Page 16 of Toxic

“Bored. I can help with some of this shit.”

“Yeah?” I asked, eyebrows raised.

He shrugged. “Tired of sitting on my ass with that dog looking like she wants to take a chunk out of me.”

We both glanced over at Eris, who wagged her tail. There was a hopeful look on her face, as though she was waiting to see if shecouldactually bite one of us. All in good fun, of course. Fucking heelers. They were insane. And for some reason seemed to be the first choice of crazy horse women.

“See if you can find some paint,” I told him.

“Alright.”

“Check inside the house,” I called out.

“I know how to look for paint. Jesus fucking Christ.”

I grinned and stripped off my t-shirt. It was already hot as fuck out here. Pulling out my phone, I saw that it was seven-thirty. I’d let Billie sleep for another hour, then wake her up. I wanted to let her sleep for four or five more hours, but then she wouldn’t trust me the next time. And therewasgoing to be a next time.

As it was, she wasn’t super trusting. And it was difficult for her to accept help. I wanted to break down those walls. Her laugh this morning had been a thing of beauty. I wanted to hear it again and again.

Butcher had stayed uncharacteristically quiet during breakfast and I knew it was because he was giving her and I the chance to talk. Sneaky bastard. Thought I didn’t know what he was up to.

I slid the door back and forth, noting the places it was catching and doing what I could to make sure it would roll easily. I shoved it back open once it was behaving the way I wanted itto and looked around. There was so much in disrepair, I wasn’t sure where to start first.

Looking over at the house, I saw Butcher dragging out a power washer. He hadn’t been raised on a ranch, but he wasn’t a dumbass. He knew he needed to spray down the house first before getting started on painting. The fact that I hadn’t even needed to tell him what I wanted painted just spoke to how in sync we were.

As much as I loved all of my brothers, I’d been shocked at the bond he and I had formed over the years. After I lost my brother I wasn’t sure I would be able to let anyone get as close again. Butcher had stormed into my life and changed all that. One crazy, twisted action at a time he’d become my new brother. The fucker was insane, but goddamn I loved him.

I glanced over my shoulder as I heard a vehicle approaching. I recognized one of our caged rides and saw Ricochet scowling as he drove up. The dirt roads out here weren’t the best for taking our bikes, so we’d be using cage rides for the foreseeable future. Butcher was already stalking up to the truck when I got over there. “Thanks for bringing these out,” I said, opening the back door and pulling bags out.

“No problem.” Ricochet looked around. “Place is far out as fuck.”

“That’s what happens when you have thousands of acres,” I told him with a grin.

“Nice place though. Owner here?” Ricochet asked.

The way he said it had me rolling my eyes. “Yeah, she’s sleeping. She had a rough night.”

He rubbed his chin. “Oh yeah?”

“Spit it out,” I snapped, glaring at him.

“Just curious what she’s like,” he said, trying to look innocent.

“Hush ratted you out,” Butcher said, coming back for a second load of groceries.

“What the fuck does that mean?” I asked as we all carried the rest inside the house.

“He may have mentioned seeing you at the clubhouse last night and that you looked like you’d been hit between the eyes with a pole,” Ricochet answered.

“What the fuck doesthatmean?” I repeated.

“No one’s seen you do a favor for a woman,” Ricochet said, leaning against the counter while I started putting groceries away.

I had to pause at the random ‘gifts’ from the Hellions. Chocolate chip brownies, sugar frosted cereals—only the kind with unicorns on the box. Candy, candy, and more candy. But the essentials I asked for were here too. I grinned, knowing that Priest had done his damnedest to keep the extra surprises to a minimum. I unwrapped a chocolate chip brownie and tried it. Pretty damn good. Ricochet was already grabbing handfuls of cereal and munching on it.

“Lock asked me to help. I’m helping,” I muttered around a mouthful of chocolate.

“You made her breakfast,” Butcher pointed out.

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