Page 16 of Bound by Family
“I’m at your laundromat, and there’s water everywhere. We’re trying to get to the shutoffs, but they’re covered.”
“Shit. I’m on my way.” That voice. Damn. She doesn’t even let me enjoy it before she hangs up.
I toss my phone on my bag sitting on the table; no need for it to get wet, too.
The water slows to a trickle as Green pops up from the back.
“Those fuckers have rust on them.” He wipes his hand on his jeans, leaving an orange mark behind. “Fuck, now I gotta wash these.”
“Look at me, dickhead.” Ryker holds his arms out, standing in a puddle of water, wet from pretty much the chest down. His clothes are scattered on the floor in a soppy mess. “My boots are gonna take forever to dry. Fuck!” he growls.
“Calm your shit.”
The other customers in the place are staring at us, but not one came over to help the situation. Figures.
“We don’t need a stir.” We never need the cops in our business, and Ryker screaming and carrying on will definitely get one called. I don’t feel like calling my dad or Pops and asking them to bail my ass out of jail for fucking water.
“Sonofabitch,” he growls low, picking up his clothes and tossing them into another machine. “This one had better fuckin’ work.” He jams the coins into it, and it begins its cycle. The water on the floor is steadily flowing into the drain, but it’s still wet as hell.
“I’m gonna change.” Ryker grabs his duffle and heads toward the bathroom. It’s funny seeing him razzed because it rarely happens. Ryker is always a joke a minute or a smooth line.
The simple joys in life we have to suck up.
I switch over my clothes and toss them into a dryer. Green does the same. Jacks said he didn’t need to come. No doubt he’s asleep. That man loves his sleep. Can’t blame him. I like mine, too … sometimes.
“What’s going on?” the purred voice says from the door.
I turn. Standing in the doorway is a woman in very well-worn jeans and a black T-shirt that stretches across her ample chest, the V showing just a touch of it. Her blonde hair is long, silky, yet wavy at the bottom. There’s no black roots, so that shit is real. Her light, crystal blue eyes come to me, pause on a stutter for a moment, and then her gaze goes to the floor, seeing the huge puddle of mess.
“Shit.” She pulls out her phone and makes a call. “Need you here ten minutes ago.” She pushes her phone in the back pocket of her jeans, sliding it down the curve of her ass.
“Who called?” she questions, looking around to each one of us.
I step up. “Me.”
Her eyes travel my body, and then she clears her throat. “Sorry about this. Sometimes the seals come loose. I’ve been after my plumber to redo the shutoffs so they’re easier to get to.” She reaches in her front pocket and pulls out two twenties. “Here, these washes and dries are on me with our apologies.”
Ryker takes that moment to come up and pluck the money out of my hand. “Thank you spanky much,” he says on a chuckle.
The woman bustles past everyone, ignoring Ryker, and heads to a door in the back, inserting a key then stepping inside. When she comes out, she has a mop bucket and a mop. She’s put her hair back in one of those messy bun things on her head that my sister wears all the time. With it out of her face, she’s even more striking, wiping any comparison to my sister out of the park.
What the hell is wrong with me?
Green chuckles. “See somethin’ you like?”
“Shut the fuck up.”
He laughs harder.
“I know I do,” Ryker says, taking a few steps toward her. “Hey, honey, I’m Ryker. And you are …?”
“Busy,” she replies, pulling the mop out and beginning to clean up the mess.
“Burn!” Green calls out, and Ryker laughs.
“Let me help you. Then we can get to know each other,” Ryker tells her.
I feel my blood begin to boil. I’m not sure why. There’s no reason for its cause, but it’s happening.
