“Ah, gotcha. Now it makes sense.” It’s all he says and I blow out a slow breath of relief.
“Is Parker that new chick?” My head snaps up, my eyes narrowed at Jonesy. I’m not even sure why I’m reacting like this. Parkeristhe new chick.Woman. She’s the new woman.
“She’s off limits.” Shit. Did I just growl? Hells yeah. That was definitely me channeling a mixture of Psycho and Bear. Fuckin’ A. I’d high five myself if it didn’t mean getting shit from my brothers.
Jonesy raises his hands in surrender, his eyes tiny slits like he’s either half asleep or fully baked. As a prospect, I could give him shit for that. They’re supposed to be at our beck and call and fully functional, but I’ll let it slide. Mostly because I don’t give a fuck. That kind of shit is the problem of more responsible members like Bear or Sledge.
Boner just laughs and laughs and laughs. Fuck that guy.
“Get this shit cleaned up!” His response to my order? Two middle fingers.
This is why we’re best friends.
Jogging to the truck just a few feet away, I drop off the bat and check the safety on the gun before storing it in the glove box, where it belongs.
Then I’m off, returning to the house. As soon as I step across the threshold, something nags at me. Hoops and Shade are in the kitchen and I can only see a sliver of them through the opening between here and there. Parker is sitting across from the woman she saved, talking low and looking as awkward as I felt earlier.
“Jesus, what ever happened to clean kills?” Our first and only female prospect, Kincaid, is staring at the bodies with disdain etched on her no-nonsense features.
“Clean kills are for pussies,” I say, trying to get Parker’s attention in the most discreet way I can manage. Except, she’s not making it easy on me.
Just as Jonesy and Kincaid start taking the bodies away, I snap my fingers.
“Wait!” That woman is too fucking distracting. That’s twice I almost forgot. “Teeth.”
“Ugh, Grinder, that’s so disgusting, man. Do you gotta?” I grab Jonesy’s head and pull him in so we’re half an inch apart.
“It’s either those teeth or I’m getting my dick wet. You volunteering?” I’m just fucking with him and he knows it.
“Fuck off, Grinder.” We both laugh and I give him a noogie like we’re still in middle school.
If only that was all I got in middle school.I shake the thought out of my head and get back to what’s important.
Parker finally moves away from the survivor—Bear prefers we use that term—and trots up to me twirling her auburn hair, and I can’t be responsible for the hard on I just got.
“I heard something about teeth. Can I watch?” Now, this is an appropriate response to my collecting.
“Why, you sure may, little lady.” I grin, laying on the thick southern drawl I’m almost certain she loves.
My pliers are in my handy pouch made specially for them, and when I pull them out, Parker giggles then stops just as I’m done with the first guy.
“Take him away, prospects.” When I slice my gaze to Parker, she’s staring up ahead, so I follow her line of sight. Again, she’s staring at Shade. It’s hard to know if she’s just curious about the fact that he and Hoops are whisper-yelling—still—in the kitchen,or if…no. No fucking way is she interested in the brooding, disgustingly hot, silent brick of a man.
I rip out a tooth from the other two assholes and ignore the looks coming from Maribel and her tenant. Normal people tend to not understand me. Hell, my people don’t always get me, but Parker does just as much as Spencer. Neither one has run for the hills yet so there’s that.
“I think you’ve traumatized them.” We both stand, my bloody hands at my sides with three teeth secured in my closed fist.
“Stabby, I think you did that all on your own. I just added the cherry on top.”
“Don’t talk about my wife. I’ll rip your fucking tongue out.” Jayzus Mary and Joseph, how is Psycho always just fucking there?
Parker grins. “It was so awesome.” She takes my arm and leads me outside all excited about the fact she killed three men.
Fuck me, she’s perfect.
“All right, Stabby, tell me what happened.” I stuff my teeth in the pouch with the pliers and head for the water spout on the side of the house, right behind the bushes Maribel has recently trimmed. It reminds me that we should get the prospects and Bash to do her yard work and shit until the fall as a way to apologize for the mess. Those fuckers may have started this but we sure as fuck finished it.
“Okay, so, I was in my room thinking it was lush with all the purple and sparkly. It’s funny because the color is so close to my suitcase it’s almost creepy.” Fuck me, this is going to be long. I wash my hands as she describes the room in oddly specific detail.