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6
Red yelled out, “Mountain come here.”
Mountain stopped in the hallway and turned toward the President’s office. Living on the second floor meant he had only a few neighbors and had no excuse to be late to Church in the boardroom style room four doors down. The Prez’s office was the only other non-bedroom on the floor and he wondered what Red wanted with him this morning.
“What’s up, Red?”
“Do you remember that chick on the highway, Amber, from yesterday?”
“Yeah, I remember her.” A bit too vividly if the restless night of sleepy day dreams were any indication. Poor Spot was practically exhausted from him tossing and turning all night. His body onfind the womanmode instead of knocked the fuck out. Spot was a trooper though, she snuggled whenever he stilled for more than a minute, trying to get him to do the same.
“Lil’ Bit’s being discharged soon. Nice lady, offered to bring her home for us, but she lives in Berrington. Thought, no reason for her to overshoot and said we’d send someone to her house. Amber’s doing us a favor, no reason to stomp on it. Why don’t you grab another prospect and go to her house to pick Lil’ Bit up?”
“Sure, I can do that. Don’t really need a second for just Lil’ Bit do I?”
Red clucked his tongue. “How do you get along with her?”
Mountain didn’t know the story behind why Lil’ Bit had extra layers of protection around her. When he first came to the Steels, he assumed it was the mix of being Ol’ Lady to the VP and little sister to the Secretary. The longer he’d been with the group off handed comments and rumors floated through the group like the cotton from a cottonwood tree in the summer. At times, thick as if it were snowing, while other times a single puff caught on the breeze.
Either way, he avoided the conversations, having been a party to gossip that turned beyond ugly to deadly. All transforming his life and separating him from his family once he learned blood ties could not only be tested, but broken when one goes too far.
“Never really had an issue,” Mountain said. “Free smoothed over any unease early on with her. Not really sure what, besides the obvious Roadkiller tie, had her avoiding me.”
“But she doesn’t anymore?” Red asked.
“No, she tuned my bike in the spring for me. Found a few problems I hadn’t noticed.”
Red nodded his head. “She’s a good little grease monkey, I’ll give her that. Never thought I’d let a woman touch my engine until I saw what she could do.”
“I know she’s a claimed woman and all, but trust, the last thing I’d ever do would be to cross a line with her,” Mountain said thinkingor any other woman for that matter, but he hoped that was to be inferred. At times, he wondered since the Roadkillers had no lines drawn to even cross. They were practically feral and the longer he was away from them, the more he questioned his involvement with them in the first place.
“Not a doubt,” Red said, but his eyes still showed a bit of worry.
Only for the first time Mountain didn’t feel as if it were directed at him. No this was a Lil’ Bit thing and Cass may be her older brother, but every man who’d grown up in Turnabout Creek tended to be this protective.
“Here’s a thought,” Mountain spoke. “You know Beno is stressing out between Mom and Dad being gone and since I’m gonna be stuck in a cage for a bit.” He ran his hand over his head, the bubbles of nerves making his stomach rumble a bit. “Why not have him come with?”
“I like it.” Red actually cracked a smile. “Truck or van? Those an issue? Noticed last year, you rode your bike even in the snow.”
“Norse genes,” Mountain said. “What can I say, Elsa isn’t the only one not bothered by the cold.”
“Great, I’d just gotten rid of that damn earworm, if Harlow or Murphy hear me humming it we’ll be stuck watching it all damn day again.” Red shook his head.
“My bad Prez, it’s not a problem,” Mountain said. “You’re tallish.” The man was probably a good six three or four.
“Bigger than the average bear I suppose,” Red replied.
“You ever flown commercial? Where your knees are practically in your chest?”
“I live in Montana, puddle jumpers are our jam.” Red shrugged.
“Then add an extra few inches and a few more pounds,” Mountain explained as his hand patted his belly. “The world isn’t really built for men over six foot five, it’s barely built for those over six.”
“Never thought of that,” Red confessed.
“Most don’t,” Mountain replied.
“If you want, I can send someone else, it’s not a big deal.”
