Page 57 of Hungry Hearts

“I’m going to let you two grumble this out while I take a shower. I have to get to the Whitneys’ in an hour.” She kisses Trey on the cheek and gives me a hug. “Nice seeing you this morning, Ryder.”

I watch her walk away because I know it will piss off Trey, especially since she’s only wearing a T-shirt and her legs are long and bare.

“Eyes off my woman, asshole.”

I return them to the beast in front of me with a grin. He’s too easy of a target.

“I won’t be long. I have a list of what I need to get.”

“Like what?” He folds his meaty arms across his meatier chest.

I scratch the back of my neck. “Just stuff.”

He gives one quick shake of his head. “What?”

“Wood. Two-by-fours. Some nails.”

He narrows his eyes at me. “Why?”

“I’m building something.” I rock back on my heels, not comfortable telling him exactly what I’m doing. I’ll never hear the end of it if I do and I want to keep this part of my life private a little longer.

“What?”

“It’s a project I’m working on. Starting to work on. I don’t have a lot of time, so if you’ll give me the keys...”

“I’m going with you.” He pushes past me and goes upstairs to change, I assume. A minute later, after Ella lets out a squeal from their bathroom and I hear him grumble out words I can’t make out, he comes stomping down the stairs.

“I don’t need a babysitter, Bax.”

“When was the last time you ever stepped foot in a Home Depot?”

Could be never but I lift a shoulder instead.

“Exactly.” We climb into his truck and he asks again. “Are we dropping this shit off at your apartment? Makes more sense for you to drive as well so I don’t have to bring your ass back here later.”

“About that.” I snap the buckle to my seatbelt. “I’m gonna need to borrow some of your tools as well.”

Trey’s been working on remodeling his house for a year now. He’s been cutting back his hours at The Club and training two new managers to take over so he can spend more time flipping houses in the suburbs. The casino and nightclub life never were his style.

We roped him into being part of Four Aces, and I’m pretty sure he enjoys our friendship, but he’s over the casino scene. I can’t blame him. And with Ella working as a personal chef, she spends more time outside of the city than in. They’re cute in their domestic lifestyle. Something none of us would have ever predicted.

“Do you even know how to use a hammer?”

“Screwing things is my specialty, but I’ll figure it out.”

“Christ.” He starts the truck and backs out of his garage. “Can’t you just order this thing you’re making online and have it shipped to your apartment?”

“It’s not for me.”

He stops at the end of his driveway and glances over at me. “You’re making something for awoman?”

“Not exactly.”

“What the fuck does ‘not exactly’ mean?” He turns down his quaint road, doing the neighborhood speed limit of fifteen miles per hour. The house and neighborhood, and slow speed, are so incongruous to this beast.

“It’s, uh, for a kid.”

When he comes to the stop sign at the end of his road, he turns to me. “Christ. You knock someone up?”

---