Page 41 of Reaper Razed

“You're the sister none of us wanted!” Ares grins back at her.

“Dick face!” Ray spits back.

“When can I start?” I ignore them both.

“Where are you all?” Priest shouts from the door to the outside.

“In here!” I yell.

Priest walks in with Tank, Blade, Dice and Dozer. “Where do you want it all going?” Tank asks.

Ares rubs his chin. “The barn for now.” Then, he turns to Ray. “Is that okay?”

“Yep, to the left, inside the doors. Don’t go anywhere near the hay bale at the back, but other than that, it’s fine. Watch out for the rolled steel. There’s some on the ground, so be careful!” she tells them.

“You’re moving this stuff now? Like right now? Oh my god.” I start bouncing up and down like a three-year-old.

Steel pulls out a tape measure pen and paper. “Let’s start measuring up.”

It only takes an hour to empty the place, and then Steel hands me a roll of tape. “Start marking up where you think you want units and counters, islands in the kitchen, oven, dishwasher, whatever you want, then lock up and sleep on it. Tomorrow, we can come back in and have a look, then I’ll take you to the hardware store, and we can get started.”

I hug and thank everyone, and then they leave, leaving me and Bran standing in the middle of my new coffee shop. “I can’t believe it. It’s really happening.”

“You deserve it, beautiful.”

“Can we go now? I want to look at some baking equipment and sizes before I return tomorrow!”

“Sure thing, beautiful.” Bran grins as he spins me and kisses me. You wanna camp out in the cabin tomorrow night? We can start doing up the coffee shop and stay in the cabin. Ray says the water and electric work!”

“Really? Can we really do that? Bran, I’m so excited. This is everything I’ve ever wanted! I can’t believe I get to have it all with you.”

Dane

I’m grabbing a box of stuff from my truck and about to head up the stairs to Ray’s place. Well, I suppose my place now, too.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

I grin as I turn. “Hey, Dice! What’s crawled up your butt?”

He scowls and steps forward. “What the fuck are you doing here? I thought you went home?”

“You know what thought did, don’t you?” I grin like the child he seems to think I am.

Puzzled, he cocks his head to the side. “What?” he asks.

Grinning, I say, “Shat himself and only thought he did!” I blob my tongue out and walk up the stairs. “You want to treat me like a child? I can act like one.”

When I drop the box in my new room and come back down, he’s waiting, leaning against my truck. “What are you doing, Dane?”

“I’m moving in.”

“Like fuck you are!” He spins and slams my back against the truck.

“The thing is, Dice, this has nothing to do with you.”

“I don’t want you here.” he snarls. “I can’t have you here.”

“Tell that to your dick that’s trying to burrow into my thigh.” I push him back slightly, “You want me, you know you do. Just be honest. If not with me, Dice, at least with yourself.” I shoulder-check him and grab another box, stalking up the stairs. I hear a growl and something getting kicked across the concrete.

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