Page 143 of Clean Slade
And then “Whole Lotta Love” blasted through the house. When Hannah looked behind her, the TV came on at full volume mixing with the music, creating a cacophony of sounds.
“What are you doing?” she screamed, reaching for the remote control, but the TV wouldn’t obey her.
“Me? Nothing. It’s the ghosts.” I winked and turned around. “Monday morning, Hannah. We’ll be waiting.”
I walked away from the flustered woman as everything became worse. The doorbell wouldn’t shut up, the music started changing from one rock anthem to another, and soon there was more than one person shouting as I imagined the rest of the family tried to figure out what the hell was going on with their house.
I took my phone out, and with a satisfied grin, I sent a message.
King:
Great job, tech boy.
Slade:
Anything for you, mobster boy.
Okay, maybe what we were doing was slightly illegal.
Okay, very illegal.
But hey, I never claimed to be a saint.
THIRTY-FOUR
SLADE
2 weeks later
Iopened the door to the Outpost only to get blasted by the buzz and chatter of the place. There wasn’t an inch of this place that wasn’t taken up by an adult or child, and the music coming through the speakers only added to the noise.
“Wow. I guess spring break is in full swing,” I commented as we bypassed several people until we found the person we were looking for.
Autumn looked as if she’d been running a marathon, although she wasn’t the only one working the floor. Elliot, Donovan, and Parker were all there taking food or drinks out to tables while the two loverboys behind the bar, Asher and Maddox, made the drinks.
“Please tell me you’re here to help. You’re here to help, right?”
I shook my head with an apologetic smile, and Autumn’s nostrils flared.
“Then get out of my face,” she said and walked away but then backtracked and looked at Mac. “Hi, sweetie. Nice to see you again.” She cast another scornful glance at me and ran off to set a couple of plates down by the end of the bar, which was already backed up with dirty dishes.
“Maybe we should help,” King said.
I sighed and nodded. We parked Mac at the bar where she could help Ash and Maddox by giving them motivational speeches about red pandas, elves, and magical freezing queens, and we took over busboy duties so the rest of them could focus on service.
Half an hour later, I entered the kitchen with the last dirty dishes and found my man at the sink with an apron around his front completely soaped up and soaked.
“Hey,” I said.
“Hey,” he answered back as I put the dishes down.
“That’s all of it,” I said in a tone more seductive than the situation warranted.
I couldn’t help but admire the way he jumped in to help my friends without a moment’s hesitation.
But that was King. A man so kind, so beautiful, so unique that it hurt just looking at him.
The transformation was astounding. It was incredible what no longer living in fear could do to a person. It had allowed the real King to push through in all his glory. And he was perfect.
