Page 52 of A Wrench in the Plan
“Thanks,” I said, reaching for the cup and taking a tentative sip. “What can I say?” I shrugged. “He’s more moody than usual, but can we really blame him?”
Sidekick dropped his gaze to the counter. I couldn’t tell if he was disappointed or sad. Maybe a bit of both. Which, hey, I got.
“How’s Cat?” he asked, gaze still on the countertop.
“Not sure. She’s avoiding me,” I answered frankly. “She’s probably feeling suffocated by her family, so I’ve tried to back off.”
The side door burst open. Tinker came walking in shaking his head.
“You said he could work?” he asked Sidekick.
I looked over at Sidekick to see his brows pull together in confusion.
“Who?” he asked Tinker.
“Wrench,” he answers likeduh.
“Fuck no,” Sidekick said, flashing me a pissed look as he shot out of the lobby.
It took me a good long minute to decide if I needed to go out there. Curiosity won out and I bolted out of the lobby too.
“The hell are you doing?” Sidekick growled.
Chry stood in front of a car that had been brought in for a new timing belt and… something else that I couldn’t remember at the time.
“My job,” Chry shot back.
“You ain’t supposed to be working,” Sidekick barked.
“I’m fine. I can move. I can bend over. I can even walk on my bad leg now. Might not be able to dance yet, but I don’t need to do that here anyway, so it doesn’t fuckin’ matter if I can or can’t.”
“You’re being a dumbass,” Sidekick said pointedly, which only seemed to piss Chry off more.
“I’m getting back to my fuckin’ life!” Chry roared, causing me to blink a few times and then look around the garage. A few brothers stood off to the side, watching this fight go down.
“Wrench,” I said softly as I took a step closer to him.
“No,” he said, shaking his head violently. His eyes closed then opened again, gaze sharp as he pinned me with a look. “I’m tired of being babied by you, Ev. I get that you care and you’re worried, but you gotta stop. I don’t need it. I don’t fuckin’ want it!”
My jaw worked as I stared him down.
There was only so much I could take, and this was my breaking point apparently. There was no need for him to do that to me in front of everyone. And as much as I’d like to say I didn’t care what other people thought, there was always a part of me that would forever be the kid that didn’t have a permanent place to call home. Didn’t have friends because he was forced to change schools nearly every year when his mom decided it was time to move again. That feeling of standing in front of strangers as they judged me, deciding if I were good enough to try and befriend. The kid that only had half of a mom, as shitty as that sounded.
Right now, Chry was making me stand out. Putting our business out there while others stood back and silently judged.
“Fine,” I said with irritation in my tone. My hands went up and I took a couple of steps back. “You do what you want to do. I understand you’re going through some shit, and I’ve tried to be there for you. But clearly, it’s not helping you. So, I’m out.”
I turned and headed for the lobby, too pissed to even acknowledge Chry as he called out my name.
I was cool going along with his moods. Cool dealing with how he could be sometimes. I’d had a couple of years to learn how he worked, and while it could be infuriating at times, when you loved someone, you loved all of them.
And that I did.
I loved all of Chry. The ups and downs. The needy nights, and the ones where he just needed to forget. The cuddles and the fucking. Every part of it.
But I fucking refused to let myself be treated like shit. Especially in front of other people.
I had my limits, and he’d just found them.
