Page 3 of Keep Your Guard Up
I gave them an appreciative nod before turning back to Danny. “Where’s Loz?” I asked, leaning in further to avoid all of Soggla listening in.
“Girls weekend in Darlington. One of her crazy-ass friend’s hens weekend,” he replied, rubbing a hand over his forehead.
“Need a hand with Nevaeh?” I pointed up at Noodles. “You know Nan’s offer still stands. Think she gets a little lonely waiting for me to make her some great-grandchildren.”
That got Danny to laugh.
“You’re only twenty-four. There’s still time.”
“With the amount of shit I’ve gotta do around here? Not enough,” I replied, shifting the subject off of me. “Invite always stands for you and little miss.”
“Thanks, Mari, but I wouldn’t wanna trouble youse. She’s a bit of a handful at the moment,” he replied, gesturing to the baby still chewing on Noodles’ hair and gripping tightly on to two other locks.
“Don’t say we didn’t offer.” With a joking smile, I held my hands up in acceptance.
“’preciate it.” He nodded at me just as a ding sounded from the register. The cash drawer popped open and receipt paper spewed out from the machine.
“Order up!”
“You’re up, Mari!” Noodles called, moving my order from the metal bay onto the counter.
“Fuckinghell, how much did we order?” I gaped at the stack of pizzas and multiple garlic breads being piled on top. Noodles, still holding Nevaeh, opened the fridge door and pulled out three bottles of soft drink. My eyes narrowed.
“JJ called and said you’d forgotten a few things,” he explained.
“Of coursehe did.” I made a mental note to throw the bottle of Sunkist at JJ when I got home. “Righto then, Noodles. Load me up.”
After careful stacking of our gigantic order, I turned to head towards the door, taking small and cautious steps and stiffening my muscles to keep from any wobbles. I wasnota two-tripper. There was no way JJ’s gigantic pizza order was going to beat me.
The door creaked loudly as it opened, and a series of jingles followed from the rusty bells hanging above. I assumed Noodles was lending me a hand, despite me refusing and telling him to help the crew out back instead. My shoe scuffed the floor and I staggered, sending one of the bottles rolling off my mountain of pizzas and said mountain into the poor victim walking through the door. Pizzas flew, garlic breads scattered, and a bottle of Sunkist exploded.
“For fuck sake!” a deep, raspy voice boomed.
Past the scattered feed big enough to actually feed a village, my eyes landed on what could only be described as one of the world’s finest creations.
Holy sex-on-legs.
Wearing a skin-tight washed-out green shirt, now tie-dyed with Sunkist, he looked anything but. The shirt clung tightly to what was clearly averyripped body. Chiselled shoulders fell into brawny biceps. Sculpted pecs lined up with what I could only assume was the beginning of a lickable set of abs. A head full of sandy blond hair sprawled around his neck and stretched halfway down that chest of his.
He looked up at me; the most beautiful set of ocean blue eyes gazing.
Nope, not gazing.
Glaring.
“Oh god, I’m so sor—” I started, bending down to gather the wholesale-worthy amount of food scattered across the floor.
“Watch where you’re fucking going,” he growled, tossing a pizza box into my lap.
Of course, he’s an asshole. The hot ones always are.
I opened my mouth to respond when he reached down into the now-puddled Sunkist on the floor and fished his phone out of it. He grumbled another string of curses under his breath beforefuriously shaking his phone, trying his best to get the orange-flavoured liquid out.
I cringed. I wasn’t a computer scientist or a phone technician, but phones weren’t built to survive being dunked in a puddle of Sunkist.
He glanced at me and rolled his eyes, those stormy pools glistening with wrath. He clenched his jaw, once, twice, before tossing another nearby pizza box on my lap. This one had been sitting in the Sunkist puddle and had unfortunately turned victim to its crimes.
“Look, like I was trying to say before your rude ass interrupted me—”
