Page 47 of Sticking Around

“You don’t have to cook for me.”

“It’s my way of thanking you.”

“But you don’t have to thank me. It’s not tit for tat, Lanie.”

“Fine, I don’t want you to feel responsible for me.”

What her eyes are saying is that she knows I’m responsible for everyone, and carry the weight of my family and my team on my shoulders, and she doesn’t want to add to it.

Yeah, okay, I get it. We both have issues. What a fucking pair we make.

“Okay,” I finally agree, because she’s right. I’m in training and homemade is much healthier.

She hums to the radio as I drive, and about half an hour later, I pull up in beside Noah’s vehicle. “I’m glad you had fun today, Brady.”

“Thanks for dragging me.”

She laughs and gets out of the car, and her jaw drops when Ash pulls up behind us in her car.

“What the…” She turns to me, eyes wide. “What did you do?”

I hold my hands up, palms out. “Don’t be mad.”

She glares at me. “You…you fixed it?”

I give an easy shrug. “Ash knew what the problem was and took it to his buddy to get it fixed.”

“I…what did it cost?” Her brow furrows a worried expression moving into her eyes. “I’ll pay you back.”

“Okay,” I say quickly. Not that I ever plan on taking the money.

“My car…” she frowns and glances down. “It’s not your responsibility.”

“Hey,” I say and pull her to me, lifting her face to mine. “It’s okay. You can pay me back. Any way you want,” I joke.

Her frown deepens as she glances back down, and I dip my head to see her face. “Car’s fixed,” Ash says as he steps up to us and holds out the keys.

Melanie’s gaze cuts to his. “Thank you. That was very kind of you. You didn’t have to go to the trouble.”

“No trouble at all and hey, any friend of Brady’s is a friend of mine.” Ash runs his fingers through his mess of hair and glances around. “The guys aren’t here yet. We’re supposed to meet for dinner.”

Melanie grips the keys tight. “You’re welcome to have dinner with us. It’s the least I can do after fixing my car.”

Just then Jaxon pulls in and parks behind Noah’s vehicle. He hops from the car. “Hey guys. Where’s Tuck?”

“Not here yet,” Ash explains. “You still able to give me a lift back tonight?”

Jaxon grins. “Depends.”

I laugh, because I know it depends on if he meets a hottie at the rooftop bar or not.

“Asshole,” Ash says.

“I can give you a lift,” I tell him.

Ash turns to Melanie. “Thanks for the invite. I’d love to take you up on it another night, but you don’t want these assholes in your space. Let’s go grab a beer, and I’m starved.”

“I’ll go start on dinner. You can join the guys if you want. I can reheat yours later.”

---