Page 52 of Beautiful Rush
“If it’s on the iPad you’re shit out of luck, babe.”
“What did you do with my iPad? I need it for work.”
“No, you don’t,” Killian said. “We’ve been over this.”
“But you’ll need help with the new—”
“Ava. I’ve got it covered,” Killian said.
She deflated a little, but then she smiled. “Thank you.”
“I owe you that and more.”
They exchanged a look I couldn’t read, no doubt thinking of something from their past I wasn’t privy to. “You owe me nothing, Killian. We’re even.”
Killian nodded, accepting her assurance that they were even, and all debts had been more than paid.
We talked about the new space that Killian had recently acquired which would be a rec room for the teens. It was right next to his gym and they were installing a kitchen, basketball hoops, and a lounge area for the kids to hang out in. They were also expanding their volunteer program and it sounded as if Connor, Ava, and Eden were already on board.
“I’d like to volunteer,” I told Killian. “Cleaning, painting, whatever you need me to do.”
“You have time for that?” he asked skeptically.
I nodded. “Yep. I can come after work and on my days off.”
“I talked to Tate this morning,” Connor said. “He says you’re working too hard. Putting in twice as many hours as you should be.”
I rolled my eyes. I’ve had this conversation with Tate already but decided to turn it back around on Connor who wasalwaysworking. “How many hours do you work at your tattoo shop?”
“Too many,” Ava said, answering for him. “He lives there.”
“You have no room to talk,” Connor said. “You put in way too many hours working. Which is why we need this road trip.”
“No rest for the wicked.”
Connor grinned. “Keeps us out of trouble.”
Ava returned his grin. “Most of the time.”
“You don’t have room to talk about working too much either,” Eden said, pinning Killian with a look.
“Yeah, okay, Sunshine. And you didn’t stay up all hours working on those paintings for Zeke’s new restaurant.”
“That’s not work. That’s…I love painting.”
“Zeke isn’t paying you for those paintings? You’re just doing it as a hobby?” Killian asked, his brows raised.
“You know he’s paying me.”
“Damn straight he’s paying you. So, that’s a job, right? You were doing your job.”
Eden clapped her hands together. “Okay, let’s just drop it. We all like working. We all like what we do. End of story.”
Killian chuckled. “Glad we got that straight.” He turned to me. “We’d love to have your help. Thanks for offering.”
I smiled. “Great.” I wanted to be involved and I was glad I could offer. It made me feel a little bit better about myself.
“Bon voyage,” I said, hugging Ava goodbye as we all congregated by my apartment door.
