Page 26 of Close Quarters

He hesitated a moment longer, staring at me before snatching up the book with a disgruntled snort. I was relieved he’d decided to let the topic drop. His tendency to avoid talking about…well, anything actually, but anything meaningful worked in my favor. The last thing I needed was for him to start probing into why I might find a reason to check him out.

Not just because I knew myself well enough to know I would probably end up blurting something completely inappropriate. That definitely was a motivator. I’d learned that if I wanted to avoid saying the wrong thing, the best action I could take was to avoid situations where that would happen in the first place. I also didn’t need him to realize that I had reasons and probably was checking him out when I got the chance.

Reno had resumed his normal brooding by the time we reached the Big House, where most activities and events tended to occur. This time, instead of nothing and an impromptu wrestling tournament, there was a tent. It was a large, white eye sore, probably that color to reflect the heat, and I could already hear large fans blowing at each entrance, funneling air through.

“Ooh, and what do we have here?” I wondered as I hurried forward.

“You’re like a little kid,” Reno grumbled behind me.

I gave him a smirk. “Look, I like doing things with people, and I like learning new things. Plus, I missed out on the last event.”

“Why?”

“I was given a double shift.”

“On a Sunday? What the hell did you do?”

“Played a prank on Leon.”

Reno scoffed. “He doesn’t seem like the type to be spiteful…depending on the prank.”

“It…wasn’t that bad,” I said slowly.

“Uh-huh.”

“It wasn’t! I just…didn’t count on Mona being there when it happened.”

“What did you do?”

I wasn’t going to fess up. He could find out from someone else if he wanted to know. Yet, to my disappointment and frustration, that was the moment Dom chose to step out of the tent, grinning to show he had clearly heard the conversation and was more than willing to supply the information.

“Don’t,” I groaned.

“Someone got ahold of some syrup and a bunch of feathers to dump on Leon after Leon had given him a week of extra duties. But he didn’t know Mona was coming through the door behind him.”

“You…tarred and feathered Mona?” Reno asked in wonder.

“It was syrup!” I complained. “Just…syrup. It washes off.”

“Christ, I know you can be annoying, but I didn’t know you had a death wish,” Reno muttered with a shake of his head.

“I didn’t know she’d be there!” I moaned.

“And Mona had just bought that outfit,” Dom told Reno with an unmistakable note of glee. “I honestly thought she was going to dump him in a shallow grave.”

“Fucking hell, please tell me I don’t have to add making sure you don’t pull stupid stunts like that to the list of shit I have to worry about?” Reno asked.

“No!” I said quickly, ignoring Dom's curious glance. I hadn’t bothered to give him details about why I’d been paired up with Reno. I meant to, but I just hadn’t found the time. “I learned my lesson. No more pranks.”

“On them anyway,” Dom muttered, rubbing his forehead. “C’mon. They’re still going strong in there.”

“What’s today’s fun activity?” I wondered, not caring if I still sounded like a kid. If I had to live with gremlins in my head, at least I could get some wonder and excitement from them. I wasn’t convinced it balanced anything out, but at least there were some positives.

“Believe it or not, whittling,” Dom said with a snort, ducking under the tent’s entrance with Reno and I following.

“No shit,” I said, and sure enough, there were tables and chairs, most of which were occupied. Everyone seemed to have a chunk of wood in their hands, though some were a lot smaller than others, while other guys looked like they’d only just started. They all had knives and wood shavings littering the table and ground around where they sat. “Who’s leading this one?”

“That’d be me,” Leon said from the end of one table, where he sat with?—

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