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“It’s my kitchen.” She gives me a crooked smile. “And you’ll keep your mouth shut if you want Hope to bring you home any pie.”
I press my hand over my chest. “I won’t tell a soul.”
“Send him over, Trinny,” Rock says.
“Will do.” She waves and takes Alexa’s hand. Excited to hang out with her aunts and cousin, I don’t even get a wave or kiss goodbye from my daughter.
I follow Rock into the war room. He closes the door behind us and squeezes his eyes shut. “What. The. Fuck?”
“Sorry, Rock. I probably overreacted.”
“Doubt that.” He glances toward the closed door. “Sparky wasn’t in the middle of a meltdown when I walked in, so you must have handled it well.”
“Well, I’ve watched you and Z handle him for years.” I pause because I’m starting to feel a little shitty about the whole thing. “I shouldn’t discourage him from coming out of the basement though.”
“Fuck knows he needs to come up for air once in a while.” He taps the table. “Your idea of building him a separate space was a good one. Very vice-presidential.”
It would be disrespectful to roll my eyes at my president, so I restrain myself. “Rock, do we even need to explore edibles, extracts, or whatever the hell he was yapping about? The club doesn’t need drug money anymore.”
“We wouldn’t have had the money to invest in the first place if it wasn’t for this operation.” He shrugs. “Besides, you really think money motivates Sparky?”
Sparky give up his passion—growing and cultivating marijuana for any reason? “I guess not.”
Rock shakes his head. “Get Teller up here.”
Thirteen
Heidi
I’m exhausted after my shift and so not in the mood for more bullshit from Bryce.
Yet, there he is waiting by the locker room door. He pulls a face that almost looks contrite while he blocks my way.
“Why are you here?” His placement is thirty minutes in the opposite direction. Some clinic a friend of his dad’s owns where he can apparently come and go as he pleases.
“I want to apologize, Heidi. I was a jerk yesterday.”
“Yes, you were. Get any of the work done? That’s the only thing I’m interested in talking to you about.”
Completely ignoring my question, he continues, “I was rude. I should’ve offered to compensate you for your time.” The humble, apologetic act doesn’t work for Bryce. At all.
He jerks his head, indicating he wants me to follow him into the staff lounge next door.
Like an idiot, I do. “I don’t have time for this,” I hiss. One of the nurses sweeps her gaze over us before leaving the room. Great, that’s all I need—a reputation for having guys visit me at work.
Once we’re alone, he pulls out his wallet and flips it open. “What do you say? I’ll give you a hundred now as a deposit. Another thousand when I get my grade?” He holds a crisp hundred-dollar bill in the air, just out of my reach, as if he expects me to tackle him for it at any moment.
“Do we have a deal?” He brings his hand down, waving the money so close to my face, his knuckles brush the tip of my nose.
I slap his hand away. “Listen carefully because I don’t want to have to repeat myself a couple days from now. I don’t want or need your money.” Never mind that even if I agreed to his plan, he’d probably stiff me. “You fucked us over on the project, and you’ll have to suffer the consequences.”
He stands there slack-jawed. Obviously, the idea that I’d turn down the money never occurred to him.
“Don’t you have a kid to support?” he finally asks.
Rage colors my vision red. I hate that this jerk knows anything about my private life. “Take your money and fuck off.”
With that, I turn and stalk out of the room.
“You’ll regret this, Heidi,” he calls after me.
“Yeah, yeah,” I mutter. “Can’t even come up with something original.”
I slam open the door to the locker room, almost knocking someone over.
“Heidi, are you okay?” The tech I’d been shadowing all day asks.
For a brief moment, I consider confiding in her. She’s been through the same program, so she knows the pressure we’re under. But what if she thinks I’m being sanctimonious about the whole thing and should shut my mouth and do the work for Bryce? That will just piss me off even more.
“No, just a long day. Still have to go to my part-time job.”
“You really shouldn’t have another job while you’re finishing up the semester.”
“I know.” Except, I work for Trinity, and I’m not about to let her down. I don’t volunteer that information because I prefer to keep club family life and my school life completely separate.
“Well,” she smiles brightly, “You’re going to miss all the action here tonight. It’s always lively after hours.”
“So I hear.”
She lowers her voice. “I’ve heard there might be an opening soon.”
My ears perk up. One of the major reasons I chose this program was because the job-placement rate after graduation was so high. Although I had also been considering continuing into a four-year program and specializing in another modality. “Really?”
The urgent care clinic isn’t my first choice. It’s a long drive. As a new hire, I’ll have to pay my dues and work overnights, which I guess would give me more time at home with Alexa during the day, but it still isn’t ideal.
The chat with Carrie only distracts me from the confrontation with Bryce for a few minutes. Once I’m in my car, I can’t get the encounter out of my head.
He’s getting desperate.
Today he offered me money.
What’s next?
Fourteen
Murphy
“Christ, you’re whipped.” Wrath scowls my way.
I flip him off. “That supposed to be news?”
“You’re self-aware, I’ll give you that.”
About an hour ago, Heidi ran over to say hi and blow a kiss in my general direction before disappearing inside Trinity’s photography studio. My gaze keeps drifting toward the window, providing Wrath with an excuse to give me a dose of verbal abuse.
Really, I’m worried she’s going to see me driving back with her car and ask questions.
“About time,” I bitch
as soon as I see Jake.
“Sorry. Got held up at Sully’s place.”
I follow him outside and jump into the passenger side of his Jeep.
“You sure this isn’t a present for you?” he jokes as he jumps the curb in front of us.
“Why can’t you reverse like a normal person? Wrath’s gonna kill you if you fuck up all his dividers.”
He shrugs and takes a right out of the parking lot fast enough that I grip the oh-shit handle. Christ, I hate driving with other people.
“What if she sees it sitting in the parking lot? Isn’t she working with Trinity tonight?”
“She’s not going to know it’s for her.”
“Ten bucks says you can’t keep it a secret for more than five minutes.”
“Fuck off.”
“Still planning to take it out to Zips?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Good. Eraser said he’s had some issues. Maybe you and your big Yeti face can scare them away.”
“What kind of issues?”
He shrugs. “I don’t stick my nose in what goes down there.”
“And yet, here you are running your mouth.”
“Charming, right?”
“Not the word I’d use.”
Jake’s hard to insult; he just laughs and turns into the car dealer’s parking lot. “You need me to stay?”
“Nah. Some paperwork and handing over some cash and I’ll be out of here.”
“Well, if you need me to come back and get you or kick someone’s ass, just call.”
“Thanks, brother.” I slam the door and search the parking lot.
As promised, Heidi’s car is sitting up front waiting for me.
The paperwork is quick, and the money happily accepted.
Half an hour later, I have the keys, and I sneak into the Furious parking lot, tucking the car in the back corner. I stare at it for a few seconds. This really isn’t the best place to store it for the next week. I’ll have to take it over to Rock’s garage and have Bricks give me a lift back.
