Page 75 of Steel

When I realized what Heather did, and Bailee asked me if I’d been with Heather since she’s been back in my life, I knew she needed only the truth from me. So, I was fucking honest and told her about the blowjob and the kiss Heather fucking tried on me.As if those confessions didn’t condemn me enough in Bailee’s eyes, I finished the job by being even more honest and admitting to telling Heather we’d try to work it out if she gets sober.

Hell, I knew it was an asshole move when I did it. If a guy ever pulled some shit like that on Lyric, I’d be tempted to cut his fucking tongue out and make him choke on it so he wouldn’t be tempted to do something so damn stupid again.

When it comes to making sure Lyric is happy, I do everything in my power to give it to her. She loves her mom. Having her sober would make my daughter happy, so I did what I had to do. Maybe I should regret it, but I don’t because it seems to be working. I haven’t seen Heather high since the night I told her that, and I’ve been paying as much attention as I can given everything else going on. The only thing I do regret is that all of it led to my Hummingbird being hurt by me again.

Remnants of her pain chase me as my bike picks up speed in a bid to outrun the broken pieces.

Needing something to burn this anger off—anger at Lee for not listening to me and letting me explain more, anger at myself for allowing us to get in this spot to begin with, and fucking anger at Heather for having the goddamn audacity to act like she owns me—I head toward Dirty Wrench.

We’re behind on some customers orders, and without seeking violence or grabbing a club whore or piece of fender fluff to fuck—which strangely isn’t appealing to my head or my dick in the slightest—sliding under the hood of some vehicles and getting dirty is the only way I’m going to be able to work out all this fucking aggression burning inside me.

Bryson is already elbow-deep in a motorcycle that was brought in two weeks ago. He glances up when I storm in, but as a man of few words, he wisely offers only a nod before going back to work.

I head into the office to hang up my cut and grab my coveralls, sliding them over my clothes, then stomp back out to the bay.

There’s too many jobs in the lot outside to know which is next, so I grab the clipboard full of work orders and read over the top one before signing off on it. I hang it back up, grab the set of keys for it, and make my way out to bring it into the bay.

For the next five hours, Bryson and I, and a few others, stay hard at work to crank out some of the jobs. Most of the shit was simple, so there wasn’t much to work my aggression out on. Without it having a place to go, it only continues to grow despite the peace I found working on the vehicles.

The guys have been giving me leery looks and wide berths. Not that I blame them.

After the wrench slips from the nut for the third time and I split my knuckle open again, I let out a roar and throw the motherfucking thing across the shop. It lands against the glass window between the shop and lobby, and I know I’m fucked when it shatters.

Bryson walks over, wiping his hands on a towel. “Nothing good is going to come from that much anger, man.”

“Like you got room to preach,” I growl, climbing to my feet to grab the towel sitting on my work cart. “You’re still holding on to so much fucking anger at your bitch of an ex for what she did while you were locked up that you can’t even see what’s in front of your face.”

His laugh is full of darkness. “Of course, I am. I spent five goddamn years in prison for that cunt, and she fucked around on me while I was doing it. Don’t regret doing what I did, but I fucking hate that I did it for a bitch of a wife who couldn’t love or respect me enough to not fall in love with someone else. Never gave a fuck that she got her needs met somewhere else, but my wife falling in love with another man while I had to watch my back every damn day after catching a second-degree assault charge over her . . . there’s something straight fucked-up aboutthat.” He lifts a brow. “You telling me you wouldn’t be carrying around anger at her for that shit?”

My smile is vicious and bloodthirsty. “Nah, fuck that shit. I’d have slit her throat, the motherfucker she fell in love with, and then tossed both their cold corpses in the fuckin’ garbage dump where they belong.”

“She’s the mother of my kid.”

I shrug. “He’s got a dad, don’t he?”

“We’re not talking about me. You need to get your head straight, man.” He nods toward the broken window. “Wraith is going to have a fit about that. What are you going to tell him?”

“That I was pissed-off and threw a wrench through it. No reason to lie about it.” I scrub a hand over my face. “I need to get on my bike and get this fuckin’ anger burnt out.”

“Want someone to ride with?” he asks.

“Come or don’t. My fucks are out. Be prepared in case there’s trouble,” I tell him as I head into the office.

Once I’m cleaned up, we send the other guys home and lock up the shop before heading out.

Night has fallen and the moon is full, a strong guiding light as we head to our bikes. The open road is my freedom from all the bullshit going on right now, and even as my rage continues to rush madly about inside me and Bailee’s pain nips at my back wheels, there’s still a peace found here that can’t be replicated.

Unless I’m with my Hummingbird.

As the thought crosses my mind, I realize the validity of it.

I think it’s always been that way, and it’s why she’s always scared the fuck out of me.

There’s no more running, though. Tomorrow, she’s going to listen to me. We’re going to fix this because her not being in my life isn’t something I’m willing to negotiate on.

A blinding bright light hits our side mirrors, and I grit my teeth as I move over to get out of the way so the fucking assholecan get around us. When that’s not what happens, my lips curl into a delighted grin because I know shit’s about to go down and these motherfuckers are about to experience a rage of epic fucking proportions.

Bryson glances over at me, and I give him a nod, letting him know this is the trouble I was warning him about.

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