Page 20 of Dodge

“I didn’t fuck ’im. We jus’ messed aroun’.”

This early morning, Macie got an eyeful of the man as he walked toward us. “If he swung my way, I’d have fucked him.”

My face flamed as my head pulsed with a slight hangover. “Quiet, Macie.”

“He can’t hear me.”

“Shut up!”

Apparently, overindulgence with wine didn’t affect my friend at all. My hiss fell on deaf ears the way Macie ignored it. “Hey there. You must be Dodge ’cause Fauna described your hotness to a T.”

Dodge’s face reddened to a similar shade as mine. “Um… thanks. This is pretty big. All of this going in?”

I slapped Macie in the stomach before he could say anything else. My BFF had the annoying tendency to make innuendos anytime it was possible.Shit, what does that say about me?“I’ve tagged the pieces I want. The rest will go in the dumpster sometime tomorrow.”

“Okay, then. We’ll get started. It shouldn’t take too long, and then we can get on the road.”

The five men worked together as one unit, lifting, loading, repositioning, and fitting the pieces into the long trailer as if they were playing Tetris. Tables, chairs, booth components, light fixtures, even a front-of-house greeting kiosk and a big box of office supplies.

I noticed Dodge kept getting texts. He’d stop what he was doing and frown at his phone. It could be anybody, but the pricking at the back of my neck told me it was the ex-girlfriend who was bugging him. About what, I didn’t know. I might not have cared either except for Dodge’s facial expressions. He was not happy at the interruption. He fired off a couple of answers before resuming his lifting and packing. I kept my mouth shut and did my part in moving stuff around.

Somehow, it all worked out. They’d packed the big box full to the ceiling, carefully stacked, with not a square inch of space left. I imagined the weight of the boxy vehicle would make the drive back slower and cumbersome on the mountain roads to Bryson City.

“The guys are finishing up and gonna go get some food before heading back. I’ll go on ahead and drive the truck since I know how to handle a load this size.”

I ignored the choked-off comment Macie was dying to say and faced Dodge as professionally as possible. “Thanks for all your help. I don’t know how I could have pulled this off without it. Let me know what I can do to repay you.”

Macie made another noise, and I contemplated how to murder my best friend.

Dodge, on the other hand, was clueless. “You can feed me sometime after you open up. I’d love to eat at your place.”

Macie brayed a huge horse laugh. “I can’t stand it! I’m gonna go check the rest of the stuff and see if there’s anything else usable. Love you, girlfriend.” He gave Dodge his best sexy eye flutter and pursed lips. “You, too, sugar.”

“Is your friend all right?” Dodge asked as Macie sauntered off.

“For now,” I muttered. “No guarantees later. Can I call you for bail money?”

He grinned and opened his mouth to answer when a car screeched up to the lot. A lead anchor dropped in my stomach as Chase leapt from the interior. His face was hard and angry as he strode toward us. I braced myself for a confrontation. Over what, I had no clue, but his pissed-off demeanor said he was ready to take it out on me.

“You fucking bitch! I lost my job because of your shit!”

Whoa. Fired?“How’s that my fault? I haven’t been at the Omni for a couple of months. You’ve had plenty of time to fuck things up all by yourself.”

He threw his hands in the air. “It was your sabotage that did it! No one listened to me, and the lines fell apart night after night. The waitstaff couldn’t keep things straight, and some of them quit right after you did. Prep was awful. Food getting cut wrong, cooked wrong, seasoned wrong. The kitchen failed inspection three times in a row because you made such a big deal over the seafood.”

My temper flared. “People got sick, you moron! What else was I supposed to do? Let them get food poisoning?”

He slapped his chest with an open hand. “I’m the head chef. It’s my kitchen. I’ll run it the way I want to!”

“Was,” a new low voice growled at my back, sending shivers down my spine. Not ones of fear but of thrill.

Chase blinked at the interruption and looked behind me. Whatever he saw drained the color from his face, going from angry red to scared white. I hazarded a quick glance and that anchor in my stomach relodged itself deep.

I could safely say there was nothing more menacing than five angry bikers decked out in full riding gear. The other Dragon Runners must have heard the shouting and came to take Dodge’s back.

Nope. They came to takemyback.

Wow. Just wow.

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