“Come on,” Fuzz says, pulling me out of my thoughts as he nudges me. “Let’s get this shit done. I’m looking forward to an ice cold beer and my goddamn bed.”
“That’s right,” I call to him as we climb out of the truck. “You were playing bodyguard last night, weren’t you?”
His lip curls back in a snarl. “Don’t even get me started, man. Spoiled little brat snuck past me and I spent half the night combing the city for her and her dumbass friends.”
“You gotta tell Blaze we can’t be taking jobs watching over spoiled rich girls anymore. What we do is bigger than that,” I tell him as we meet at the back of the truck and he nods. One of the other businesses we run is a P.I. business and recently, our President, Blaze, has been thinking about adding security to that but the clientele we’ve gotten so far has been less than desirable.
“Yeah, but as Blaze reminded me when he heard me bitching about it this morning, the spoiled rich girls pay the way for the girls who really need our help.”
I sigh. “Well, shit…”
“Exactly.”
Fuzz drops the tailgate and I reach for the first box when my phone starts ringing. I offer him an apologetic look but he brushes it off as I step back and dig the phone out of my pocket. My gaze drops to the screen and I sigh.
Tawny.
Just the sight of her name has me feeling exhausted and irritable. Shaking my head, I silence it and grab a box out of the truck as Fuzz shoots me a look.
“You going to get that?”
I shake my head. “Absolutely not.”
“Everything okay?” he asks, his brow arching in question. I don’t even get a chance to answer before my phone starts ringing again and I grit my teeth as I roll my eyes.
Goddamn it.
“Dude, just answer your damn phone if you need to.”
“No,” I tell him as he grabs a box out of the back of the truck. “It’s just Tawny.”
He throws his head back and barks out a laugh as he turns away from the truck. “Pretty sure we all told you not to go there, brother.”
“Yeah, well, surprise surprise, I didn’t listen.”
“We got another Crazy Courtney situation on our hands with this one?” he asks as he knocks on Sammy’s door and I shudder at the memory that name invokes before shaking my head.
“Naw. I don’t think so.”
The door swings open and Sammy offers us a timid smile as she scans the parking lot before stepping back and allowing us to pass her. Good. It’s smart of her to not let her guard down. That is how she will stay safe. “Thanks for your help today, guys, and I’m sorry for the inconvenience. You can just set stuff down wherever you find room.”
“Don’t mention it, Darlin’,” Fuzz says as he sets his box down on top of two other boxes. “We’re happy to help. You decided about the job at the shop yet?”
She forces a smile to her face and grips the back of her neck as she shifts from one foot to the other. “Um… no, not yet. Do you need an answer right now?”
I shake my head. “No. Take all the time you need.”
“I… I want you to know how much I appreciate everything y’all have done for me and I don’t want you to think I’m ungrateful. I just don’t know…”
“Hey,” I say, cutting her off and taking a tentative step toward her. “Don’t worry about us, okay? Our only goal here is help you get back on your feet in whatever way we can.”
She nods, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip as tears well up in her eyes. “I’ll never be able to thank y’all enough. You saved my life and I promise I’ll let you know as soon as I can.”
I offer her a reassuring smile before glancing over at Fuzz as he claps his hands together to break up the subtle tension in the room.
“All right. Let’s get the rest of your stuff in here so we can get out of your hair.”
He heads toward the door and I nod in her direction as I follow behind him. She retreats further back into the apartment as we walk out and when we reach the truck, my phone starts ringing again. I brace my hands on the tailgate and let out a heavy sigh as Fuzz chuckles.
“Might as well just answer it, brother. Doesn’t seem like she’s going to stop.”
With another heavy sigh, I pull my phone out of my pocket and stare at the screen for a second before silencing it and shoving it back in my pocket. Whatever she wants, I don’t have the energy to deal with it right now. Fuzz laughs as he grabs a box out of the back of the truck.
“Oh, you’re going to pay for that one, Moose.”
Before I can even respond, my phone starts ringing again and Fuzz’s laughter disappears into the apartment.
“For the love of God,” I growl as I dig the phone out of my pocket and think about how satisfying it would be to chuck it across the lot. If it was in a thousand damn pieces she wouldn’t be able to call me incessantly anymore. Sighing, I press the green button and press the phone to my ear.
“Hello?”
“Hey there, stranger,” she purrs, trying her best to sound alluring and all it does is make the fantasy of smashing my phone even more appealing. “I’ve been trying to get ahold of you.”
I nod as Fuzz walks up to the truck and grabs another box. “Yeah, I noticed.”
“Why didn’t you answer my calls?”
“I’m kind of busy right now, Tawny,” I growl as I plop down on the back of the truck, trying not to sound like an asshole. From the time I learned to talk, my mama ingrained good manners into me but there’s no way in hell I’m apologizing to Tawny for ignoring her calls. Because one, I’m not really sorry and two, the last thing I need is Tawny getting any big ideas about the two of us. Before she and I started hooking up a few months ago, she tried her hand with most of the other guys in the club because Tawny’s number one goal in life, at least at the moment, is for one of us to make her our old lady. My brothers warned me to stay away, that she was more trouble than the easy lay was worth, but like an idiot, I didn’t listen and now I’m in a mess. She’s getting more attached each time I call her up for a late night booty call and as nice as she is, I’m bored to fucking tears every time I’m with her.
Fuck.
That makes me sound like a real asshole but it’s the God’s honest truth.
“Oh. Well, do you have any plans tonight? Maybe I could come over and we could get some dinner?”
I pinch the bridge of my nose as I take a deep breath and think it over. Do I really want to spend another night listening to her go on and on about whatever drama she and her friends have gotten into since I’ve seen her last? Absolutely not but it seems better than spending the night alone on my couch while I think about how fed up I am with almost every damn aspect of my life these days. Then again, it is time to end this thing between us and even the thought of getting her under me isn’t doing much for me anymore. In the beginning this was fun but now it’s more like a damn chore. “I already have plans tonight.”
“With who?” she asks and I don’t miss the note of jealousy in her voice.
Shit.
This has gone too far already.
“The club.”