Page 77 of Shameless

Lula squeezes my hand. “You should have told me. I would have been happy to come and help you and Tilly.”

I can’t help but smile. “Thank you, baby. You’re the best. I’ll tell Mom, but be careful because next time she needs help, she’s really going to take you up on your offer.”

“Good,” she beams. “Because I mean it.”

It’s Jules’s turn to get frustrated. “Right. If you’re done asking questions, I’m gonna lock up.”

I genuinely want to check out the new boat and if that annoys Cutler, it’s an added bonus. “Do you mind if I just take a quick look at it?”

I struggle not to laugh at how irritated he looks.

“Sure,” he moves to the side with a flourish. “Be my fucking guest.”

The two boats take most of the space in the boathouse, one moored and the other one hanging from the ceiling. They’re identical in size and shape but the new one is obviously not finished yet. “The primer color of the hull doesn’t give this beauty justice,” I say. “Once this one is done, we’ll have that world record in the bag.”

For once, Cutler agrees with me. “That’s damn right. Tory said that it’s pretty much done. The only thing left to do before we can start test runs is to complete and test the electric system. Something to do with it being properly grounded and insulated. So no test runs and no engine on in the water until Tory gives us the go ahead.”

Lula looks at the new boat as if it could bite her.

“What’s up, baby?” I tuck a strand of dark hair behind her ear. “You look worried.”

“I have a bad feeling,” her voice is barely audible, her fingers clutching mine with crushing force. “Isn’t carbon fibre an electricity conductor? Mixing water and electricity seems dangerous.”

I pull her into my arms. “Don’t worry, Tory knows what she’s doing. No one will put this boat in the water with the engine on until everything is properly insulated. Then it’ll be perfectly safe to touch every part of the hull with the engine running.”

“You guys aren’t going to run it until it’s finished, right?”

I reassure her. “Of course, baby. Besides, that pain in the ass over there,” I laugh, pointing at Jules. “Insists on being the one who will race for the world record.”

Jules doesn’t back down. “Damn skippy I do. Didn’t I win the tryouts? We can say anything we want about our late father, but he truly wanted the fastest racer in the best boat.”

He’s absolutely insufferable when he toots his own horn. “Yeah, yeah. We know. Don’t tempt me into convincing Tory to let you into that boat with the engine on before it has been insulated and tested.”

He flips me off, but there’s no heat in his eyes. “Ha, you wish you could get rid of me so easily. I have no intention to experience being flambé. I have a beautiful daughter and I’m in love with the sweetest, most beautiful woman in the world. I have too much to live for.”

It’s the first time I hear Jules declaring his feelings for Lula this openly.

I should hate to hear him say that he loves Lula, but again, the look in her eyes makes it impossible to feel jealous.

“You’re right,” I concede. “And whether we like it or not, we’re a team. So if you win, we all win.”

Lula’s smile is all the incentive I need not to regret being nice to Cutler. “You’re right, Crew. Maybe Eddie wasn’t so wrong for forcing you guys to work together.”

Jules laughs. “Yeah, maybe. I mean fuck, I don’t think that man cared about us beingbrothersor even friends. But if his obsession with winning means we can coexist, I guess him coming back isn’t the worst thing that could have happened to us. I hated fighting with Stefan anyway and this guy,” he says, looking at me. “Has proven impossible to get rid of. So might as well make this truce work.”

I’m about to agree and tell him to fuck off—and I’m actually joking for the first time ever—but we’re no longer alone in the boathouse.

“Aww how adorable,” Evan barks out a laugh. “Are you going to braid each other’s hair and sync your periods now?”

“Hey,” Jules’s scowl isn’t directed at me for once. “This is a private space for the club owners. Club members and visitors aren’t allowed in here.”

The smile on Lula’s other stepbrother’s face ranks so high on the creep scale, that I get goosebumps. “Your wife was just choking on my cock five minutes ago and we have our little Lula in common. She’s my stepsister too, so that makes us family.”

Lula’s body tenses up, she’s shaking like a leaf.

I step in front of her, putting myself between her and Evan.

Jules is immediately by my side, so close that our arms are touching. Usually that would tick me off but right now we’re forming an impenetrable barrier between our girl and Tiffany’s stepson.

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