Page 17 of Fought and Freed

Maddy’s heart was too big for her own good. After what happened with Mike, he’d hoped there wouldn’t be any more strays taking that asshole’s place for a while. Cody was going to keep a close eye on this guy. He wouldn’t let her get hurt again.

When the waitress brought over their food, she roughly placed Maddy’s and Grant’s plates down, knocking a fry off of Grant’s plate. Then, she turned toward Cody, bending over so he got a direct view down her shirt.

He closed his eyes in disgust. He didn’t want to look at that before he ate.

As she put Cody’s plate down, she ran her hand down his arm. “Can I get you anything else?”

“No,” he said shortly.

“Are you sure?” she purred.

“Don’t you have any respect for yourself?” Maddy bit out. “You know damn well he’s with me, and you’re standing there flirting with him in front of me. Any guy dumb enough to fall for your shit isn’t worth it. Now, go bother someone else before I get you fired.”

The waitress opened her mouth and closed it before she turned around and stalked off.

Cody’s mouth fell open as he peered over at Maddy. “Where did that come from?”

“It’s something I’ve been working on with Dr. Hayes.” An embarrassed flush crept up her cheeks. “We’ll talk about it later. I’m starving, let’s eat.”

That shocked the shit out of him. When he first met Maddy, she had a fire about her, but over the past months, it had fizzled out. He was glad to see her spark coming back.

They didn’t talk much as they ate, with Grant and Maddy lost in their burgers. They must have seriously been missing greasy food.

When they were down to just their fries, Cody asked, “Are you going to be looking for a job or taking classes, Grant?”

Grant swiped a fry through the pile of ketchup on his plate. “College isn’t for me. I barely passed high school. A job would be good, but I’m not sure where to start.”

“There are a few places near the school that are looking.” Cody took a drink of water. “Most kids are heading home for the holidays and won’t be back until school starts again, so businesses need to fill in the openings that those kids left.”

Grant perked up. “Thanks. I’ll check around there.”

Cody took a fry from his plate. “Do you have any siblings?”

Grant grimaced and looked down at his plate. “No.”

That was strange. Grant had no problem meeting Cody’s eyes until now. There was more to the story than what he was telling.

Once Cody paid the bill, he drove them over to the local Elks Lodge, where the NA Meeting was being held.

He kissed Maddy before she got out of the truck and headed into the meeting.

Leaning back, Cody got comfortable and closed his eyes. He’d been working his ass off and not getting much sleep between school and the new house he was flipping.

Would Grant be good at construction? Another person helping him would come in handy. He wouldn’t be able to pay Grant much, but it would give him the opportunity to get to know the guy better.

Cody must have fallen asleep because the next thing he knew, the door was opening.

He yawned and rubbed his eyes.

Maddy smiled as she climbed in. “Did you fall asleep?”

Cody stretched. “Yeah, I’ve been working too much. How was the meeting?”

“Interesting. There was a lady who received a five-year sobriety coin.” She played with the end of her shirt. “I hope someday I can get one of those.”

He put his hand on her thigh. “You’ll get there, no doubt.”

Once Grant was settled in the back of the truck, Cody drove him to Pathways and stopped outside.

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