Page 15 of Cross To Bear

“Oh no, it’s fine—”

“It’s obviously not fine. You’re ending a three year relationship, which admittedly, went for about two years and eight months longer than it should’ve, but still. I’ll be there shortly with wine… No, you hate wine. Tequila. Everyone likes tequila.”

And before I could answer, the line went dead, leaving me staring at the phone. Mal was on her way, so I was about to find out exactly how she’d react to the current situation.

“Get your arse over here…”

What was Mal about to say? I don’t know, because she burst in my front door, toting a bag full of limes and a salt shaker in one hand, a bottle of gold tequila in the other. I rushed forward when her grip on the bottle neck loosened, though her fingers wrapped tight around it before it fell. Her head turned slowly, stiffly, a perfect rim of white around her pupils as she stared at me. Her lips twitched, quirked up at the corner, wavered and then she came tottering over to me.

“What—and I mean this in all the best ways—the fuck is happening here?”

“Mallory.” Crash straightened up and dropped his cleaning rag into the nearby bucket then ambled over. Mal took in every shift of his hips, every step, in a slow and thorough inspection. “You got tequila too?” He plucked the bottle from her hand. “Patrón? Fuck yeah.” He looked up at her with a smirk. “Do you get to write this off as a tax expense or—?”

“Oh no, this is a personal one, the kind that requires a hundred dollar bottle of tequila. I just didn’t realise my girl had already got the party started,” she replied, shooting me a meaningful look.

“No party, just cleaning up.” I rushed over and put the melting ice cream in the freezer. “I’ve got a house inspection on Monday and—”

“We’re cleaning up.”

Crash put a hand on my shoulder, stopping me from getting any closer and as if this was a coordinated attack, Hawk stepped forward and took the ice cream from me, stashing it in the freezer.

“Want those limes cut up, Mal?” Razor asked.

“Why yes, I do.” She handed over the bag with a sultry wink, right before she punched me in the arm.

“Ow! What the fuck was that for?” I yelped.

“You’re breaking up with Dumb and Dumber AND you have sexy bikers cleaning your fucking house for you. Where is my invite, Madeline? Where?”

“Mal—”

“Can you do this shirtless?” she asked, waving her finger in the air. “I mean, if you’re determined to be every woman’s hottest, wettest dream, it seems like you should be shirtless.”

“Fuck, Mal…” Crash shook his head slowly with a laugh, though Razor just shrugged and tugged his t-shirt off over his head.

Oh my lanta.

I knew what each of them looked like shirtless. You go walking into a garage, you’re gonna see shirtless dudes at some point. Each time I did, I jerked my eyes away, smiling and waving as I walked past.

That’s what I should be doing now, I thought vaguely, right as I traced the massive bear tattooed across Razor’s shoulder. I followed the geometric pattern up his arms, which then bled into a stylised image of a bear roaring where the shoulder met the chest.

“You’ve got a little something…”

I jerked when Mal darted forward, wiping the corner of my mouth, then slapped her hand away.

“What’re you doing?”

“Nothing.” She shot me an impish smile. “So, the limes, gentleman? My girl’s got a date with Patrón.”

I was about to grab a knife and chopping board myself, but Hawk set them down on the counter and Razor began to cut the limes. Then as Crash shook his head, Hawk did that thing that boys do, pulling his singlet off by grabbing it at the back and drawing it off over his head. Crash shrugged and did the same.

Fuck.

Fuck Mal and fuck this. She just turned what was an awkward moment where some friends helped me out by cleaning the apartment into a male revue. I didn’t know where to look. There was a sea of tattooed, muscled, bare flesh before me and of course, that’s when Jesse walked in the door.

“Mads…” He stopped still, that instinct men seem to have when they’re in the presence of other men kicking in and stopping him in his tracks. His brows jerked down as he took in the cleaning gear and the men doing it, narrowing further when he saw Mal and the tequila. His lips were a thin line, his glare penetrating, when he finally looked at me. “You left Mum’s party for this?”

“No, I—”

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