“Fuck you,” Diesel spat.
They scowled into each other’s eyes and they did this so long, D was concerned Molly’d finish cleaning up and walk in on them.
It wasn’t like none of them fought. They fought. All of them, Mad and D, Mad and Molly, D and Molly.
It was just that, out of respect for the one not involved in the fight, they didn’t do it out in the open.
Suddenly, Maddox backed off, not much but he wasn’t in D’s face anymore.
He turned his head to the side and D watched a muscle jump up his cheek through his now heavy beard because he hadn’t shaved since Molly was away for the weekend.
Diesel took in a calming breath and started, “Maddox—”
Mad turned back to Diesel. “You haven’t fucked me since you bent me over the kitchen table that Saturday morning Molly was in Tucson.”
He hadn’t?
Shit.
No.
He hadn’t.
Diesel swallowed.
He’d taken Maddox’s dick, repeatedly.
He had not given that back.
He’d never gone so long without fucking Maddox since . . .
Hell, he’d never gone that long without fucking Maddox.
“Buddy,” he said quietly, “I’ll get some food in me, you get some recuperation time, we’ll—”
Maddox cut him off. “What is it?”
Diesel felt his head twitch to the side. “What’s what?”
“You’re deep in your head, D, again, and . . . fuck,” he hissed the last, looking away before looking back again. “I’m here,” he said awkwardly. “You ever wanna talk, I’m . . . uh, here.”
Diesel stared at him.
It was on the tip of his tongue to joke that it was hard to miss he was there since Mad was standing right in front of D and a couple of minutes before the man was right in his face.
Instead he said low, “I checked our accounts, brother, and we don’t have the money for that ring. We don’t even have half of it between the two of us. And it’s that ring. We both know it. Molly has to have that ring. And we can’t afford it.”
Maddox’s chin jerked slightly into his neck as his black eyes stared unblinking into D’s.
“You’re thinkin’ about Mol’s ring?”
“We got a little over six K. Your parents float that loan, we’ll owe them without being able to pay them back for a long fuckin’ time.”
“They’ll be cool with that, D,” Maddox said.
“I won’t.”
Maddox said nothing and he did this studying D.
Then he nodded. “You’re heard. But just to say, talked to George and he says you can usually get them to swing you a deal. Fifteen percent off, sometimes even twenty.”
George owned the company Maddox worked at. The man was loaded, his wife dressed like the woman of a man who was rolling in it, so he’d know. And that was good news. If that panned out, that’d help.
They were still in the hole.
“We still don’t have enough,” D noted.
Maddox nodded again. “We’ll think on it. Yeah?”
Diesel nodded back, thinking a windfall of five hundred dollars in cash from Sixx for two hours of checking the coast was clear would also help, but not much.
Though if she had other jobs she needed assists with and they paid that kind of cake . . .
“You better be ordering boneless wings!” Molly called down the hall.
This was Molly Speak for, “Whatever you two are talking about after Maddox hightailed his ass out of the bedroom after making love to me needs to stop because I’m almost there.”
She put up with a lot, Molly did, and she did it well, and it was not just shit like doing all their laundry because she had on her hands two men who had no interest in doing it “right” (whatever that was).
There was a shitload more.
D turned his attention to the laptop and hit the on button.
Maddox shifted so he was back to the island, hips resting against it beside D.
Molly entered the room wearing cute little short shorts in T-shirt fabric that had a pink drawstring and tiny pink hearts on a gray background and a skintight pink tank that clearly showed the lace of her bra. Both of those, with her hair a messy knot on top of her head, a bunch of it falling down her shoulders, swollen lips, rosy cheeks, lazy eyes, otherwise known as Molly’s after-sex face, made D’s dick start feeling it for certain.
“Buffalo with extra ranch dressing,” she ordered.
“Gotcha,” D said as she walked right to his side.
She grabbed hold of his tee at his abs and got on her toes as he turned his head and bent his neck to touch his mouth to hers.
When he was done, she grinned up at him but the searching look in her eyes made him grin back at her fast then look again to the laptop.
Out of the sides of his eyes, D caught her scraping her fingernails lightly through the hair on Mad’s chest and going on her toes to get a lip touch from him before she moved away, asking Diesel, “Good workout?”
“Not as good as yours,” he teased.
She laughed softly as Diesel pulled up the pizza website.
He logged in and started clicking through as Molly brought Maddox a beer.
“God, you’re taking a year doing that,” Molly complained and D turned his head to see her leaning her side into Maddox’s front, facing D, Mad’s arm loose around her waist, her head tipped back to look at Diesel, a grin on her face.
“Hungry, baby?” he asked.
“Starving,” she answered.
He grinned back then turned his attention to the laptop, muttering, “I’ll hurry.”
“I know you. It might take seven years for you to tap out two fingered, ‘We want extra ranch,’ in the note section,” she complained.
He looked at her again. “I can order pizza.”
“I’d be done by now,” she replied.
“And I’d be done by now too, sweetheart, if you weren’t yammering at me.”
Maddox chuckled.
Molly rolled her eyes.
That was so cute, like anytime she did it, D fought taking a further break from finishing on the computer in order to kiss her, but since feeding their girl was clearly priority, he decided to finish on the computer.
He did that, pulled up the map that showed when the delivery guy was on the way, then reached out and nabbed his forgotten beer, turning toward them, leaning a hip against the counter and announcing, “I’ve got plans with Sixx tomorrow night. She needs backup on some job.”
Maddox’s head cocked sharply to the side.
Molly’s sweet green eyes got big.
“Say what?” Maddox asked.
“That call I took after I got home. It was Sixx. She needs some help tomorrow. Says it’ll take an hour, the most two. I’ll be home, latest, around ten.”
“I . . . uh . . .” Molly started but trailed off.
“You think maybe we should talk about this?” Maddox asked without stammering at all.
In fact the man looked ticked.
“About what?” Diesel asked back then stated, “You can do the next job, if she’s got one. But I’m calling it if she needs to fuck someone up.”
“Is it dangerous?” Molly asked carefully.
Ah.
Right.
He looked to her. “No, baby. She just needs someone to keep an eye on things while she uh . . .” he decided against sharing about the B and E, “does what she has to do. It’s not dangerous.”