Luke had Rose on his hip and a shit-eating grin on his face. “And you wonder why I always have her with me,” he said to Kurt. “She protects me from Violet dick-smacking me.”
“Are you trying to convince me that the reason I should have a kid is because I can use it as a shield?” He stroked his chin and looked Luke up and down. “As wrong as that sounds, I have to say, that is a pretty good pro to having a kid.” He turned to Leelee, and she silenced him with one long glare.
Luke clapped him on the shoulder. “If you ever wanna borrow Rose, she is all yours.”
“I’m not sure how I feel about you loaning our daughter out to be a dick-smacker blocker.”
“Ma! Dad! Can we eat and not talk about dick-smacking?” Ash shouted. Everyone stopped talking and looked at Ash who was standing in the middle of the kitchen holding an empty plate. “I’m a growing boy who needs to eat.”
Brooks pushed his way past Luke and Kurt and grabbed a plate. “I’m with the kid.” He nodded to Ash. “Meet me at the noodles, kid. I’ll take care of you.”
“Finally,” Ash muttered.
“Did we just get silenced by our ten-year-old?” Luke asked, amazed.
I moved from in front of the stove out of Brooks way and grabbed a beer out of the fridge. “Yes, that is exactly what just happened.” I popped the top off of my bottle and took a long swig. I stood back and watched Brooks help Ash, and then everyone else fell into line to fill their plates with food.
By the time I had my plate full, the only spot left to sit at the large dining room table was next to Brooks. I instantly regretted my decision to stand by and wait ‘til the end to fill my plate.
“Oh, come on, Frank. You know he doesn’t bite,” Kurt chided.
“I hate you,” I hissed at him as I sat down. I could always go eat in the living room, but I didn’t want it to seem like Brooks could send me running.
“Thank you for making dinner,” Brooks whispered.
I will not look at him. I will not look at him. “We all gotta eat, right?” I reached for the platter of bread Violet had set on the table and grabbed two pieces.
“So, how long are you going to be in town?” Leelee asked Brooks.
“I leave early Friday morning. I need to be to the track before noon.”
Perfect. I just needed to hide out tomorrow and then Brooks would be gone.
“You ready for Allentown?” Luke asked.
Of course, Luke knew where the next race was. All three of my brothers followed the circuit even before I started working on the cars. They were the reason I got so into cars. I just wish they wouldn’t be so nice to Brooks.
“Uh, as ready as I can be. The days leading up to the race, I’m nervous as hell, but as soon as I get to the track, everything seems to calm.” His hand reached out for his soda, and I had to assume he took a drink since I vowed not to look at him. The only thing I was allowing myself to look at was his hands. Though I was starting to appreciate his long fingers and tanned skin a little bit too much.
“You still get nervous?” Ash asked. “Don’t you do it like every week?”
I was with Ash. How in the hell did he still get nervous? He was one of the top drivers and was always coming in the top ten.
“Yeah. I don’t really get it either, but just knowing you’re strapping yourself into a car going over three hundred miles an hour can be a little daunting even if you’ve done it before.”
Well, when he put it that way. I guess being a little nervous made sense.
Ash turned to Luke, who was sitting next to him. “Do you get nervous when you race, Dad?”
Luke shook his head. “I don’t, but I know your mother does. Though, in Brooks’ defense, he goes a hell of a lot faster than I do. He’s got a lot more horsepower running though his funny car than I do in the Mustang.”
“What’s it feel like to go that fast?” Leelee asked Brooks.
“It’s intense.”
Kurt snorted. “I think that’s putting it mildly. Over three hundred miles in ten seconds is more than intense. I’m pretty sure that’s shit-your-pants intense.”
Violet smacked Kurt. “Can you go one dinner with us without saying shit?”
Kurt propped his head on his hand and batted his eyes at Violet. “You just said it. Why can’t I?”
“I said it to tell you to stop saying it.”
“But you still said it.”
I could see where Leelee didn’t want to have kids since she had Kurt.
Violet and Kurt bickered back and forth, and I snuck a glance at Brooks. One could only imagine the things that were going through his head as he experienced his first family dinner with my dysfunctional relatives.
Of course, he was looking right at me, and I couldn’t tear my eyes away from his gaze. “You came all the way to Illinois to watch my family fight.”
He shrugged. “I like them.”
A simple statement, but it surprised me. “Well, I do too. They’re my family.” They were mine to like, not his. Whenever he opened his mouth, I had to automatically best him.
“You’re lucky, Frankie.”
“Why? Doesn’t everyone have a crazy family?”
He scoffed and shook his head. “You’ll never catch my family sitting around the dinner table talking and eating dinner. Never.”
“That would be a normal family, Brooks.” I glanced over at Kurt and Violet who were still bickering. “This is far from normal.”
“Well, normal or crazy, I don’t have either.”
“Hey, Frank. You think you can help out at the shop tomorrow? I promised Lee I would take her out to lunch and I completely forgot.” Kurt pulled me out of the bubble I was in with Brooks, and I straightened in my chair.
For once, I was okay with Kurt interrupting me. I had no idea what to think about what Brooks had just said. Who doesn’t have a crazy family? Or even a normal family? “Uh, I think you could have left out the part about forgetting about taking her out,” I muttered.
Leelee laughed. “He forgot, but then remembered before we were actually supposed to go out. I’ll still classify it as a win.”
“What time do you need me there?” I asked. I shoved a huge meatball in my mouth and slowly chewed. I could feel Brooks looking at me. Having your ex-boss watch you try to mow down on a huge ball of meat was less than ideal.
“Eleven. You shouldn’t have much to do. Nos will be there to help out.” This came from Leelee because, while both her and Kurt owned the shop, everyone knew that Leelee was the one who ran that place.
“Or you could just be there at eight when it opens, and we don’t have to come into work at all,” Kurt suggested.
He, of course, would try to pawn off running the shop for a day on me. “I’ll be there at eleven.” It wasn’t like I was expecting to be paid so Kurt would have to deal with working for a couple of hours before I got there. “Make sure you leave a few donuts for me.”
“Be there right away at eight and you’ll be guaranteed to get warm donuts from Mike’s.” Of course, Kurt would use Mike’s donuts to persuade me to show up early.
“Or I could sleep in until nine, make my way over to Mike’s, and show up at eleven.” That was a much better plan than Kurt’s. I still got donuts, and I also helped Leelee.