“I gave Marco some money to get some cinnamon rolls.” Slider grabbed my hand and tugged me further down the hallway. Silently, I was jumping up and down, happy as hell Slider had read my mind. “I told him to meet us at the restaurant.”
I shook my head no and grabbed Slider’s arm. I didn’t want to eat at some fast food place. Marco was somewhat right when he had said I was a food snob.
“Just trust me, Firecracker.”
We headed back the way we came, past the gas station cashier and then down another corridor where there were video games and those machines where you stuck a quarter in and got a toy or candy out. The smell of bacon wafted around us, and the hallway opened up to a restaurant with red booths and white tables.
“Just two?” a waitress asked while walking past with a tray overflowing with food.
“Make it three,” Slider replied, holding up three fingers.
“Sit anywhere on the left. Lola called in sick and we’re shorthanded,” the waitress called.
Slider pulled me over to a booth in the corner, and I slid all the way in. Slider sat next to me and threw his arm over the back of the booth. “Eat up, Firecracker. I’m pretty sure you’ll be eating your words soon.”
I rolled my eyes and grabbed a menu. Anything you could possibly think of was listed, and my stomach growled reading all the different way they did waffles.
“Holy hell, this place could have its own zip code. I accidentally wandered down the wrong hallway and saw a Ping-Pong table, foosball, and a laundromat.” Marco scooted into the booth across from us and set a plastic bag next to him.
“We’re in the biggest truck stop in Illinois. It’s right on the border to Wisconsin. I try to stop here whenever I’m nearby.”
Marco grabbed a menu and opened it up. “Did you stop on the way down?”
“No. I just filled up the tank and headed straight down.” Slider flipped over both of our cups for coffee and signaled for the waitress.
“All right, what can I get for you guys?” The waitress flipped open her notepad and clicked her pen.
“I’ll have four eggs, sunny-side up, hash browns loaded, sausage, and sourdough toast,” Marco said before setting down his menu.
He had looked at the menu for all of ten seconds. How in the hell had he decided that quickly?
“And you, ma’am?” The waitress looked down at me, her pen poised to write down my order.
“Slider.”
“Sorry, Firecracker,” he whispered in my ear and leaned over. “Point at what you want, Fay, and I’ll tell her.”
I pointed at the buttermilk waffles with strawberries. I held up one finger, letting him know I only wanted one. Lord knew my ass didn’t need more than that.
“She’ll have the strawberry waffles, full order, with a side of bacon,” he told the waitress.
My jaw dropped, and I shook my head no.
Slider ignored me. “And I’ll have the butter pecan waffles with a side of sausage and bacon. Coffee for both of us, too.”
“I’ll be right back with the coffee,” the waitress said before she flounced off to the kitchen.
I can’t eat all of that, I wrote and thrust it in Slider’s face.
“Calm down, Firecracker. Whatever you can’t eat, I’ll finish.”
That’s not the point.
“Then, what is the point?” He grabbed my cup and put it next to his. The waitress came back to fill our coffee cups and set down three glasses of water.
I know what I want.
“I never said you didn’t know what you want. I just figured I was hungry, but not enough for a double order of waffles. Eat what you can, and I’ll finish off what you can’t.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. Well, I guess that was okay, although I still didn’t like it. Next time tell me that.
Slider laughed and took a sip of his coffee. “Run everything by you, got it, Firecracker.” He set down his cup and laughed, turning his attention to Marco. “Was your mom always this feisty?”
“Yeah, except you never really saw it. She’s used to getting her way.”
I balled up my napkin and tossed it at Marco. Where the hell was the loyalty to his mother?
“Hey,” Marco protested. “I’m just telling the truth.”
I rolled my eyes and grabbed Marco’s napkin. He could use the one I had thrown at him.
“Are we staying in the same house?” Marco asked.
I nodded, but Slider shook his head no. What? I scribbled. Where in the hell were we staying then?
“I’ve got a place just outside of town. Not many people know about it.” Slider pushed back his coffee cup and handed me mine. I hadn’t even taken a drink of it yet.
“I thought maybe we were going to stay at the clubhouse. That would have been cool.”
“Nah, there isn’t enough room for all of us there. I have my room, but there aren’t any extra rooms.”
Wait. What happened to the house we were staying in?
Slider shook his head. “Leo let the lease go after he moved you back to Chicago. With such short notice, he wasn’t able to find a new house.”
But what about all of my stuff I left there? I had bought all new furniture when Marco and I had moved to Rockton. Furniture I was absolutely in love with.
“Leo had everything put into storage.”
Well, that was relief, but I was still hesitant moving in with Slider. Why can’t we just stay in a hotel?
“Because Leo doesn’t know how long he’ll be gone, and I can’t keep you safe in a hotel. My house is better.”
The waitress returned with a full tray, and I didn’t have time to argue. I set my notepad on the seat next to me and watched all of the delicious-looking food she set down. Marco had a huge platter in front of him. He bugged his eyes out at it and immediately dug in.
Three huge waffles smothered with bright red berries were set in front of me, and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to eat them all, but I would sure try.
“Try not to drool, Fay,” Slider said as he laughed.
I elbowed him in the side and picked up my knife and fork. I wanted to tell him to shut it, but I didn’t want to have to pick up my notebook. Having to write everything down was a pain in the ass sometimes. I was going to have to figure out another way to communicate. I sliced off a huge bite of waffles and moaned as I chewed. Holy hell, that was the best waffle I had ever eaten.
“I’ll be expecting your apology after you’re done eating,” Slider replied, chuckling.
I rolled my eyes and spotted his plate of bacon and sausage when I looked over at him. I stealthy stabbed one of the links and moved it over to my plate. At least, I thought it was stealthy.
“Didn’t you know you shouldn’t touch a man’s sausage without permission?” Slider asked, lowering his voice.
I choked on my waffle.
“Dude,” Marco said, laughing. “I don’t want to hear anything about your sausage and my mom.”
“Then, she better ask next time,” Slider said, smirking.
Oh Jesus. How in the hell did we get here? I took another bite, hoping if I just ignored Slider, he would shut up.
“I don’t know, dude. If some chick wants to grab my sausage, I don’t think she’ll need to ask before.”
I slammed my fork down and glared at Marco.
“There really is an advantage to you only being able to say one word,” Marco said, laughing. “Thank God that word is Slider, and not no.”
I picked up my butter knife and pointed it at him.
“Easy, Marco,” Slider scolded. Thank God Slider was being an adult for two seconds. “You never know what your mom could do with that butter knife. You might not have a sausage left after she’s done with it.”
Marco busted out laughing.
“Slider.”
“Oh, I know that tone,” Marco said, shaking his head. “You’re in trouble.”
“I’ll just take her notebook away.”
I grabbed my note
book, shoved it under my butt and sat on it. He was not about to take my only way to communicate.
“You can’t sit down forever, Firecracker.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and sighed. There were other ways to communicate, but I didn’t think giving Slider the bird in front of Marco was the most responsible thing to do.
Slider took pity on me and nodded at Marco. “Eat so we can get back on the road. We still have two hours of being crammed into my truck.”
Marco ate, smirking and chuckling the whole time.
I needed to get my voice back sooner rather than later. How in the hell was I going to manage that?
********
Chapter 13
Slider
“This is it? This is where you live?” Marco asked, amazement in his voice.
Fayth’s jaw was dropped and her eyes were bugged out taking in my house.
We were sitting in the truck, the motor off, while Fayth and Marco stared out the windshield. “Yeah. This is it.”
“When you said you lived outside of town, this wasn’t exactly what I had pictured. I was thinking more of a rundown trailer down by the river.”
Fayth elbowed Marco and shrugged at me. She probably thought the same thing. “It was a foreclosure that I was able to snap up for cheap.”
“Dude, it’s like a brand new house.”
“It’s a year old.”
Fayth grabbed her paper. WOW!
I chuckled and opened my door, then held my hand out to Fayth and pulled her across the seat. “Can you get the bags, Marco?”
Marco grabbed the four bags I had loaded into the back of the truck, and we headed up the walkway. I wasn’t sure why Fayth and Marco were in awe of my house. Where they lived was three times as big. This was just a three-bedroom ranch with four-car garage. The attached garage was what made the house seem so big.
“I don’t have a lot of furniture, but there is enough to get by.” I unlocked the side door and reached in to open the garage door.
It slowly lifted and Marco dropped the bags when he saw the cars I had inside.
“Is that a Mustang?”
“Yup. ‘68.”
“Wait. Hold up. How the hell do you have a Mustang, and a brand new fucking Corvette?” Marco sauntered over to the pitch black Corvette and trailed his fingers up the fender.
“Your uncle doesn’t have nice cars?” I asked, avoiding the question about where I got mine. I wasn’t exactly legal in everything I did.
“Yeah, but it’s not like he’ll let me touch them. Can I drive it?” he asked eagerly.
Fayth shook her head and stood in between Marco and me. She pretended she was driving a car with her hands out in front of her, then acted like she crashed and shook her whole body.
“One time!” Marco shouted.
“Huh?” What in the hell?
Fayth pointed at Marco and shook her head.
“One time I crashed Uncle Leo’s car, and now Mom won’t let me live it down.”
“Wait, didn’t you turn sixteen like a month ago?”
“Yeah,” Marco replied sheepishly.
“So, how the hell did you crash your uncle’s car if you just turned sixteen?”
Fayth smirked and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Because I might have borrowed it to go to the movies, and I might have hit the curb.” Fayth grunted and held up her hand. “And a mailbox,” Marco added. Fayth shook her head again. “And then the ditch,” Marco finished. Or at least, I thought he finished. “Then a chicken coop.” Fayth nodded and turned her eyes on me, then acted like she was driving again.
“Dude, how the hell do you hit the ditch and a chicken coop?” I laughed.
“Very carefully?” Marco shrugged.
“Yeah, you ain’t touching my cars.” I grabbed two of the bags Marco had dropped and headed to the door that led to the house. “Maybe when you are forty,” I added over my shoulder.
“Forty, really? That’s like twenty-four years. These things will be rusted-out and sitting in a junk yard by then.”
Not if I had anything to do with it. These cars were in pristine condition now, and I planned on them staying that way.
“Why’d you have to tell him about the chicken coop?” Marco complained as he followed. “I was so close to him letting me drive his car.”
I set the bags next to the kitchen island, and Fayth wandered around. The kitchen and living room were that open concept shit, where if you were in one, you could still see what was going on in other.
Marco stood in the middle of the living room. “Dude, you have no furniture.”
He wasn’t completely right. I did have furniture, there just wasn’t a lot of it. “I don’t have people over. A recliner, end table, and TV are more than what I need.” I didn’t think I had ever used the end table. Hell, I could probably count on one hand how many times I had sat in the recliner.
For the past few months, if I wasn’t over at Fayth’s, I was at the clubhouse trying to catch up on shit I was missing.
“Am I at least going to have a bed?” Marco asked.
“Yeah, the spare bedroom had a twin bed. That can be your room.”
“Sweet. Where is it?” he asked as he wandered down the hall.
“Second door on the right. The first door on the right is your bathroom.” I turned to look at Fayth and crossed my arms over my chest. “Will it do?” There really wasn’t a reason why she wouldn’t like it here. Well, at least she didn’t know of any reasons of why she shouldn’t like it here. I was hoping she wouldn’t find out until bedtime that I had only two beds, and Marco was already using one of them.
Fayth nodded and wandered over to the fridge. She opened it and I dove for the door, but missed. Fayth slapped her hand over her face and her skin went pale. She slammed the door shut and looked at me like I had just killed her cat.
“I haven’t been here in over two weeks. I’m assuming the Chinese I brought home went bad.” I shrugged. “I should probably clean that out.”
Fayth gave me a thumbs up and backed away from the fridge. She grabbed her notepad. I can bring some of my furniture over if you want. At least a couch.
“You don’t need to do that, Firecracker.”
Yes, I do, if I want a place to sit.
I looked in the living room and eyed up the recliner. She was probably right. I didn’t think we could all fit in the chair. “I’ll call some of the guys and see if they’re able to grab some stuff.”
Fayth roamed around, opening cabinets and shaking her head while I called King.
“Yo, what’s up, brother?” he answered.
“Not much. We just got back into town.”
“Hell, you made good time. Where are you at?”
“The house.”
“Wow, you actually took her to your house. I figured you were just going to stay at the clubhouse.”
Fayth meandered down the short hallway and disappeared into the bathroom.
“Not enough room. We have Marco with us.”
“You know he could have taken Roam’s room. He’s out in Kentucky doing Lord knows what right now.”
I leaned against the counter. “Yeah, but I just thought this would be better for Fayth.”
“She doing okay?” I had called King last night and given him the quick rundown of what was going on. All I had mentioned about Fayth was she was coming back with me.
“Yeah, still not speaking except for a word here or there. She’s getting damn fast at writing out her words, though,” I chuckled.
“Damn man, that fucking sucks. They know when she’ll start talking again?”
“No. They said she’ll talk when she’s ready. Physically and mentally, she’s fine. She just can’t find her voice.”
“It’ll come, brother.”
“I hope so.” I heard the water turn on in the bathroom and knew Fayth would be back anytime. “I was calling wondering if you were able to get a couple of guys to go to Fayth’s storage unit and b
ring some of her furniture over.”
“Yeah, we can grab it today. You want it all?”
Now, this is where I was torn. I knew Fayth had two beds in storage, and if King brought the beds over, she wouldn’t have to sleep in my room with me. “Just living room shit and probably kitchen stuff. Hell, stop at the store for groceries too,” I laughed.
“I’m not sure about the groceries, but we can get the furniture to you. You gonna give me the address to that mansion you bought now?”
I wasn’t kidding when I had said I don’t have people over. King knew I had bought a house, but I never told him where. “I’ll text it to you.”
“All right, see you in a few.”
I shoved my phone in my pocket just as Fayth flounced out of the bathroom. “Find everything okay?”
Fayth grabbed her pad of paper. The toilet is hard to miss.
I laughed and ran my fingers through my hair. I guess that was a stupid question to ask. “King said he would bring some of your furniture over. I asked him to bring groceries too, but we might be shit out of luck on that one.”
Fayth gave me a thumbs up and yawned.
“Tired?” Fayth nodded, and I motioned towards the recliner. “Take a nap, Firecracker. I’ll wake you up when your stuff gets here.”
“Slider,” she whispered.
Jesus. Did she even know what she did to me when she said that? “Yeah?”
She just looked at me, uncertainty written all over her face.
“Just go relax, Fayth. I see your mind running a hundred miles an hour. There's nothing for you to do right now. Trust me.”
Fayth hesitated but finally made her way over to the chair. Before she sank into it and popped open the footrest, she grabbed the blanket that was tossed on the back and wrapped it around herself.
“I’ll be in the garage, okay?”
Fayth nodded sleepily, and I knew it wouldn’t take long for her to be knocked out.
I checked on Marco, who was camped out on the bed with his headphones on, listening to whatever shit he called music. I told him I would be in the garage if he needed me, and I couldn’t help but notice how much he reminded me of his mom when he gave me a thumbs up.
I moved to the garage and hoped working under the hood of a car would help distract me from what I was feeling.
Devil’s Knights MC Box Set 2 Page 56