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"Good," I growl, jogging toward the gates and my truck on the far side. "Let them stew until I get there."
* * *
Fifteen minutes later,I pull up outside the Silver Spoon Falls MC clubhouse, cursing up a blue streak. Ciara's Nissan Sentra slid off the road, hit a sign, went through the fence, and then hit Cash's SUV. The Sentra needs some serious bodywork to get it back in order.
Fortunately, Cash's SUV is barely even dented. He and Jude Despora meet me outside. Dillon jogs over to meet us.
"Garrett," Jude says. "Good to see you."
"Garrett." Cash lifts his chin in a nod. "I take it these three are yours?"
"Unfortunately," I mutter, glancing toward Dillon's patrol car where the boys are still hanging out in the back seat. Todd has his head in his hands, his shoulders slumped. Grady Bausch is staring into the middle distance as if he's bored out of his mind. Lincoln Pickett scowls like he thinks he's being inconvenienced. That boy never fucking learns. He's a helluva player, but he's got a chip on his shoulder the size of Texas.
I'm not the least bit surprised to see him or Grady here. They've been in trouble before. They undoubtedly will be again. But Todd is another story. And he doesn't have a rich daddy to bail him out like Grady does, nor a famous family like Lincoln. All he has is an older sister who already works too goddamn hard to take care of him.
I may not be able to claim her the way I ache to do, but I can do this much for her. Just like I make sure no one fucks with her at the bar where she works. Just like I make sure she makes it home safely. Just like I do one hundred little things to make sure she's taken care of when I can. I can't have her, but I can't stay away either. She's my obsession, the one thing in this world I'd kill to have. And the one thing I can't touch.
"Grady and Lincoln are my troublemakers," I tell the three of them, being truthful. "But Todd, the boy who was driving, has never been in trouble. He's a good kid. I don't know what the hell he was thinking, but this isn't like him."
"Like I told Dillon, we can avoid all of that and put him to work to pay off the cost of the fence and the repairs to my SUV," Cash says, leaning up against the side of his SUV. "I've got all kinds of shit he can help with around here. Guarantee by the time he's done here, he'll think twice about doing some dumb shit like this again."
"He'll have to pay to replace the sign he took out," Dillon says. "But I'm good with that if you are."
"Shit." I scrub a hand through my hair, trying to work it out in my mind. If he works off the repairs to the fence and Cash's truck and pays for the sign, I can pay for the repairs to Ciara's car. The shop in town will discount the work for me. It'll be one less thing for her to deal with. Maybe I'm a hypocrite for changing the rules, but I'm not doing it entirely for Todd. I'm doing it for her. She shouldn't have to pay for his mistakes. "Yeah, let's do it."
"I'll run the other two home," Dillon says. "I'm guessing you want to have a conversation with your girl yourself?"
"My girl?"
He hits me with a look that screamsdon't bullshit me. "Motherfucker, I know everything in this town. Including how much time you spend following that girl around. She's your girl or would be if you'd get your head out of your ass. Lie to yourself about it if you want, but you can't lie to me."
"It's not that simple," I mutter, uncomfortable as fuck that he's calling me out in front of Cash and Jude, both of whom are grinning like this is hilarious to them. "I'm the football coach. She has custody of her brother, who is one of my players. We can'tfraternizeunless I quit. If I quit, I disappoint a whole fucking team of kids who are counting on me."
"Damn." Jude shakes his head. "Talk about a rock and a hard place."
"Yeah."
"So marry her." Cash shrugs when I look at him. "If you skip the dating part, they can't say shit."
Dillon snorts laughter. "I don't know how the fuck you ended up married, giving advice like that."
"Fuck off," Cash growls, his dark eyes narrowed on the sheriff. "I'm just saying that if he wants the girl and the job, he needs to work smarter to get the one and keep the other."
"Jesus Christ. Can we stop discussing my love life now and deal with the boys?"
"Fine. I'm taking Grady and Lincoln home." Dillon smirks at me. "Good luck with the sister whoisn'tyour girl."
I discreetly flip him off before heading for his SUV to collect Todd. We need to have a discussion… and then we need to go have one with Ciara. Fuck. She's going to be mad as hell when she finds out what he did.
TWO
CIARA
Two more hours.Actually, one hundred and twenty-three minutes until I get to drag my tired rear end home. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Todd finished cleaning the kitchen before heading to bed so I can shower and fall right into my own bed. Burning the candle at both ends is turning me into an old lady before my time, but I’ll do whatever it takes to keep my brother out of foster care. He’s already lost our parents and the only life he’s ever known, and I don’t want him to lose me, too.
"Is it over yet?" My best friend, Carlie, walks up and lays her head against my shoulder. Boy, she hit that nail right on the head. “It feels like we’ve been here for two days, not four freaking hours.”
"God, I wish. It seems like the nights just keep getting longer and longer. Six-hour shifts seem to last an eternity," I mutter under my breath and glance around to make sure Leone doesn’t catch us “gossiping like church ladies again.”
