“Your sarcasm is such a fucking turn on,” he said dryly. “I meant what makes you think she needs them?”
“Well, I’ve been looking it up, and as well as being an excellent physical exercise, it’s also really good for mental focus as well. It might help her channel some of her rage and learn how to let go of it. Plus, when she comes home with things to learn, it will be a really good way for you and her to bond when she’s kicking your ass.”
He chuckled softly. “It’s your call, Rachel. If you think it’ll be good for her, I’ll trust your judgement. Ask her what she thinks, and we’ll go from there.”
“Just like that? It’s that easy? You’re not going to argue?”
“Just like that,” he grinned at me and then reached out, grabbed my shoulders and spun me around. “Now, go on and get your shit together,” he slapped my ass and pushed me away. “I want to get the fuck out of here before the rest of the cagers take over the A1.”
Chapter 31
Dante
Rachel was more or less silent the entire drive back to Leeds, other than turning around to talk to the kids. Axel fell back to sleep within the first hour, and Bee soon joined him less than an hour later.Which left us with more than half the journey of awkward silences and the occasional small talk.
I hated this new development, but it seemed awkwardness was our new normal, and I wasn’t quite sure how to change it. I’d even prefer the screaming and shouting we used to do over this, but there wasn’t much I could do about it. There was too much between us already, and adding on this contract hanging over our heads, it made it difficult to trust the other.
I was always wondering whether Rachel was genuine with her words and actions, or if she was just doing it because of the contract. It wouldn’t surprise me if she was thinking along the same lines.
When we got back to Leeds, Heather was waiting for us, clucking about like an old mother hen, desperate to see her little “chickees” as she called them. I rolled my eyes and left them toit. We were only gone for a fucking night. It’s not like she even worked the night shift.
I went to the bar, not surprised that Vienna was already propped on a seat and demanding one of the workers to pour him a double.
“It’s like eleven in the morning, Vienna. Can’t you have a soft drink?”
“We’ve done this dance a million times, Carol. You say soft drink; I say beer. You say soft drink; I say shots. You say soft drink; I say Jack Daniels. Can we just come to a mutual agreement that one, I will win this, and two, we should probably just fuck and get this out of our systems.”
“Vienna,” she breathed, leaning across the bar, her tits pushed up until they were under her chin. “The day I willingly take you into my bed will be the day I have lost all self-respect for myself,” she whispered.
“I think you’re already there,” he whispered back. “Your tits are about to jump into my mouth. Give into it.”
She grinned at him and swatted his arm, turning back around. “Dante, you have a whole club here. You could have chosen anyone. And I meananyone.And yet this dickhead is the vice president?”
“This dickhead still doesn’t have a drink!” Vienna called over.
I shook my head and laughed. “Put it in the feedback box. We’ll bring it up at Church.”
“Fuck the feedback box,” Vienna muttered. “It’s just a way for people to complain about me. Vienna is annoying. Vienna drinks too much. Vienna chopped my fingers off. Vienna sent me a picture of him using my severed fingers as a toothbrush,” he mocked in a high-pitched voice. “Like it wasn’tclearly obviouswho postedthatnote. Whose stupid idea was the box, anyway?”
“Yours,” I reminded him. I stepped over to the cupboards, ready to pull out the crisps we kept stored up there to restock the bar.
“Oh… Well, it was stupid. I vote we remove it.”
“I’ll bear that in mind—” I began, only to open the cupboards and have a dozen plastic animals fall on my head. I turned my head just in time to see Rachel entering the bar, spluttering as she did so. She took a seat on one of the stools and grinned at me.
“Ooh, there’s a racoon in this one,” Vienna said. “We don’t have a racoon yet.”
“Monster,” I muttered as I scooped down to pick up the animals. “I take it Snow White broke in here again whilst we were away?”
I stood up and placed a handful of animals on the bar, noticing the way Monster flinched before I bent back down to grab some more.
“She might have. She really wants those birds, Dante.”
“She’s not fucking getting them!” I hissed back. I stood up again — and got nailed in the cheek by a flying plastic animal.
“Oops,” she grinned and then spun around in her seat. “When do I get to meet the mysterious Steph, by the way?” She asked Monster, leaning back on the bar with her elbows resting on the top.
“She’s on her way… Scrap that. She’s already here,” he grinned stupidly when the door was pushed open and Snow White walked in, carrying a dozen leads.
