Page 79 of Greedy Grizzly
Track and I screwed up our faces and glanced at each other. The dude was filthy and smelled like a wet dog. Probably homeless. Probably not all there mentally. How could he have been? He looked like he’d just come out of living in a dumpster.
“I have a job for the three of you,” Uncle Matt said. “And I don’t want to hear any shit about it. Just do it, no questions asked.”
“What job?” I asked, ignoring my uncle’s command to not ask questions.
“Christ, Storm.” Uncle Matt shot me a deadly look. “Be a fuckin’ example, will you?”
“Next time I will.” But probably not.
After spending a term in the Marines, I didn’t take orders very well. I’d been yelled at enough to last me a lifetime. Lucky for me, my uncle was a lot more forgiving and understanding than me.
Noticing the guy staring at my sandwich, I held out the plate and handed it to him. I felt a little bad for him. What kind of hell had he been through? Giving him my food would be my one good deed for the century.
He scarfed it down in like four bites.
“After Brent cleans up, you’re going to take him to clean up the house fire he started so it’s not traced back to him.” Uncle Matt, er, um, Prez scratched under his nose.
Yeah, he couldn’t stand smelling the dude either. He just hid it better than the rest of us.
“Any casualties?” I asked, again, disregarding my uncle’s command.
“Only two, he thinks,” my uncle replied.
“My foster parents,” the dude muttered. “In their bed.”
Fuck. Immediately, my mind went to abuse—of the worst kind. Most people didn’t murder someone without a good reason. Or they were mentally insane. Something told me this young guy had all his marbles.
“Don’t worry, man,” I told him, handing my bottle of water to him. “I’ve got your back.”
A throat clearing pulled me back to the present. “Everything okay?” Grizzly asked.
“Yeah. Just zoned out.” I exhaled a deep breath. “Don’t mean to be a nosey bitch, but did you sort out your relationship with the other two?”
My Angel had been nagging the shit out of me to find out about Toby, Grizzly, and Libby. Figured I might as well ask while we’re alone.
“We want to be together, but I guess he’s going to Canada.”
“Sorry about that. Ciro asked and I hooked them up.” I was still strengthening the club’s relationship with the Remotti family. They were powerful and had a lot of connections in Canada and on the West Coast. One day, they could come in useful so I’d mentioned Toby to Ciro.
“It’s fine.”
“Dude, I can see that it’s not.” Shit, I had a feeling I had jumped the gun too quickly, and should’ve asked Grizzly about the job first. But I couldn’t do anything about it now.
“Maybe we’re not meant to be together all the time.”
Jesus, I didn’t want to have this conversation, but I wouldn’t shut Grizzly down. He hardly talked as it was, so I had to let him talk now.
“You had to know Toby wouldn’t stay put. He’s a nomad. He gets antsy when he’s in one place for too long.”
“I know.” He scrubbed his hands against his cheeks. Deep grooves appeared on his forehead, showing he was stressed. “I think I’m going to claim Libby and marry her.”
My eyebrows shot up. “Really? What about Toby?”
“We’ll have an open marriage. He can be our lover when he comes to town. Libby could go out with him. I’d do the same. The three of us… well, you know.”
Okay, TMI. I didn’t want to think of the three of them together. It just wasn’t my thing. I could never be with a guy and I sure as fuck wouldn’t let my Angel have a lover on the side. I’d set the goddamn world on fire before I let that happen.
But, to each his own. I didn’t judge. All I wanted was for Grizzly and the others to be happy, however they wanted.
