Page 27 of Throttle Therapy

Jenna cringed.She hated when Lacey did that, and had told her a million times but her sister’s come back was that she was the only one who drank it, so what did it matter if she drank out of the carton.It wasn’t a fight she wanted to have this morning.

“Morning, little bit.Did you sleep well?”Jenna did her best to sound chipper and happy, despite still feeling like she needed a good night’s sleep.

“I slept.You’re making pancakes?”Lacey moved up beside Jenna and looked down at the food, then back to her, an excited light in her eyes.“What’s the occasion?”

Jenna’s chest ached.That things had been so tight, and she’d been so busy that something as simple as pancakes on a Sunday morning was a treat.

“No occasion.I’m hoping this will become our new normal.”She wrapped an arm around her sister and pulled in for a quick hug.“I hope we’ve finally gotten the break I’ve been working for.We’ll be able to spend time together, but things won’t be so tight.”

“What if it’s not?”

Jenna lifted one shoulder and let it fall as if that question wasn’t one that had haunted her most of the night.

“Then we’ll figure it out.We always do.If this doesn’t work out, I’ll find something else.But let’s not worry about that.I really liked Papa Smurf, and I think you will too.Can you wash and dry the laundry while I’m at work?We’ll fold it together this evening so we can start the week with everything clean.”

She nodded.

“Is any of this ready?”She nodded to the food.

“Yep.Bacon’s here.”She motioned to the paper plate where she was putting the bacon.“And the rest of the pancakes are in the microwave.Help yourself.”

Jenna drained her coffee and poured more from the pot, then pulled the last of the bacon from the skillet and put the final pancakes on a plate for herself.

“What’s Riley doing this weekend?”Jenna asked as she sat on this side of the bar, facing her sister.

“Some family thing.She doesn’t even have signal, so I can’t let her know I’ll be riding the bus with her.Can I start that tomorrow?”

“I don’t know, Lace.I need to call and talk to them tomorrow.They may make me come in and sign something.If they do, then I’ll do it when I come to pick you up, if not, then you can ride the bus.I’ll text you when I know, so you can be ready for either.”

Lacey nodded as she continued to shovel in food as if she hadn’t been fed weeks instead of a few hours.

Jenna finished eating, put her plate in the trash and her fork in the sink.

“If you’ll take care of putting away the food, I’ll do the dishes after I get off tonight,” Jenna said.She knew she should wash them now and get them out of the way but if she didn’t get in the shower now, she’d be late for work and she had to be on time, even if she would be quitting at the end of her shift.

Chapter Fifteen

Roadkillfinishedhisworkout,showered, sent Jenna a good morning text then went in search of food.Sometimes one of the guys cooked breakfast on the weekends, but there was no set schedule, and it was hit or miss.When he made it back to the common room he found someone had cooked, but all that was left was a few biscuits and a little bit of gravy.It wasn’t what he’d been hoping for, but it was better than having to cook for himself, so he helped himself and took his plate to one of several tables scattered around one side of the room.

While he was eating, he watched as a few of his brothers trickled in, most filling coffee cups and sitting down or taking it with them as they headed out to whatever they had going on today, while a few poured bowls of cereal and ate that.When Roadkill was through eating, he refilled his coffee and headed for Cypher’s command center.He knew the other man was up and in there because he’d been one who’d gotten coffee and taken it with him.

When he reached the command center, Roadkill knocked on the open door.Cypher looked up.

“Hey, I was putting stuff together to call you.”

“Good.While we’re at it, I have another name to give you.”

Cypher shot him a scowl.“Another man being ugly to your girl?”

“No, a teacher making inappropriate comments to the point all the girls in his class are uncomfortable.Like they have organized a system so no girl is ever alone with him.”

“What the fuck?What school is this?”

“I can’t be a hundred percent sure, but it’s a middle school so probably Semmes.I do have a name though, she said Mr.Goldman.”

Cypher his several keys, took a few notes, then twisted his chair around to face Roadkill.

“I’ll start looking.Are you ready for what I’ve found on Burkett?”