“Close the fucking door, asshole,” Grinch hisses when the wind catches it, pulling the knob right out of my hand.
All the new guys minus Harley are inside. That lucky bastard is no doubt at home wrapped around his woman, and a wave of jealousy settles in my stomach as I cross the garage and grab a beer out of the fridge.
“Why is it so damn cold in here?” I snap before sitting down in one of the available chairs.
“It’s winter, dumbass,” Slick says with a grin.
“One of the heaters is on the fritz,” Aro says, pointing to the unit near the door. “I’ll take a look at it tomorrow.”
Noticing Apollo, I tilt my head to the side in confusion. “How’s the baby?”
He holds up a baby monitor. “Finally sleeping. For now.”
“You look exhausted,” I tell him, noticing the shadows under his eyes and the droop of his shoulders.
“I am,” he says with a wide smile.
I can’t help but grin right back at him. The man is ecstatic to be a dad, and he doesn’t care if that position makes him tired. He’s going to do it with a smile on his face while enjoying every damn second.
“Why are you out here and not inside if you’re tired?” Ugly asks, genuine confusion in his question.
“I think I’m past the point of sleep right now. I’ll crash eventually,” Apollo says before lifting his beer to his lips.
Just months ago, I gave Apollo a hard time for falling for April. Honestly, it’s the best outcome, considering they got married before anything happened between them. Things could’ve been horrible. They could’ve discovered they hated each other.
For some reason, I’m looking at the men with wives and significant others differently. Before, I wanted no part of it. I would’ve bet my balls that I’d stay single for the rest of my life. After meeting Faith, I have to wonder if I’m not meant for something else. Kids seem like a far-fetched idea but curling up beside the same woman every night doesn’t seem like the same form of torture it did months ago.
“You just going to sit over there and grumble to yourself, or are you actually going to apprise the class?”
I look up to see who Grinch is talking to and find the entire group, minus Apollo, who at some point in my mental evaluation slipped out, looking right at me.
“What?”
Grinch shakes his head. “I know you’re mostly sane, but you’ve been sitting over there grumbling to yourself for five minutes.”
“He’s talking to his beer,” Spade says with a grin. “It’s not unheard of.”
“I can leave if you’re uncomfortable with speaking with me here,” Slick offers, and I feel a wave of guilt.
“I’m not uncomfortable,” I assure her.
Honestly, I didn’t want to talk to anyone about any of this shit because thinking it confuses me, so discussing it would be difficult. But there’s a bigger picture here, and I need Faith to be safe.
“I think Faith has a stalker.”
“Who’s Faith?” Ugly asks as he stands to grab another beer from the fridge.
“His girlfriend,” Grinch says.
“She’s not my girlfriend,” I argue, but the title doesn’t bother me as much as the fact that she doesn’t seem like she wants the title.
“But you really like her,” Slick adds helpfully.
“This isn’t the subject I want to talk about,” I mutter.
“We can work through all of it,” Slick says. “Just start with what feels the most comfortable right now.”
Silence fills the room as we all look at her, then a chorus of laughter fills the garage. Slick grins, making me realize she was fucking with me.
“Stalkers are serious business,” Boomer says, and I look over, finding no humor on his face. “What’s going on?”
Bless the man for getting us back on track.
“He hasn’t left any notes or anything, but he’s destroyed some of her property both at work and at her house. He started with knocking down her mailbox and letting air out of her tires. Then he—”
“You keep saying he,” Slick interrupts. “Do you have anything that excludes a female?”
“Is one of your exes retaliating because you’re spending too much time with her?” Aro asks.
“These things started happening before I spent any time with her,” I clarify. “This isn’t happening because of me.”
Aro holds his hands up in surrender. “I’m just trying to work through it like everyone else.”
I nod in his direction to let him know I’m not pissed at him. “This just sucks. Whoever it is sliced all four of her tires while she was at work a few days ago. They’re breaking shit on her porch.”
“Has she caught anything on her cameras?” Slick asks.
I grumble in frustration. “She doesn’t have cameras at home, and since she didn’t mention anyone being arrested for what happened at work, it’s a good bet she doesn’t have any there either.”