think."

"Damn, put your ovaries away, son." I laughed and shook my head. "Maybe nothing's going to-"

"Oh, yes, it is," Ten cut me off, sending me a telling glance. "He just  drove home Cora the Whora. That boy is totally getting his cherry  popped, if he hasn't already."

"Wait. Cora, the . . . what?" Mason asked incredulously. "Cora the Whore-uh? Do you know her?"

"Hell, yeah." Ten grinned at us, nodding knowingly. "She's one of the  football groupies, and my God, does that chick like to get freaky."

My hope for Quinn to finally enter the world of the sexually active wavered. I pointed at Ten. "So, you've . . . ?"

He lifted his eyebrows. "Fucked her?" he finished the question for me.  "Hello. Did you miss the part where I said she was a football groupie?  I'm a football player. Of course I've tapped that. Hell, Hamilton might  be the only guy on the team she hasn't dug her claws into yet. And maybe  Gamble. But she's fairly new to the groupie scene and Gam hasn't  partaken from those girls in a couple months. So . . . maybe not Gamble  either. But yeah, pretty much the rest of us have. Why?"

Mason and I shared another knowing glance. Finally, Lowe said, "Yeah . . . I wouldn't go telling Quinn that part if I were you."

Ten blinked, utterly clueless. "Why not?"

"Well. Quinn doesn't seem like the type who . . . "

When Mason couldn't seem to come up with a tactful way to put it, I  blurted, "The kid waited until he was twenty-one to lose his virginity,  you idiot. I'd say the fact he's already shared a woman with . . . well,  you, isn't something he needs to find out about."

"Wow, now wait a sec. What's wrong with me?" Ten pointed to himself, clearly insulted. "I'm fucking flawless."

I snickered and lifted my hands. "No offence, but I certainly wouldn't  want to stick my dick in anything you've already had yours in."

"Amen," Mason seconded.

"Hey." Ten scowled at us. "That's just . . . oh, I get it. I'd get a pussy too stretched out for the likes of your tiny little-"

"Okay, let's just go home before you say anything you'll end up  regretting." I patted Ten on the shoulder before shoving him toward the  door. "I'm not getting into a dick size discussion with you." Wouldn't  want the poor kid to end up feeling deficient.

Mason followed along, chuckling and shaking his head. After we locked up  and parted ways, I started for my car, humming "Baby Love" under my  breath as I pulled my keys from my pocket and twirled them around my  finger. My mind was already far away from Ten and his dick. I couldn't  get a pair of amazing blue eyes out of my head.

I knew Eva Mercer was completely forbidden to me, but it didn't stop me  from looking forward to seeing her again, more than I could remember  looking forward to anything in my life.         

     



 

Just two more days.





Chapter 11


PICK


When Saturday arrived, I was antsy as hell. I relieved Tristy in the  morning by taking Fighter out to the nearest park, where I sat him on my  lap as we swung on the swings. I even took him on the slippery slide  once or twice but got some funny looks from a couple moms for that one. I  didn't care, though. Julian grinned the entire time, which was all the  consent I needed.

The rest of the afternoon dragged. I got a little cleaning done around  the apartment, mainly the kitchen and bathroom, but I couldn't calm  down.

Lowe and I hadn't agreed on a specific time, so I didn't want to show up  too early, but by five o'clock, I couldn't wait any longer. After  changing into something that would look nice, yet wouldn't kill me if I  got it grease-stained, I carried Fighter into the living room and  settled him into his swing, since Tris was busy on her laptop.

"I shouldn't be out too late," I told her as I scooped up my keys.

Her face zipped up as horror lit her eyes. "You're going out?"

Jigging my keys in my hands, I opened the door, letting her know that  hell yes, I was going out. And nothing she said would stop me. "I'm  helping a friend with a car."

"But . . . " She glanced helplessly at Fighter who was happily gnawing  on a toy I'd given him. I'd already fed him, bathed him, and changed his  diaper; he'd be fine for a while.

When Tristy looked back to me as if I was abandoning her to a tribe of  cannibals that were about to burn her at the stake with a nice  hickory-flavored barbecue sauce, I shifted my weight uneasily from one  foot to the other. I would not let her do this to me. I would not let  her make me feel guilty for leaving the house for a few hours. Mason was  relying on me to help him with his girlfriend's car.

Shit, that was a lie. I wasn't doing this for Mason. I had to see Eva again, a selfish truth that made my guilt skyrocket.

I ran my hand over my hair, sighing. "It'll only be for a few hours.  Damn, Tris. This is the first time I'm actually leaving the apartment  since the kid was born."

"What the fuck ever. You leave every damn day."

"For work," I bit out. "I have to work. This apartment isn't going to  pay for itself. And we need food, and utilities, and car insurance."

"Just cut it out already," she snapped with a glare. "Do I look like an idiot? I know you're going to meet a girl and get laid."

I clenched my jaw, hoping she didn't see anything in my eyes. Spreading  my arms open, I asked, "Does it look like I'm going to meet a girl? In  this?" I shook my head, confused. "Why would it matter to you anyway?"

She sniffed and lifted her chin. "It wouldn't. Not at all. I had sex just last weekend."

My eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Really?" I couldn't picture her in  that way-at all, especially since she'd given birth. She'd never been a  great beauty, but she'd really let herself go downhill these past few  months. And with the past we shared-no. She felt too sisterly to me to  even imagine that part of her life.

When she merely stared at me with a challenging sneer, I shrugged.  "Well, good for you. I'll see you later." As I tried to step from the  apartment, she cried out my name.

"Damn it, if you're just going to a friend's house to work on a car, can't you at least take him with you?"

I glanced at Fighter. Drool covered his chin and slimed the toy he was  steadily gumming. A smile lit my face. I'd love to take Julian, get him  out of this place for a while, and maybe let Eva meet him all the while  relieving Tristy for a couple hours. But I really did plan on working on  Reese's car.