“I agree with Ryan.” Finn spoke out in my defence. “Emily’s more like Effy than Liv. You won’t get anywhere if you bulldoze her. She’s a good girl.”
I knew there was a reason I liked Finn so much. He might be quieter, but when he spoke, he made sense. A lot more sense than any of us sometimes.
“Well, you can’t deny the ball is rolling now. Let’s just hope it doesn’t become a fucking boulder and crush us all in its path,” Zak said, standing up to collect our mugs.
“The only thing getting crushed around here is that corrupt fucker.” Brandon looked at me and smirked. “And Ryan’s heart, when Emily fucking Winters shits all over him.”
I’d never heard of the name Rotherham before. It’d never been mentioned in our house, not to my knowledge, anyway. I googled it, but nothing jumped out at me. Was Ryan playing more mind games? Or was there more to it? My dad was away at Westminster for a few more days, so I couldn’t ask him yet. I would though. When I needed to know something I was like a dog with a bone.
Two days after our bonfire fiasco, I got a call from Ryan’s dad to tell me my car was ready to be collected. He offered to send Ryan round with it and drop it off, but I refused, telling him I’d be over later. I took a cab into town, and when we pulled up on their forecourt, I couldn’t see Ryan’s van. I paid the cab driver and headed into the office. Sean, Ryan’s dad, was sitting behind the desk and his face beamed when he saw me.
“Emily, it’s so lovely to see you again,” he said, holding out his hand to shake mine. “Ryan will be disappointed he missed you. He’s at an auction this afternoon with our other mechanic, Kieron. They won’t be back for hours.”
I grinned back, feeling some of the tension ebb away, knowing I wasn’t going to be facing another stand-off. I also felt kind of disappointed. As much as he wound me up, I liked the way he put fire in my belly. He always made me challenge myself; stand up for myself.
“That’s okay. I’m sure we’ll catch up another time. Do you have paperwork for me to sign?”
He busied himself looking through papers on his desk. His filing systems looked like they were straight out of the nineteen-eighties. I noticed another young guy walk in from the back and when he saw me, he smiled.
“Hey, anything I can help you with?” The guy came over then leaned against the desk, giving me the once over.
“Back off, son,” Sean said forcefully. “This is Ryan’s girl. The last thing I want is another one of my sons missing from around my table because of your wandering eyes.”
I just stood there with my mouth hanging open, probably looking like a demented fish.
Ryan’s girl?
I was so taken aback by his comment I couldn’t even speak.
“I’m Connor,” the guy said with a sparkle in his eyes and he held his hand out to shake mine. “Ryan’s older brother, but then you probably already knew that.”
No. I knew nothing about Ryan’s family. I’d only met his dad days ago. Had I stepped int
o some freaky Hardy twilight zone?
“I’m Emily,” I said feeling stunned.
Sean looked between us both as Connor held my hand for slightly longer than was necessary. “You can let go of her now.” He tutted at his elder son and then thrust some papers in front of me and gave me a genuine, heart-warming smile. “Sign there, my love.”
I took the pen and signed, then got my credit card out ready to pay.
“No charge,” Sean stated abruptly.
“What? But I want to pay my way.”
He chuckled. “No. No charge. Just keep my son happy.” Then he winked and shoved the paperwork into an overstuffed drawer.
I frowned. I had no idea what was going on. I didn’t like accepting freebies, not when they came under dubious circumstances like this, and to be honest, I had no clue what to say back, so I nodded and kept quiet. I didn’t think screwing up my face and telling him, “As if. Your son’s a bloody psycho,” was the right response.
Sean sighed then looked up at me again. He had my car keys in his hand, but he held onto them a little longer and said, “Can I show you something?”
“Err, yeah, sure.”
He stood up and opened the hatch that separated the office from where I stood. “He’ll probably bite my head off for showing you this, but then again, maybe not, seeing as it’s you.”
These Hardy men sure liked their cryptic conversations.
I followed Sean as he beckoned me into the office, then led me out the back and across their outdoor workspace towards an outhouse at the bottom of their premises. He pulled the metal door open and nodded his head inside.