Page 70 of Rooster

“I did, and I learned real fast that it's best not to judge a book by its cover.”

Samantha’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Some of the biggest, scariest looking dudes are some of the best guys you’ll ever meet. You just gotta take time to get to know ‘em.” I gave Nathan a playful nudge. “That goes for the ladies, too. Just because they’re all dolled up doesn’t mean they’re one of the good ones.”

“I wish my dad knew that.” Nathan rolled his eyes. “Crissy is pretty, but that’s about it.”

They went on to tell me all about Crissy and how she was their father’s fiancé, and neither of them was a fan. I was glad that they felt like they could talk to me about it, but the last thing I wanted to do was add fuel to their fire. So, I did the only thing I could. I kept my trap shut and kept my two cents to myself.

When we got back to the house, we found Maggie had woken up, so the kids helped me grill up some hot dogs for lunch, and we all ate while we watched the big game in the living room. We’d just started to clean up when I got a message from Wrath telling me that I was needed at the clubhouse. As much as I hated to leave Maggie and the kids, I had no choice. Thankfully, Maggie was understanding and had no problem with me going.

By the time I got to the clubhouse, Torch, Q, and Wrath were waiting for me in the bar. I could tell by the look on their faces that they were about to hit me with something I didn’t want to hear. “What’s going on?”

“We got the new dishwasher, and when we installed it, the power went nuts. Lights were flickering, and the whole left wing went dark.”

“Probably an overloaded circuit.”

“That’s what I was thinking.”

“Then, why didn’t you fix it?”

“Cause I put in the dishwasher, and look what happened,” Torch answered. “Besides, you’re the electrical guy.”

“Yeah, whatever.” I started back to my truck as I told them, “I need to get my tools.”

Once I got everything I thought I’d need, I headed inside. When I got to the kitchen, I was hit with immediate aggravation when I found it in complete disarray. Torch had shit everywhere, and the old dishwasher was still sitting in the middle of the room.

The overload could’ve happened for any number of reasons. I wasn’t looking to rebuild the entire electrical system, so I decided to go with the easy route and tried to reduce the load. I started by unplugging some non-essential appliances that shared the same circuit. After I assessed the power distribution, I redirected the new dishwasher to a less burdened circuit.

Just as I’d hoped, it was enough to keep the dishwasher going without kicking the power off to anything else. I’d just started to put my stuff away when Wrath, Torch and Q came strolling into the kitchen. “You got it?”

“Yeah, you’re all set.” I glanced over the old dishwasher as I told him, “Have a couple of prospects carry this out to the dump and clean up this mess.”

“Already on it.”

“Good deal.” I picked up my tool bag as I asked, “What did Prez decide about family day?”

“Not gonna happen. Not after what happened on the run,” Wrath answered. “But he’s not calling for a lockdown. Just wants us to continue to stay alert.”

“Understood.”

As soon as Wrath walked away, Torch nudged me and teased, “Shouldn’t you be getting home to your girl?”

“Yeah, I’d be there now if you hadn’t fucked up the dishwasher.”

“Hey, that shit wasn’t on me.”

“Yeah, whatever you say, boss.” I turned my attention to Q as I asked, “What do you and Jules have going on tonight?”

“Nothing much,” Q answered. “We’ll probably go out and grab a bite to eat. Maybe stop by here and see what’s going on.”

“What about Savage? You got any idea what he’s got going on?”

“He said something about running by her folks' place to help with one of her mother’s projects first, then they’re supposed to come back here to meet up with us.”

“Okay, good deal.”

“Why? What do you have going on?”

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