Page 30 of Flirt

Chapter Twelve

Flirt

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“Are you testing thedurability of that wrench or the concrete floor, Flirt?”

“What?” I looked over my shoulder at Coast and asked.

“Something bothering you?” Devil questioned, then pointed at the wrench beside me. “That tool, along with every other one you have used today, has been slammed or tossed around. Not to mention you’ve been mumbling shit as you abuse the tools.”

“What are you talking about? I haven’t been mumbling nor abusing tools,” I grouched.

“Acting like a man with woman troubles,” Jag said from his spot across the garage.

I snatched up the rag and pushed myself off the floor. “Woman troubles? I’ve never had woman troubles. You must have me confused with yourself,” I sneered as I wiped my hands with the rag I was holding.

“Going straight to the defensive. What’s up with that?” Crusher pointed out and chuckled when I narrowed my eyes at him.

“Definitely a woman,” Speed snorted. “Only reason a man gets that prickly with his friends.”

“Prickly. Christ, every one of you has gone soft!” I shouted. Knew I was being an ass and couldn’t bring myself to care. “Do your ol’ ladies lock your balls up at night and then give them back to you in the morning?” I threw out and started toward the door. “I am allowed to have a bad day, so fuck off, assholes.”

“See, now that’s the thing, Flirt. All the time I have known you, I have never seen you lose control. And, brother, we have been in some shitty situations where losing control would have made the mission a whole lot easier for us,” Ghost said as he walked into the garage.

“None of you know what you’re talking about. We don’t spend, nor have we spent 24/7 together. I have bad days like everyone else. I am out of here. I’ll be back when you all decide to work and not dick around.” I walked out of the garage and stormed up Speed’s driveway. When I reached my house, I stomped up the steps onto the porch. I opened the front door, then slammed it shut. In the living room, I plopped down on the couch and leaned my head back.

“I am still in control. They don’t know what the hell they’re talking about,” I said out loud into the empty room, then closed my eyes. Even the breathing exercises I used when I felt any semblance of my control slipping were not helpful. Oh, they cleared my mind, but the control I fought to gain back was out of reach. The fault belonged to one woman. She had my gut twisted, but I refused to bring it up or even acknowledge to my brothers they were right about a woman being the cause of my foul mood.

“Definitely not ready to listen to them throw every word I have ever said about what would happen when I found the woman perfect for me. And certainly not that I’ve had her in my reach for months and done nothing to lock her down.”

“Damn, months, huh?”

I ran a hand down my face, then opened my eyes and raised my head off the couch. “For fuck’s sake, did those bastards call and tattle to mydaddy?” I sneered.

“Goddamn, youarein a foul mood,” my dad said as he walked through the room and then into the kitchen. I heard the refrigerator door open and the rattle of glass before it closed, and he walked back into the living room. He handed me a beer, then went to one of the chairs and sat down. “Now, you want to tell yourdaddyabout this perfect woman you’ve known for months.”

I flipped my dad off, and he chuckled. Then I twisted the cap on my bottle of beer and took a long pull. “I’m not sure one beer is going to do,” I admitted.

“If we run out, I have some over at my house.”

“Good, if I don’t need it during explaining, I might need it after. I’ve fucked up, Dad. Big time,” I said, then started telling my dad about the first time I met Gabriella.

“Christ, son, when youmess up, you do it on a big scale that’s for sure,” my dad said, set the bottle of beer in his hand on the table beside the chair, and shook his head.

I sat forward and rested my bent arms across the top of my legs while my hands hung between. “Yeah, I know. I also know some of the frustration I am feeling stems a little from a deep-seated worry that when she finds out, she’ll walk.”

“You know you should have spoken to her at the beginning, so I can save my breath there. I agree with your assessment of fucking up big time, and I don’t think anyone has to tell you to come clean immediately. Don’t wait until you meet up again. Then you’re going to have to stand and take your hits like every other man who’s done crazy shit when it’s come to a woman. My advice is to get everything out in the open. Let her take her pound of flesh, then after she calms down, lock her ass down.”

I stared at my dad and cocked a brow. “That’s your advice.”

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