Ride For Me (The North Shore Crew #1)

by VR Baucke

  FOURTEEN

  GAGE

  “I’M SORRY, AUNTY.” I openly laughed at Aunty Sandy’s scandalised expression when I dropped my uncle home, relieved to be relinquishing him from my care.

  He was still high as a kite. As entertaining as it was, I drew the line and held up my hands to indicate that I was not going to elaborate on the so called ‘double eye-sexing’ incident that Dave was currently spouting about.

  He was quite the handful, and there was no question who Mace had inherited that particular trait from. I only wish Mace had witnessed this stellar side of his dad in person. Despite Dave being the main source of my afternoon’s entertainment, the best part by far was the chance meeting with Lil in A&E.

  Thinking back to the night we first met, Mace introduced me to everyone along with their occupation, but had omitted that for Lil; whether on purpose or not, I wasn’t sure.

  If I was honest, seeing Lil in action impressed the fuck out of me. I was completely in awe the whole time—aside from feeling outright queasy at the sight of Dave’s injury—as I watched her expertly doing what she did every single day on the job.

  With a final apology and hug for my aunty, I let her know that Lil would stop in at some stage over the next few days to check up on Dave.

  Peeling away in my truck, I headed for home, needing a stiff drink.

  ~

  Mace’s laughter boomed around the kitchen as soon as he stepped through the door.

  “Looks like you had a much more entertaining afternoon than I did. Jeez, the old man was right on form!”

  “That’s the goddamn understatement of the century.”

  As Mace ripped into a packet of chips, I pulled out two beers and handed one his way.

  “Jesus, I feel like I’ve just experienced what it’s like to deal with a pain in the ass teenage son.”

  Mace laughed through his mouthful, ignoring the few wayward chip crumbs that flew out.

  “So, anything else you care to share...?”

  There was that look again; the one that told me he knew there was more to the story than I was letting on. I narrowed my eyes and studied him for a moment as I slowly chewed my mouthful.

  “You sneaky bastard!” I exclaimed. “Yes, now that you mention it. What a coincidence that a certain someone just happened to be the duty nurse in A&E today, and that you just happened to be too busy to take your own father to the hospital.”

  Mace raised his brows. “So Lil was working today? Thought she might have been,” he replied with a smirk.

  “You fucking knew the entire time, didn’t you! So much for having your dad’s best interests at heart,” I scoffed and tilted the beer to my lips.

  “Wish I had taken him myself now, I missed out on way too much dirt.”

  “Why didn’t you say she was a nurse?”

  He set his beer down and ploughed his hand into the bag of chips again. “You didn’t ask, so I didn’t feel it was imperative information.”

  I scoffed. “She just seems so… un-nurse like.” Seeing the confusion on his face, I elaborated. “She’s this wild, sassy, she-devil by night, then professional and proper, dressed in scrubs with her hair tamed, by day.”

  The rolling chuckle from Mace’s direction told me that I was bang on the money.

  “Yep, but sometimes by night too. She alternates shifts.”

  “Do you know when she’s working next?”

  He flared his eyes and leaned towards me. “Do I look like her fucking pocket organiser to you?”

  Flicking off his last comment, I took a final swig of beer then grabbed out another two from the fridge.

  “Ev and Matt have invited the crew around this Saturday,” Mace casually said to my back. Too casually.

  “Oh yeah?” I tried to keep the interest from my tone. “What does that mean?”

  “It means you’re coming too.”

  I shook my head. “Not unless I’ve cleared the air with Lil. I’m not risking a showdown at her folks’ place. Apparently, I give off bad first impressions,” I drawled and gave him a wry look.

  Mace scoffed. “And I wonder why that is.”

  “Fuck you. Hey, so what’s Lil’s number?”

  Mace’s joviality turned suspicious. “Why?”

  Letting out a huff, I figured I had nothing to lose by being straight up with him.

  “I’m going around there and want to give her a heads up.”

  “No can do, I told you that already. She’d have my ass.”

  He was loyal to a fault, and frustrating as hell.

  “Okay, so I’m going to turn up unannounced again and hope that Mickey doesn’t take exception to me,” I growled before shoving a fist full of chips in my mouth.

  Mace’s reply was a snort.

  Setting his bottle down with a decisive ‘clunk’, he pulled out his phone, scrolled a couple of times, then slapped the phone to his ear while glaring at me. I heard a muffled female voice answer and Mace barked out a laugh in response. He briefly pulled the phone away from his face and whispered to me, “Apparently I can’t get enough.”

  I studied him as he conversed with a giddy grin. Something ached deep inside me just from seeing him so happy.

  The friendship they all shared was something I hadn’t been a part of since high school. I hadn’t given it a moment’s thought until now as I sat observing Mace’s interaction with Lil.

  I knew what that type of happiness felt like, and the knowledge created a ball of anxiety in the pit of my stomach. Furthermore, I was jealous of Mace’s friendships, jealous of his relationship with the girl I was finding myself increasingly attracted to, and jealous of his carefree lifestyle. A part of me resented him for it, because, at that precise point in time, I wanted what he had.

  “We’re coming around,” Mace informed Lil then raised his voice to cut off her reply. “And, we’re bringing pizza.”

  More girly talking.

  “Ha! I knew you couldn’t resist the pizza man, again,” he chuckled into the phone.

  That must be some kind of personal joke I wasn’t privy to. Another one. He signed off and cast a passing glance at me.

  “Grab your shit. We’ve got a pizza order to deliver.”

  I shoved my wallet and phone into my jeans then followed Mace out the door. He gunned the engine of his white Holden Clubsport as I slid into the passenger seat. As he drove through the streets like we were part of Bathurst 2000, I placed a pizza order for pick up that could have filled our stomachs ten times over.

  Hanging up, I glanced his way. “Do we need to bring beers?”

  Alcohol seemed quite the common theme for their get-togethers.

  “Nope, tonight is dry. Lil’s trying to tone it back a notch.”

  I scoffed. “And why’s that?”

  Not taking his eyes off the busy road, Mace gave me the summed-up version that said enough while not saying much at all.

  “A few years ago, alcohol was an issue. If we hang out on weeknights, we make an effort to have no alcohol.”

  “Christ.” I muttered.

  I wasn’t expecting that. I mulled over his explanation as he ducked inside the fast-food joint to collect our order. When he slid back into the driver’s seat, I wasted no time in asking further questions.

  “What the hell happened? With Lil, I mean?”

  “Give her time and she’ll tell you, it’s not my place to say. Just like it’s not my place to tell her why you’re a moody old fucker.”

  He laughed when I punched his bicep. I appreciated his honesty though.

  “You realise I’m only two and a half years older than you. How is that old?”

  “I’m not the one pushing thirty,” Mace muttered as he backed from the parking space.

  “Don’t even go there, I’m in denial about the whole damn thing.”

  And I was, turning thirty seemed like total bullshit to me.

  “It’s next year, right?”

  My reply was absolute silence. I could see Mace’s
lips moving which meant he was doing calculations in his head.

  “Yip, next February if I’m not mistaken. I’m expecting a massive party.”

  “No bloody party,” I snapped.

  Mace didn’t need an excuse to party and I was not going to encourage him in the slightest.

  “We’ll see.” He paused and I knew exactly what he was doing, that scheming son of a bitch.

  “I mean it, Mace. No fucking party!”

  “Didn’t say a word.”

  No, he didn’t, but the stupid smirk on his face said everything that his voice didn’t.

  I was still scowling when he pulled to a stop out the front of Mickey and Lil’s house. Reaching into the back and grabbing an armload of food, I followed Mace towards the house as he balanced the pizzas in one hand above his head.

  “What the hell are you doing?” I growled.

  Laughing in response, he didn’t bother knocking as he flung the entrance door wide and strode in, grinning back at me over his shoulder.

  “You’ll see.”

  Hardly four steps into the house, I heard hasty footsteps on the stairs then we were accosted by a red-headed crazed maniac who apparently hadn’t eaten in twenty-five million years and was so starving she could eat at least four humans.

  Her caring nurse side had obviously checked itself at the door at the end of her shift.

  Mace laughed while fending her off, then all but threw me to the wolves.

  “Back up, Lil Bean, he’s the one with your chicken nibbles and hot sauce,” he yelled, pointing his thumb back at me. “Hold ‘em high, Gage!”

  I was confused as hell until I saw the evil glint in Lil’s eye as she shoved past Mace.

  “Hand ‘em over, Batman.”

  I side stepped into the kitchen. “Hand what over?”

  She strode after me, her cute appearance and small stature wasn’t fooling in the slightest. This was predator versus prey, and right now, I was the prey; or messenger prey, since I was holding what she actually wanted.

  Lil quickened her pace as I hastened around the kitchen island and back towards the lounge, feeling like a little kid trying to escape one of my dickhead sisters.

  Having three of them to contend with, I knew competitive spirit when I saw it.

  Running from the kitchen and rounding the corner into the living room, I stumbled from the unexpected force and extra weight of Lil jumping on my back. Diving for the couch, she let out an ‘oomph’ as we landed heavily. As Lil lay puffing against the back of my neck, her breath sent waves of hot chills over my skin.

  Unfortunately for everyone who actually wanted to eat the food, most of the paper bags of sides flew from my hand and scattered across the carpeted floor. The only thing left in my fist was the bag containing a box of chicken nibbles, and since my brother survival instincts had been provoked, there was no way in hell I was giving them up without a fight.

  Not having had this much fun in literally years, I giggled—actually fucking giggled—as Lil increased her efforts. She clawed her way up my back while wrapping her legs around my hips. Despite my free hand wrapping around her thigh, I was unable to get enough leverage to drag her lower, but it at least slowed her progress.

  She laughed hysterically as she slithered her way up my body, getting increasingly closer to her goal. I gathered my strength and heaved, managing to roll onto my back. Lil slipped from my body a little before she resumed her attack, straddling me this time and unknowingly squashing her boobs onto my face.

  The position also enabled me to get a better grip around her waist, and I held on tight while struggling to keep my other hand extended above my head while she pulled on my arm with all her might.

  As if it had never been there to begin with, the bag of chicken nibbles was plucked from my hand, leaving me with nothing to defend except the air between my closed fingers.

  Lil slumped for a second, effectively re-squishing her boobs over my mouth. I chuckled into the valley between them, barely resisting the urge to snake out my tongue and taste her. Within that same moment, I felt her respond to my breath on her exposed skin, and my own body began to react to what that meant.

  Mace’s sniggered comment snapped us back to reality. “How come I never get that kind of welcome?” He grinned widely as he munched on a few fries, enjoying our little show-down.

  Lil pushed off my chest and looked down at me with a mixture of shock and embarrassment. My chest shook as I struggled to contain my amusement at the absurdity of the entire situation. Her lips parted in a silent gasp right before she hastily climbed off my lap.

  Now realising that Mickey was also in the room with us, my eyes locked with his hardened glare that issued a loud warning without speaking a single syllable. The only other inclination to his annoyance was the box of chicken nibbles in his hand getting the life squeezed out of it.

  Mace however, thought it was a hell of a joke and didn’t bother trying to tone down his laughter. Lil stalked over to Mickey and snatched her chicken nibbles back with viciousness that startled him out of his fixated glower. I flipped the lid on a pizza box, grabbed a slice without glancing up, and took a massive bite.

  Realising that we were all still sitting in silence a minute later, I glanced up to see Lil sitting cross-legged on the floor, avoiding all forms of interaction with us as she devoured the chicken like it was her last meal. Mace, fuck him, was still chortling under his breath and shook his head with a gleam in his eye. He grinned at me as he chewed, making me long to kick the smug bastard. Mickey was perched on the arm of the chair closest to Lil and seemed too preoccupied to notice my analysis.

  “They’re arguing about you,” Mace dead-panned as he lifted a new slice of pizza to his mouth.

  “What?” I mumbled through my own mouthful.

  He indicated to the siblings, sitting as still as gargoyles. “I said, they’re arguing about you.”

  I narrowed my eyes. “No, they’re fucking not. They’re not even talking.”

  Mace grinned. “You don’t know yet, do you?”

  Fuck he was grinding my gears tonight!

  Rolling my eyes in exasperation, my patience was running out at a great rate of knots!

  “For fuck sake, Mace, you know I don’t know shit about these people! Spit it out already!”

  And there it was. A burst of my pent-up anger just in case everyone had forgotten how much of an asshole I could be.

  Mickey turned his attention to me, his grin brimming with malice. “We were talking about you, not to you.”

  Lil lashed out and pinched his Achilles tendon, making Mickey yelp. For retaliation, he kicked the box of chicken nibbles from her hand, sending the last few flying in slow motion through the air and landing on the other side of the room.

  “See, told ya,” Mace chipped in his two cents.

  He plonked himself down beside me and the two of us watched Lil and Mickey engage in a scuffle.

  “Care to elaborate?” I growled.

  Mace took his time to swallow before speaking. “So, you know that Mickey and Lil are twins, right?”

  He rolled his eyes at my surprise.

  “Well, I figured they were super close in age, but no, I didn’t realise they were twins,” I defended. “Though, that explains why they’re close.”

  “More than close, mate. Those two can read each other’s thoughts. And, I’ll bet my left nut they weren’t just talking about you a minute ago; they would’ve been arguing about you.”

  I sat there stunned, looking between the three of them to see if they were joking.

  “You’re bullshitting right?”

  “No, Gage, he’s telling the truth, on both accounts,” Lil spoke softly and, for the first time since I met her, she seemed genuinely shy.

  Mickey seemed wary, eyeing me closely, analysing the barest reaction that I gave. I turned to Mace for more answers, and, thank Christ, he indulged my curiosity by elaborating.

  “They can communicate telepathically, and you ca
n tell when they are having a conversation by their eyes; they glaze over slightly, like a daydream.”

  “You realise that we are actually in the same room as you, aye?” Mickey huffed and raised his brows at Mace.

  I snorted, not giving a toss that the guy obviously didn’t like me. “I take it that you didn’t have anything loving to say about me then, Mickey?”

  “The fuck do you think. Mace’s family or not, you’re not worthy of my sister.”

  My hackles bristled and I was on my feet within the same second as Lil stormed from the room. Mickey met me halfway, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides. Mace used his muscle to shove us apart enough to stop me from giving Mickey a new breathing hole.

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm the fuck down both of you before you do major damage in more ways than one.”

  “What the fuck is your problem mate?” I yelled around him at Mickey.

  Mickey jabbed a finger in my face. “Firstly, I’m not your fucking mate. And secondly, I don’t want you near Lil.”

  “Oh, you know all about me, do you?” I spat over Mace’s shoulder as Mickey and I put the squeeze on him.

  Mace muscled us apart again then stood with his palms braced against both of our chests.

  “Guys, you both seriously need to chill the fuck out. This has gotten way out of hand. Both of you sit down, shut up and hear me out.”

  With a final glare and shove at each other, Mickey and I reluctantly reneged and sat for Mace. He proceeded to give us both a fully-fledged dressing down that made us both shrink into our respective chairs. I wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of Guam. Mace’s heated rant had me feeling like a complete ass.

  “You two fuckers need to sort your shit out. “You,” he pointed at Mickey. “Loose the shit attitude. Yeah, we get that you’re playing your part but you need to tone it back a fuck-tonne.” The smirk slid from my face when Mace pointed at me. “And you, for fuck sake, you’ve only been up here a fortnight yet you’re stirring shit. Stop antagonising him, otherwise I’ll be cheering him on when he throws down. I’m not gonna have my best mate and my cousin throw daggers at each other every time the crew gets together. Sort it out or I’ll knock both your fucking heads together!”