“You say that because I’m pretty, but I’m stronger than I look.”
Avery snorted. “No, he says that because you’re little. He could just pick you up and deposit you outside the ring.” I shoved him as I passed and he stumbled into the workbench, cursing under his breath. “That counts as violence in the workplace.”
“It can’t. I’m little, remember? Little people apparently aren’t capable of violence. Aren’t you just going to pick me up and carry me out of the way?”
“Touche.” He chuckled. “Maybe I should let you fight Luis after all.”
I laughed. Working with family would probably drive some people insane, but for us, all it meant was that nobody wasted energy trying to be polite. I got back to work, tightening the cap back onto a container of coolant when I noticed Avery slipping out the back door.
Curious about what he was up to, I followed him out into the dry heat behind the garage. “What’s happening with the Silverado body job that came in from the crash over the weekend? The insurance estimate looked low.”
He glanced over his shoulder, not at all surprised to see me. “They approved supplemental damage this morning?—”
He stopped suddenly, grinning and waving at someone. I followed his line of my sight, my heart skipping when I saw Fancy Motorcycle Guy standing beside an old pressure washer.
“Hey, Theo,” Avery said, going over to shake his hand. “I see you found the pressure washer, and Kit’s old truck.”
My eyes flew wide open when I realized he was right. The old Ford pickup behind Fancy Motorcycle Guy—Theo—was faded blue and familiar, a truck that hadn’t moved in at least ten years.
“Who’s Kit?” Theo asked. “I thought it was Frieda’s.”
Avery barked out a laugh. “It is, but it used to belong to her husband.”
Theo’s eyebrows swept up a little. “Oh.”
“Yeah,” Avery said. “Kit died over a decade ago. She parked it behind the motel and wouldn’t let anybody touch it after that. I offered to buy it once.”
“Frieda threatened to bury him in the desert for it,” I offered. “She ran him out of town for a whole summer.”
“I hope she doesn’t do that to me.” Theo grinned and my heart did the weirdest little flutter thing.
Shit, I hope I don’t need a doctor.
Avery chuckled. “Doubt it. You’d be dead already unless she was okay with you using it. What do you need to borrow the pressure washer for?”
“She wants the motel repainted, but I need to wash the exterior first,” he said. “I’m working in exchange for a cheap room while the bike gets fixed, so I guess doing whatever she wants is my job now.”
“Yeah, she’s kind of like the town matriarch,” Avery explained. “No one tells her no, but it looks like you’ve figured that out already.”
“She does drive a pretty hard bargain.” He grinned again as he grabbed the pressure washer and started back toward the truck. “Thanks for this. If I die in service to beige paint, I’ll make sure Frieda knows where to return it.”
Avery nodded, waving goodbye. Theo climbed into the truck and drove off without any fanfare, just going about his day like he’d been around for years.
“Frieda must really like this guy,” he commented as we watched him go. “She wouldn’t even let me touch that truck when I offered to fix it up for her. I wonder how he got it running again. It’s been collecting dust for so long, it was basically scrap metal.”
I nodded, but I was only vaguely aware of what he’d said. Instead, I was just staring at the truck as it turned onto the road, wondering how this out-of-towner nobody had gotten that old thing running again, all by himself, and in less than a week.
Maybe I was too fast to turn him down when he offered to help. It sure looks like he might have a trick or two up his sleeve after all.
CHAPTER 5
THEO
Iwas probably the best out of all my brothers when it came to stepping into a new town, a new environment, and pretending I belonged there. Alexarrived, in every sense of the word, prepared for a battle and intent on winning—no matter what it was. He’d win a fucking peace rally if he had to.
Meanwhile, Nate observed like he was psychologically profiling every living being in his line of sight and Zach tried to fade into the background, but he never quite succeeded. Jesse and Will blended, but they still inevitably stood out somehow.
Me? I adapted. It was my strong suit, a useful skill to have for someone who enjoyed wandering through places and getting to see what they were really like as opposed to simply finding out how they treated a billionaire.
