Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 93284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93284 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 466(@200wpm)___ 373(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
He looked at me for a couple seconds, and then his face fell. “I didn’t even think of that. I just thought she was being annoying. I never knew. Thanks Chey Chey, I’ll talk to her.”
I nodded, and started to eat. Ember walked into the house a few minutes later, using her key to get in.
“Hey y’all! Is that pancakes, who made these? I know it wasn’t Max, he sucks at pancakes.” She said, grabbing a plate full and sitting down across from Janie.
“Me.” Sam said, “But it was nothing special, just Hungry Jack mix. Anyone could do that.”
“Cheyenne is a kickass cook. I don’t think it’s fair that y’all both can cook. So why was the door locked? It’s never locked.”
“Cheyenne nearly had a break in last night. If it wasn’t for one of the men I had watching her, he probably would have gotten in.” he answered her question. “I’m having an alarm system installed today at two. Gabe will be here to watch the house while I’m gone. If y’all go out, make sure Gabe knows where y’all are going. And send me a text as well. Also, I want you to make sure you get double of everything you will need for Janie and you, and you can keep it at my place, just in case we need to go there.” He said as he went back to eating, like he didn’t just drop a few bombs on me.
“Who the hell is Jack?” I sputtered. “And what do you mean double up. That’s like moving in with you. And who is this Gabe yahoo?”
He gave me a half grin and started to explain with amusement, “Jack and Gabe work with us. They were in our old unit and got out when I did. And you just said last night that it was hard to just bring a two year old over, so I want to make it easier in case we need to go there.” He stood up, tossed his plates into the sink and headed for the kitchen area where I heard his voice, apparently talking into his phone, unless he was talking to himself.
Ember and I glanced at each other, and then both turned to Max simultaneously. He gave a big huff, knowing our looks for what they were.
“He doesn’t like explaining himself, and it’s really hard for him to talk about how he ended up where he is at today. The guys didn’t like the way we were ambushed when I got hurt, their contracts were up, and they all decided to get out. James will be done after this last deployment he is on. Same with Dougie. We are all going to work with Sam at Free. It’s funny how we all met each other and had the same interests in motorcycles and cars.”
Most of what he said was the truth, but we could tell that something was fishy about the explanation of why they were all working with each other the way they were at Free. Guess we had some more things to dig into. Max got up and left too, placing his dirty dishes in the sink with the rest. Guess they didn’t do dishes. Damn.
I collected the rest of the dishes off the table, and tossed them in the sink with the rest while I went about cleaning Janie up. I let her down, and then went to the sink to help Ember tackle the mountain of dishes that had stacked up. Janie ran off towards the living room where I could hear the guys, and I finally got Ember alone. Time to come clean.
So that is what I did. I told her everything. Not skipping any details. I told her about meeting Sam at the bar, not being a virgin anymore, unprotected sex, and condoms. When I was finished she sat staring at me, her mouth opening and closing like a fish.
“Say something!” I pleaded.
“I don’t know whether to congratulate you on losing your virginity, or yell at you for keeping this from me.” She said.
Apparently congratulating won out, because she started squealing and jumping up and down, grabbing around my waist and making me bounce with each of her jumps.
A throat cleared behind me and we both stopped jumping and turned. Max, Sam, and Janie, who was in Sam’s arms, were in the doorway staring at us while we made fools of ourselves.
“Better get used to this Cap. They are weirdoes. This is tame for them. Just wait until they start talking to each other in Cooke Monster and Elmo voices. It gets downright whacko.” Max said laughingly
“We haven’t done that in at least a year, Max!” Ember said, “Stop embarrassing Chey.”
“Whatever. We are heading out. Me and you need to talk later.” Max said to Ember before turning around and walking away.
“We are heading out, come meet Gabe before we go.” Sam instructed, and left too.
“Ember, I do believe he just gave us an order. Hop too!” I said, slapping her ass then taking off before she could retaliate. I heard her pounding behind me, and put on some speed, not stopping until I had Sam in between her and me. I stuck my hand to my nose, stuck my tongue out and made the nanny nanny boo boo gesture. We dodged each other for a few seconds, jumping over the couches and dodging Sam and Max before I finally noticed the intimidating looking guy right in front of me. Ember jumped on my back, which made me stumble into the guy, who I assumed must be Gabe. He steadied us, and that’s when Ember noticed him. Slowly her feet slid to the floor, and she stared in shock at the guy in front of her. Her cheeks went a deep shade of red, and she sputtered out a “Sorry.” before she backed off completely and went to stand by Max.
So this was Gabe. Wow, he was kind of scary. I gave a wobbly smile and offered him my hand. He took my hand, shook it and let it go. I felt Sam come up behind me and wrap his fingers into the waist band of my pants. He pulled me into his side, and said, “Gabe, this is Cheyenne, James’ sister. The other one is Max’s sister, Ember. Cheyenne, I want you to remember what I told you, if you don’t see Gabe, don’t go anywhere. Make sure you call me and keep me informed on what you are doing. I’ll see you when you drop off your stuff at my place. Gotta go.”