Clutch: Satan's Fury MC (9 page)

“No problem. And about last night, I wanted to apologize for that hyena comment. You didn’t actually sound like a
dying hyena,”
he said with a chuckle. He paused for a brief moment. There was a little spark of mischief that crossed his eyes before he added, “It was more like the sound you get when you stomp on a cat’s tail.”

“Really? And that’s supposed to be better? I did not sound like a dying hyena or a cat!” I growled.

“Oh, come on. Don’t be so uptight,” he teased. The corners of his mouth curled into a sexy grin, making his criticism sting even more. “I was just messin’ around.”

As soon as the word uptight rolled from his lips, my blood began to boil. I had to swallow all of the profanities that came rushing through my head and instead forced the words, “Do me a favor. Save your ‘messin’
around’ for someone else.” Like an idiot, I brought my hands up and used my fingers to make imaginary quotation marks when I said “messin’ around”.

I immediately regretted my little hand gesture, when he did the same to me as he teased, “I don’t know, Hazel. I think a little ‘
messin’ around’
might be just what you need to loosen you up.”

I didn’t miss the sexual undertone of his little comment, so I snapped, “And I bet you think you’re just the guy for this messin’ around.”

An intensity I hadn’t expected crossed his face when he replied, “No doubt about that.”

“Whatever.”

Before he had a chance to make another smart-ass comment, I quickly turned and headed back into the kitchen before I said something I would regret. He had ties with Louise, and the last thing I needed to do was piss him off and risk losing my job.

I decided right then and there that I was done dealing with him. I could not afford to care that just the sight of him turned me into a horny teenager. I was over it. A man like that just wasn’t worth the frustration or the risk. When Cyrus placed his order in the window, I decided to save myself the hassle of trying to deal with Mr. Obnoxious and asked Ashton, one of the other waitresses, to deliver the plate to him. Then I clocked out and headed upstairs.

When I walked into the apartment, Charlie and Hadley were piled up on the sofa eating chips and watching some cop show on the TV. I took a step closer and was surprised to see that they both had wet heads. I sat down next to Hadley and, after inhaling the scent of soap, I knew they’d just taken a shower.

Noticing the surprised look on my face, Charlie said, “Clutch came and fixed the shower today.”

“Clutch?”

“Yeah. You know, the guy from next door,” he clarified. “He came after school and brought all this stuff to fix the shower. He didn’t finish, so he’s coming back tomorrow to fix that big old hole in the wall and to paint.”

Guilt washed over me, hitting me in waves, as I thought about all the trouble he must have gone through to fix that stupid shower. Even though he’d told me that he’d fix it, I never believed that he’d actually do it. Why did he have to go and do something so freaking nice? It was so much easier to just think he was a complete asshole.

“Well, crap,” I mumbled.

“What’s wrong?” Hadley asked.

“I think I messed up,” I admitted. “I may have been wrong about this Clutch guy.” I’d made a real mess of things. I’d let my attraction towards him cloud my thinking, and instead of realizing that he was just joking around, I took his silly comments as an insult, letting it hurt my feelings and making me act like a complete jerk. Thinking back, he’d been nothing but nice all along, and I’d been hateful and rude. He had to think I was a complete bitch.

“He seems really nice, Livie. He did all that work in the bathroom, then cleaned up his mess and everything. And before he left, he said he was going to apologize for calling you a hyena. I think he felt a little bad about that. Did he apologize to you?”

“Yeah, sweetie. He did, but his apology needed a little work.” I laughed. “I didn’t know he’d fixed the shower, and I might have acted a bit rude to him. I guess I’m the one that needs to do some apologizing now. And I’ll have to do something to thank him for fixing the shower.”

Hadley perked up and squealed, “Oh, I know! We could make him one of mom’s chocolate cakes!”

I thought about it for a second, then answered, “Yeah, I think that would be perfect.”

It was time for a little redemption, and even though I wasn’t exactly trying to win Clutch’s heart—at least not yet—I’d always heard that the way to win a man over was through his stomach. I had no doubt Mom’s chocolate cake would be impossible for him to resist, and hopefully just what I needed to get him to accept my apology … if I wasn’t too late.

Whatever pull I felt towards the hot little brunette who lived next door was gone. I was over it. Not that it had ever really even begun. She’d been nothing but a pain in the ass since the first day I’d laid eyes on her, and I’d given up all hope that she’d ever show me that softer side of herself that she showed everyone else. I’d seen how good she was with the kids and how she was always so friendly to her customers—even the homeless guy that she’d fed out of her own tips … twice. I had no idea why she’d chosen to spit nothing but venom out at me, but I was done. I no longer gave a flying fuck how she looked at me with those gorgeous eyes, or the way her fingers trembled ever so slightly whenever she noticed that I was close to her. I didn’t care that she was all I’d thought about since the moment I’d first laid eyes on her, that she’d completely captivated me with just one look. None of it mattered. Besides, the girl reeked of trouble. I had no idea what was going on with her, but I had no doubt she was hiding something. Something scared her enough to lie about who she was and give up the fancy-free life she used to have. It was plain to see, from the way that she talked to the way that she carried herself, that she’d come from good people—people with money and connections. She had no business working at Daisy Mae’s diner much less living in that piece of shit apartment next door. All of it was fucking irrelevant. I was over it.

I was just about to call it a night when my burner started ringing. When I answered, Smokey shouted, “What’s up, brother?”

His words were a little slurred, and I could hear the jukebox blaring in the background, letting me know that he was somewhere partying, so I asked him, “Where you at, Smoke?”

“At the clubhouse. A few of us are taking a break. Blowing off some steam after a long ass fucking day. Thought I’d call and check in on you.”

“I’m good, Smoke.”

“Good, good, good,” he mumbled. “Maybe you will get your ass back home soon.”

“It won’t be much longer. Got a few things to finish up here and then I’ll be on my way back,” I assured him.

“Hey, Cass … I need another beer,” he shouted. For the first time in months, I didn’t feel the punch in my gut from the sound of her name or the thought of her standing behind that bar … or imagining the curves of her lips when she smiled. Nothing. The time away had done me good, but I knew the real reason for my change when Smoke asked, “You breaking any hearts down there?”

She was the first thing that came to my mind—my beautiful, fire-mouthed neighbor who had haunted my every thought since the moment I laid eyes on her. With her on my mind, I replied, “Only thing breaking around here is my fucking balls. This chick next door is giving me all kinds of hell.”

“Ah, man. What are you complaining about?” He laughed. “There’s nothing better than a hot little piece living next door.”

“It’s not like that, Smoke. This girl is a piece of work, and she has her brother and sister living with her. I’ve got a feeling that they’re hiding from something, but she’s keeping her shit guarded, brother. No way she’s going to let me in.”

“Sounds like you’ve got yourself a challenge there, Clutch. I’m sure it’s nothing you can’t handle,” he heckled.

When I heard a woman’s voice in the background saying “Come on, Smokey. It’s time to play.” I said, “Look man, I gotta run. Need to be at the garage early tomorrow.”

“Don’t work too hard, man. You gotta have a little fun, too. You know? I’ll be in touch, soon,” he told me as he hung up the phone.

I tossed my phone onto the table next to the bed and fell back, resting my head on my pillow. The room was dark and completely quiet except for the low muffled sounds of Hazel’s voice coming through the walls. When I eased myself a little closer, I could barely make out the melody of a familiar song. It was one of those that my mother used to sing to me when I was having trouble sleeping. I closed my eyes, and with the calming sound of Hazel’s voice floating in the air, I couldn’t help but fall asleep.

The sun was barely streaming through the window blinds when I heard a loud bang against the wall of my bedroom. I was still rubbing the sleep from my eyes when I heard David shout, “Damn! Louise is going to leave us! We’re already ten minutes late!”

“Maybe she waited,” Hazel shouted back. “Just hurry up. Maybe we can still catch her. I’ll go downstairs and tell her that you’re coming.”

Seconds later, I heard her front door slam followed by her footsteps clomping down the steps. David continued to slam things around his room. I got up and threw some clothes on, deciding that I might as well get up and going. I was about to leave when I heard the kids rush out of the apartment and slam the door behind them. While I was locking my door, I could hear David talking to Hazel at the end of the stairs.

“Your shift already started. Louise will crawl all over you if you take off just to take us to school. We’ll just walk or take the stupid bus. It isn’t a big deal.”

Hazel’s voice was strained with worry when she said, “No. It’s just too risky. I’ll just take you. It won’t take long. Maybe Louise won’t notice …”

I’d had about all of the fussing back and forth that I could take, so as I started down the steps, I announced, “I’ll take them.”

When I got to the bottom of the steps, they all stood there staring at me until David said, “Cool. That’ll work.”

“Umm … no. I couldn’t ask you to do that,” Hazel protested.

“You didn’t ask, but I’m offering. Just gonna need the keys to your car.”

“Are you sure about this?” Hazel asked.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” I held out my hand. As soon as she placed the keys in my palm, I shouted, “Load ‘em up, guys. We gotta roll.”

The kids rushed out the back door. I was just about to follow behind them when Hazel called, “Clutch?”

“Yeah?”

When I turned to face her, she gave me a sweet smile and, with her eyes full of warmth, she said, “Thank you.”

And there it was. She’d finally shown me a glimpse of that softer side she’d shared with everyone else, and I wanted nothing more than to hold onto that moment for just a bit longer. Unfortunately, time was not on my side. The kids were waiting for me outside, so I said, “Anytime.”

By the time I’d gotten the kids to school and returned the car, it was almost eight. I headed straight to the garage, and when I got there, several of the guys were already there and working. After I’d returned the tools I’d borrowed the day before, I went back over to the Ford I was trying to get finished and set to work. I’d been at it for almost an hour when I heard Blaze talking at the front gate. I stuck my head out from under the hood of the car and saw him standing next to a young woman, maybe in her early twenties, and she had a little boy with her. After a few seconds, Blaze reached down and took the boy in his arms, then placed the palm of his hand on the child’s forehead. The girl turned to leave as they started walking towards the main office.

I went back to work, but it wasn’t long before my attention was diverted from the engine to the little boy who was standing next to me. When I looked down at him, it was like seeing a mini version of Blaze with his sandy blonde hair and big brown eyes, leaving no doubt that it was his kid. He lifted up on his toes as he tried to get a peek under the hood, and when he couldn’t get a good look, he turned to me and asked, “Whatcha doin’?”

“I’m working. What are you doing, little man?”

“I’m waiting on daddy to get off da phone … but he talks a lot. I think it’s gonna be a while,” he explained. He started to cough a little, then sniffed. “I got a fever so he’s called my Gammy to come get me.” Before I could get a word in, he asked, “What’s your name? I haven’t seen you here before.”

“My name’s Clutch. How about you? You got a name?” He was a cute kid, maybe six or seven, but he talked like he was much older.

He wiped his runny nose with the back of his hand as he scanned the body of the old Ford. “My name is Kevin, but everyone calls me Mini since I look so much like my dad. My Gammy says I look like my momma, but …”

“Kevin!” Blaze shouted.

“I’m over here wit’ Clutch,” he answered.

Blaze walked over. “Sorry, man. Been one of those days.”

“No problem. I was enjoying the company,” I told him.

Blaze looked over to Kevin. “Your grandmother will be here in a minute. She’s gonna run you up to the clinic.”

“Aw, man! Do I have to go to the stupid doctor?” he whined.

“Sorry, little buddy, but you do. It might just be a cold, but you know we can’t take chances with those fevers,” Blaze responded. “It’s always better to be safe than sorry.”