Page 2 of Bliss: Part 1
I headed upstairs and into the kitchen to find Dash sitting at the counter, eating a bowl of cereal. He looked up when he noticed me, and his bright, boyish grin made me smile right back at him.
“Morning,” he said, reaching out for me to pull me to him.
I let him and leaned right into his side as he gave me a hug. “Morning. You left me in the basement again.”
Dash pressed multiple kisses to the top of my head, tightening his arm around me. He wasn’t letting go until he was satisfied.
“Sorry about that. We didn’t want to wake you,” he explained. His lips were on my forehead, then on my cheek, pressing more kisses to my skin. “You also slept way too long. We’re gonna be late.”
I scrunched my nose and tried to free myself from him. Even though I didn’t want to. If it were up to me, we’d spend all day cuddling and kissing. Between all of the guys, Dash was the sweetest. He was closest to my age at twenty-one, and while the others were only one to three years older, they also saw him as the baby of the family. Not like they saw me, of course. But, still…he would always be the one they’d protect first unless I was around.
“Why didn’t you wake me?” I asked, finally managing to get away from him.
I looked at the clock. It was almost nine, andThe Oldwas already open. The others had probably left a while ago.
“You looked way too peaceful. Did you have a nice dream?” He continued to eat his cereal while I grabbed a now cold roll from the basket on the kitchen counter.
“Hm, I don’t remember.” I bit into it and watched him while I chewed and swallowed. “Will you wait for me? I have to take a shower first.”
“Yeah, but hurry.”
I nodded and decided to finish my roll upstairs.
There were ten bedrooms in this house, but we were only seven people. We each had our separate room, and the ones we didn’t use were filled with either clothes, books, or board games. Truthfully, no room in this house was just someone’s. Often, the guys ended up in Tripp’s room where they talked until late and eventually fell asleep in his bed or on his couch. Other times we all sat in Odin’s room because he had the nicest view of the prettiest sunsets.
We also sat outside on the porch a lot, especially on warm summer nights. Those are my favorite.
I made my way down the hall to my bedroom, and after quickly finishing my roll, I went to take a shower and got dressed. A white, ruffled mini skirt with hidden shorts underneath, and a light blue baby tee would do the job for today. I wanted to be comfortable at the shop.
Nobody really cared how I dressed at the shop, and the people who cared the least were the men who came in to get their motorcycles checked.
They loved seeing me at the front desk and often stayed to talk to me. Rhys once joked about me being the reason why they were able to raise their prices for their services, because these men would pay any amount as long as I sat at the front desk, batting my eyelashes at them.
I didn’t mind.
If me being there profited us, I would do it forever.
Once I put on some light makeup and brushed my hair, I headed downstairs to put on my worn down boots. “Dash, I’m ready!”
“Coming!”
We headed out and got into his truck to drive toThe Old.
***
The cool air from the AC hit me right in the face. It felt nice, but I’d have to move over soon before I would catch a cold. The morning had been busy, with the guys, Dad, and Odin running around the garage, fixing and working on bikes.
During that time, I sat at the front desk and picked up some calls, wrote a couple of emails, and also refilled the fridge with beers and sodas.
For lunch, Dad made me order burgers and fries, and the food got delivered shortly after. We didn’t really eat at the dining table in the break room together. We just all took our burgers and fries and sat—or stood—close to where we needed to get back to work once finished.
The only time we ate together as a family was at dinner. And that was okay for all of us.
It was three-thirty in the afternoon now, and I decided I needed a short break. Nobody was coming in, so I walked over to the workshop and leaned against the Harley Tripp was currently working on.
As the oldest at twenty-four, he took this job extremely seriously. He worked hard, was always at the workshop first, and stayed late when he didn’t even have to. He loved motorcycles but didn’t really drive them. He just liked to repair them. Fix and sometimes remodel them.
“What are you doing?” I asked sweetly, looking down at him as he squatted in front of the back tire.
