Ryder knew Noah caught rides with Eli, but still. This was his property. His hard-earned investment. And he was just … letting it go elsewhere.
But whatever. An easy ride was an easy ride. Ryder would take it, if it was offered. He still had a ways to go until he saved enough to buy a car decent enough to endure Ash’s handling without worry.
The office door was unlocked, but no one was behind the counter. Ryder headed to the back, not surprised to see the owner’s booted feet poking out from under a beater. Damonalways liked to get work in before he was forced to suffer through the camaraderie of his employees.
“Yo,” Ryder called out. He didn’t bother raising his voice. Damon was the kind of freak who could work without music playing.
“Ryder? You on today?”
Damon slid out from under the car, wiping his hands on the rag tucked into his belt. When he stood, he was big, even for an alpha. Taller than Ryder, that was for sure, with broad shoulders, sandy blond hair, and neck tattoos Ryder had envied since day one. His pheromones were something else, too—faintly electric, like crackling ozone.
He was a chill boss though. The kind of alpha that was secure enough in himself not to need to swing his big dick around just to feel good. And he’d hired Ryder fresh out of high school, his only experience the challenge of keeping his alpha dad’s piece-of-shit car running.
“Not on today,” Ryder told him. “Class. Brought you the full schedule.”
Damon took the offered paper with raised brows. “Couldn’t email?”
Ryder shrugged. “You like printouts. And I’m grabbing breakfast burritos next door.”
Damon turned his raised brows in the direction of the office. “Then where’s the hellion?”
“Sleeping it off.”
WhatAsh was sleeping off was the fucking question. And Ryder had no answer. The little shit kept insisting he was fine, back to normal or whatever, but he was sleeping way more than usual, and he was …
Well, he was fucking horny. Which wouldn’t usually have had Ryder complaining, except for Ash’s complete and utterunwillingness to address the fact that it was totally out of character.
If not for the fatigue aspect, Ryder might have written it all off as something to do with a certain dark-haired, blue-eyed, pain-in-the-ass alpha. But not even Spencer’s specific charms could induce comas.
Ryder forced himself to focus. Damon was looking over Ryder’s class schedule with a discerning eye. “Easy enough to work with.”
Ryder cocked a brow. “You gonna send me yours?”
Even though he was already somewhere in his early forties, Damon was auditing a class or two at the university, same as he’d done last semester and over the summer. Apparently the garage’s accountant had majorly screwed him over a year or so ago, and he’d decided that expanding his education was the key to not getting fucked again.
Ryder thought there might be more to it—dude could have taken one accounting class and called it quits—but it was none of his fucking business, so …
Damon scoffed. “If you see me, just pretend you didn’t. I’ll cramp your style.”
Ryder scoffed right back. “Hardly.” It didn’t matter that Damon was older. He had that just-on-the-edge-of-dangerous alpha energy that had people dropping panties and boxers left and right. If Ryder gave a shit about his reputation, being seen with Damon could only improve it.
Damon folded the paper and tucked it into his faded jeans. He nodded to the door. “Go get your burritos, I’ll put you on the books for the next few months. Bring the hellion next time. He owes me more engineering puzzles.”
Ryder grunted his acknowledgment and headed out. He wasn’t someone prone to the warm and fuzzies, but it gave him a certain sense of satisfaction that his boss and Ash got along sowell. It meant Damon didn’t mind letting Ash study in the office while Ryder was on shift.
Usually, Ash had a tendency to rub people the wrong way and didn’t give a shit that he was doing it. The same went for Ryder, but it took him longer to make enemies, since he didn’t run his mouth so goddamn much.
A hellion indeed.
Ryder grabbed the burritos from the hole-in-the-wall next to the garage and headed back to the apartment. He found Ash in their kitchen, doing something he was not supposed to be fucking doing.
Ryder snatched the mug away before Ash could start pouring. “No. Coffee.”
“Hey.” Ash scowled, trying to grab at the mug. “Fuck off.”
“It’s not finals week.” That was the only time Ash was allowed substantial caffeine. Otherwise, he turned into the world’s worst jittery asshole, and it was always Ryder who had to clean up the mess. Sometimes it was a funny fucking mess, but it was only the first day of classes, and Ryder had enough worries.
Ash made a sound of disgust. “I’ve been so damn tired. Maybe it’s my body letting me know it’s time to drink sludge with the big boys.” He batted his eyes at Ryder obnoxiously. “I’m all grown up, Daddy.”
