Page 40 of Trick or Treat

“Hey, babe. I need to get up.” As gently as he could, he maneuvered and rolled her so that she was lying on her side, facing away from him. He was free to get up and take care of business. Once he relieved himself, he bent over the sink and took several deep drinks of water straight from the faucet. He stood up and got a good look at himself. His head jerked back in surprise. His hair was standing up every which way, making him look like a crazed lunatic.

He jumped in the shower and gave himself a good scrub down, then washed his hair. The whole thing took less than five minutes. He hopped out, dried himself off and pulled on his clothes from last night. Stepping back into the bedroom, he chuckled seeing that Teresa was still out like a light. She hadn’t moved an inch since he left the bed. He pulled the blankets over her shoulders and slipped out the door.

He found Jackson and Race already waiting downstairs sitting at a table, cups of coffee in front of them. That was exactly what he needed. “Coffee?”

Jackson pointed toward the kitchen. He found the coffee mugs in the cabinet above the coffee maker easily enough. He poured himself a cup of hot, steaming salvation, closed his eyes and smiled. He took a couple of quick slugs, topped it off again and went out to join his brothers. “Where is everybody?”

“Probably still in bed after last night,” Race suggested. “Speaking of still in bed, where the fuck is Jed?”

“I’ll go get him moving,” Jackson volunteered. He took off down the hall and disappeared around the corner. It didn’t take long before he returned, a huge smile on his face. “He said give him twenty minutes. He and Deacon were fucking some redheaded chick. The way he was clenching his teeth, I don’t think it’ll be twenty minutes. And I might have mentioned something about getting an Uber ride home if he didn’t hurry up.”

Race grunted and Trick almost choked on his coffee as he tried not to laugh.

Sure enough, ten minutes later, Jed was shuffling down the hall, his boots untied, doing his jeans up and pinning his shirt and cut under one arm. He dropped his cut on the table and yanked his shirt over his head but not before they saw lip prints in lipstick running in a line from his chest, down his stomach and disappearing into his jeans. He plopped down in the chair across from Jackson and gave him the evil eye. “Uber my ass.” He laced up his boots and ran his hand through his hair. It somehow managed to fall into place perfectly. It was a mystery the brothers had all wondered about at one time or another. Tuck’s thought was that Jed used a ton of shit in his hair to get it to look that way. Trick thought it was probably just the way it was cut. Either way, he could care less. He was just glad they were finally going to hit the road.

Chance came down the hall, followed by Deacon. Both men looked thoroughly satisfied if not a little sleep-deprived. Chance came over to tell them goodbye and wish them a safe trip back. He thanked them for coming to Roundman’s funeral and after party. “He would’ve been happy knowing you were here.”

“Not a problem to honor a fellow brother. Especially one as interesting of a character as him.” Race clapped hands with Chance and they all piled into Race’s truck. They should get home in plenty of time for Trick to change his clothes and maybe get in a little nap before he had to pick up his kids. He settled into the backseat with Jed and got comfortable.

“What is that fucking smell?” Race asked from the driver’s seat as he pulled out of the Horsemen’s compound.

“That would be Jed,” Trick volunteered.

“What? What do you mean?” Jed frowned.

“You stink like gym socks and sex,” Trick explained as he cracked his window a little, hoping the draft would keep Jed’s smell on his side of the truck.

“Seriously?” Jed sounded a little perturbed. He smelled under his pits and frowned.

“Yes. Seriously,” Jackson spoke up from the front of the truck.

“Anybody got any deodorant?” Jed asked.

Race opened the center console, dug around and came up with a stick of deodorant that he passed to the back. Before Jed could grab it, Trick had snatched it away. “I’m using it before you get your stink all over it.”

“What? You asshole. Give it to me.” Jed reached over to grab it away but Trick was faster. He shoved it up under his shirt and used it before Jed could get it. The next thing Trick knew, Jed was reaching across the seat and putting him in a headlock. “Give it to me, fucker!”

“Let go of me and I will!” Trick tried twisting out of Jed’s hold.

“I’m not letting go until you give me the deodorant,” Jed growled between his clenched teeth.

“You two knock it off back there or I’m going to tell Jackson to spray you both down with Axe body spray!” Race yelled.

They both pulled apart so fast, it was funny. Jackson was laughing so hard, he had tears in his eyes and Race, despite his yelling, was smiling so big, he couldn’t hide the fact that he thought the two of them in the backseat were two bricks shy of a full load.

“Really? You have Axe body spray?” The way Jed asked so calmly, it was almost hard to believe he hadn’t just been involved in a wrestling match just moments before.

“Yeah, Derrick left it in here for when I pick him up after practice.”

“Can I use it?” Jed asked.

“Yes, but not until we stop somewhere. I can’t drive if there’s a fog of body spray in here. It’ll choke us all out and it’s harder than hell to get off the windows.” Race made a right at the stop sign and continued on toward Redemption.

An hour and a half into their trip, they found themselves coming to a stop behind a long line of vehicles. Up ahead they could see multiple police cars, ambulances and a couple of fire trucks.

Race spotted one of the firefighters looking his way and waved him over. “What happened?” He nodded toward the accident.

“Slick spot. Someone spun out and caused a pile up.”

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