This was because, parked across from my Charger, there was a kickass, badass, sleek, shiny, beautiful, oh my God black Dodge Viper sporting two, narrow, silver racing stripes up the hood and over the roof. Vaguely, it occurred to me it had to be there the other night when I’d taken off in a huff but that was how upset I was. I didn’t see it.
Now I was seeing it.
Ty moved around me muttering, “We’ll take the Snake.”
My head jerked to him as he headed to the driver’s side like he was walking up to a sedan.
Then my eyes drifted back to the car and, upon seeing it again, I felt a tickle between my legs.
Obviously, I enjoyed this tickle a bit too long because I heard Ty call, “Lex, what the fuck?” and my eyes went back to him.
He was standing in the open driver’s door. He looked hot standing in the open driver’s door of a Viper. He looked hot all the time but he looked smokin’ hot standing in the open driver’s door of a Dodge fucking Viper.
“Where did this car come from?” I forced out.
“Max brought it back to me the other day,” he answered. “He was keepin’ it in his barn while I was gone.”
“It’s yours?” I whispered.
“Yeah,” he replied.
“It’s yours,” I repeated.
“Yeah,” he repeated too. “What the fuck?”
“I knew you were good at poker but this… this…” I waved a hand vaguely at the car. “Did someone bet it or did you buy it from winnings?”
“I didn’t get it playing poker. I won the pinks street racing.”
I felt my mouth drop open.
Street racing?
“The guy sucked,” Ty went on. “College kid up from Denver skiing. Came to a gathering, thought his car could do all the work not his driving. Bet me, lost, I got the Snake, he got his bud to call a taxi to get a ride back to his Daddy’s condo.”
I stared.
Then I asked, “You street race?”
“Not anymore.”
“You used to?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you good at it?”
He looked down at the Viper then back at me.
“You’re good at it,” I whispered.
“He sucked. Raced him in my Skyline GTR. That I won because I’m good.”
“Where’s that?”
“You’re standin’ in it. Sold it for a down payment on this condo.”
“House,” I corrected and his lips twitched.
“Condo, babe.”
I studied him standing in the door of a kickass Viper, one hand casually laid on the top of the door, from his other hand dangled his travel mug of coffee. I didn’t even know if he could fit his big body in that kickass car but, obviously, he could.
And as I studied him I thought Lady Luck was definitely feeling generous.
“Lex, you gonna get in or what?” he asked, his deep voice edged with impatience.
I was thinking “or what”. I was thinking, my ass hit the seat in that car I might have a spontaneous orgasm. I didn’t even want to know what would happen to me when he fired it up. And I wanted to save my orgasm for when Ty got around to giving it to me.
“You can’t drink coffee in a Viper,” I informed him and his lips twitched again.
“Why not?”
“It’s against badass, muscle car law.”
He dropped his head and looked at his boots but I could swear I saw his shoulders shaking.
“And we also can’t take it to a garden center,” I continued. “The steering wheel will lock you try to pull it into the parking lot of a garden center. We have to take the Charger.”
He lifted his head and even across the expanse, I saw his eyes were dancing.
“Get in the car, Lexie.”
“But –”
“Ass in the car.”
I stared at him. Then I moved across the garage to the passenger side of the Viper, muttering, “Don’t blame me if she ejects us, we try to take her on errands at a garden center.”
“Live wild, baby,” he murmured and folded his big body behind the wheel.
There it was. He fit. A miracle.
I gingerly aimed my ass into the passenger seat. Then I got the door closed and my seatbelt on without incident. Ty hit the garage door opener and turned the ignition.
The Snake bit.
Another tingle, stronger. Nice.
I smiled at the windscreen.
“Fuck,” Ty muttered, my eyes slid to his, he was looking at me and when I caught his gaze, he shook his head. I smiled bigger.
He placed an arm around the back of my seat, looked over his shoulder and pulled out, still shaking his head.
She growled through the condo complex, I allowed myself to feel her then when we were out of the complex, I pulled my shit together.
“Who’s Max?”
“A friend, lives in Gnaw Bone.”
“Gnaw Bone?”
“A town not too far away.”
“There’s a town called Gnaw Bone?”
Ty didn’t reply because, obviously, there was.
So I asked, “Why wasn’t he at the party?”
“Different set of friends,” he told me. “Met him on a construction job in Wyoming. He was a good guy, we found we were both from around the same patch, solidified the connection. We stayed tight even though, back then, he wasn’t around much. Now he’s married with kids so he was around but I wasn’t.”
“Construction? I thought you were a mechanic?”
“Diversified. Job was short, hours long, money fuckin’ great. Same kinda job took me to Dallas.”
I took in a breath.
Then I tested the waters.
“And what led you to Shift?” I asked.
“Poker. I was in Dallas. Sat some games. He heard about me, thinks he’s got a big dick. Called me out, I bested him. He went down and did it hard. Lied about collateral. Walked away from the table unable to pay up. That isn’t my favorite thing; I needed to make my point. I did. He got my point. Promised a payment plan, started it, the job got done, I was back in Carnal, payments were supposed to keep coming and he knew they didn’t, I’d be taking a vacation in Texas. I got framed, went down and Shift thought that was his good luck. Met a guy inside, he knew Shift, didn’t like him, itchin’ to teach him a harder lesson than the one I taught him. He’s out in about a week. I got word to Shift, he didn’t sort out his debt, he’s first order of business when I got out. He gets a visit from me then he gets a visit from my friend. Shift saw the wisdom of sorting out his debt.”
“Enter me,” I whispered.
“Yeah,” he whispered back.
“What’d you do to him?”
“You don’t wanna know.”
I looked to Ty. “Actually, I do.”
He glanced at me then back at the road. What he didn’t do was answer.
“Ty, I don’t care about Shift. You know that.”
He sighed. Then he stated, “Another reason to quit the game. Sometimes men fuck up, do that shit, you can’t be the man who lets it slide. Not my favorite thing to do. With Shift, he’s such a piece of shit, gotta say, I didn’t mind but the effort it took. Didn’t mess around, my message left him breathing if not standing. Delays getting my money I have to wait for the end of a hospital stay.”
“I’m surprised about that,” I said quietly to the windshield. “Ronnie usually took Shift’s back.”
“Can’t offer you an explanation, baby,” Ty replied quietly. “Didn’t hear shit about Rodriguez when I was down there, that wasn’t exactly my world but I’m at a table, I don’t care whose money I’m taking just as long as they’re good for it. Maybe he hid that shit from Rodriguez. Losin’ that bad, he’d not wanna spread that around. He’d wanna keep it quiet, save his rep from takin’ that hit.”
“Yeah, that sounds like Shift.”
“’Cause that is Shift.”
I fell silent and experienced the smooth ride of the car, listened to the
growl of the engine, eyes to the wide, two lane road ahead of us, the beauty of Colorado all around thinking he’d shared. As I sat there silent, I waited but he didn’t ask for his take. I’d asked him a question, he gave me the answer and there it was.
Yes, Lady Luck was feeling generous.
Hesitantly, scared shitless the Lady would turn on me and strike, I pushed my luck.
“So, you made friends in prison?”
“One,” he answered and I felt the beat of my heart ease because he answered.
“Just one?”
“Not a social club, Lexie.”
“Right,” I said softly.
And, surprisingly, he kept talking. “Name’s Julius. Julius Champion, you believe that shit.”
“That’s a great name,” I told him.
Ty didn’t respond.
“What was he, um… in for?”
“Manslaughter.”
“Oh God,” I whispered and then I heard it.
Ty chuckled.
My eyes moved quickly to him firstly because I was shocked and secondly because I didn’t want to miss it.
It was good I didn’t miss it, his beautiful lips curved, his face relaxed in humor, amazing.
Still.
“Manslaughter is funny?”
“No,” he stated firmly, all humor gone and my heart started beating hard because, before I left Texas, I knew this one thing about Ty. Shift had shared this. Shift had delighted in doing it because that was Shift.
I knew voluntary manslaughter was what Ty had been sent down for.
And he would not find that funny.
“Sorry,” I said.
“I was laughin’, baby,” he started gently, “’cause Julius walked into his sister’s house and saw her man takin’ his fists to her. He lost his mind and beat the life outta him. You sounded scared. Men, they got reason to be scared of Julius. He’d never hurt a woman. I know this ‘cause, on the outside, he’s got three, they’re all devoted, they all visit him regularly. The bitches fuckin’ carpool.”
This was so crazy, and funny, I felt laughter bubble up and then it bubbled out. I watched Ty’s lips tip back up.
My heart again eased.
Then I looked forward and asked, “Why do men have reason to be scared of Julius?”
“He jacks cars for a living.”
My head swiveled back to look at him. “What?”
“He jacks cars for a living. Don’t know much about his business but, according to him, there’s turf wars. You wanna be successful, you gotta learn how to take care of yourself, protect your territory.” He glanced at me then back at the road. “He’s an inch taller than me and twenty pounds heavier. Man sees that and that man knows Julius knows how to use his fists and body, smart thing for any of them to do is be cautious. Smart thing for any of them who fuck him is be scared and run. Smartest thing is not to fuck him.”
I looked back at the road. “Sounds like a good friend to have.”
“He was. He took my back, I took his.”
“How does he know Shift?”
“He’s from Texas. Something happened, things got hot there, he moved his business to LA. Better trade for him there anyway. Took his family with him, he’s a family man, sister got hooked up with an asshole. Julius took care of him and is doin’ his time. It isn’t his favorite thing to do but he didn’t complain. Worth it to him. His sense of justice is whacked. His sense of loyalty isn’t. I found the amount of loyalty he’s got balances out the other.”
“So are you going to keep in touch with him?” I asked.
“Never lose touch with Julius,” he answered. “Sucks how we forged our bond but we did it and, you got a bond like that, you don’t lose it.”
“You liked him,” I noted quietly.
“We were in prison, Lex, and he took my back. He’s six foot seven and weighs two hundred thirty pounds. That’s a good man to be at your back. But that place, it’s populated but in there, you are alone, very alone. That is, you’re alone unless you got a brother. We became brothers. We played ball together. We worked out together. We ate together. Honest to God, wasn’t for him, probably woulda lost my mind.”
My heart didn’t feel easy anymore. My heart squeezed.
“Ty,” I whispered.
“No fuckin’ with you, bein’ in there and why I was, it wasn’t for Julius keepin’ me sane, I woulda lost my mind.”
“You don’t have to talk about this,” I told him.
“Yeah, I do, baby, I don’t, I’d lose my mind. Learned that and how I did was from Julius.”
My head turned to him and I saw his arm straight, fingers curled around the wheel, muscles bunched with tension.
“It’s over now,” I reminded him softly.
“Yeah,” he agreed and those muscles stayed bunched.
“You’re going to a garden center,” I pointed out. “Free to drive your kickass car on a Sunday to a garden center. It’s over.”
“Yeah,” he repeated with no release of those muscles.
I reached out and wrapped my fingers around his bicep, saying gently, “It would suck, you bent that steering wheel into a U.”
He took in breath and when he let it out, his elbow bent and the tension went out of his arm.
I slid my hand away and faced front again.
“You’ve had a wild life,” I remarked.
“Grow up with crazy, folks screamin’ at each other all the time, Dad fall down drunk every other night and at twelve you think bologna is gourmet, you get free, you live wild.”
“Bologna?”
“Yeah, big score, me and Ike got bologna.”
“Ike?”
“Isaiah, my brother.”
“And your full name?”
“Tyrell. No middle for either of us. Mom and Dad had used up their creativity coming up with first names. Lucky we got ‘em.”
I sighed. Then I muttered, “Bologna.”
“Bologna,” he repeated.
“For me, it was corned beef hash. Granddad got the gumption to put together some corned beef hash, I was in seventh heaven. Usually, he forgot I needed sustenance to survive and I made myself PB and J’s. He also forgot to teach me the importance of dental hygiene so a diet of PB and J’s led to me having seven cavities by the time I was ten. I’m not a fan of the dentist but I am a fan of dental hygiene, just, unfortunately, hit the game late.”
“Corned beef hash is better than bologna,” Ty remarked.
“Yeah, but as far as I can see, you have perfect teeth.”
And he did, all white, strong, even. His teeth were as beautiful as the rest of him.
“Least those two gave me something,” he muttered and a giggle erupted out of me.
“Yeah, count your lucky stars, honey,” I advised.
“I am,” he returned and his voice was soft, those two words had meaning and I knew what that meaning was.
I knew what it was.
I knew.
And what it was was proof Lady Luck was feeling generous.
And I knew then I was not going to fuck this up and piss her off.
No way.
* * * * *
I was right. A kickass Viper did not go to the garden center.
This was because, outside Chantelle, there was a Toyota dealership. And Ty slowed before the entry of that dealership, muttering, “Quick stop, baby.”
I didn’t care if we made a quick stop. He was calling me baby again. His lips were twitching. I’d even heard him chuckle. And he was sharing. I’d take a quick stop in hell to keep all that.
We were gliding through the lot when a man with light brown hair wearing an ill-fitting pair of slacks and sports jacket saw us, his face split into a huge smile and he ran, actually ran to where Ty parked the Viper.
Ty barely cleared his door and I was only folding out when the man was on him, shaking his hand, grinning like a lunatic, head tilted back looking at Ty like he was a top-paid professional athlete on a mission and there to clear out th
e lot of all their high end models.
“Ty, fuck, Ty. Ty! I heard you were out. Fuck! Good to see you, man,” he said, pumping Ty’s hand
“Stan, yo,” Ty replied, pulled his hand free, moved out of the door of the car, forcing Stan out too and he turned and looked at me over the roof. “My wife, Lexie, Lex, this is Stan.”
“Hey, Stan,” I called, slamming my door but Stan was staring at me, mouth open.
Then he swung his open-mouthed stare to Ty.
“Buddy, you’re married?” He looked at me then back at Ty and spoke again before Ty could answer. “To a hot chick?”
“Not gonna marry butt ugly, Stan,” Ty muttered and I pressed my lips together as I moved around the back of the Viper toward them.
“All right, to a super hot chick,” Stan slightly amended.
“Yeah,” Ty replied as I made it to his side and his arm slid around my shoulders, pulling me into him. “Lucked out.”
Lucked out.
Yeah. I’d take a quick stop to hell to keep this. I’d even stay for a cup of coffee.
“You could score but, holy fuck, she’s like a white Jennifer Lopez,” Stan observed.
“I think I look like Jessica Alba,” I joked because I did not.
He looked me up and down and then nodded. “I see it but that ass, all Lopez.”
“Stan, you mind not talkin’ about my wife’s ass to my wife or, say, at all?” Ty asked in a way that Stan could only give him one answer.
And he did, on a mutter, “Yeah, Ty, sorry.”
Then Ty asked, “Here to see what kinda deal you can swing me on a Cruiser.”
That was when I went still.
A Cruiser? As in, a Land Cruiser? What was he doing? We were going to the garden center to buy plants not drop tens of thousands of dollars on an SUV.
“You know I’ll take care of you, Ty.”
“Yeah, I do. That’s why I’m here. Get the keys to one, dark gray or black. Upgrade.”
“All over it,” Stan said on another maniacal grin then he ran to the building.
I curled into Ty.
“Uh, honey lumpkins,” I called, his head tipped down to look at me and when it did, his mouth was twitching again. “Looking into purchasing an SUV is not exactly a quick stop.”
“Okay, not-so-quick stop,” he revised very belatedly.
“Right, so, can I ask why you’re looking into purchasing an SUV at all?”
Lady Luck Page 19