smiled even wider though, oblivious to my half lie and how iffy I sounded, and Boog glanced back at me for a second, his own tiny smile on his face.
It was fine. It was good. No big deal. I was sure it had to be a relief for my cousin after so long of existing in the middle between us.
“I was just surprised. I thought you were some random stranger about to ask if I wanted some candy.” Apparently, I decided to try and joke, but there was still a little hesitation in my voice. Could I joke with him? Should I joke with him? Damn it, this was complicated. It didn’t need to be.
Everything was fine.
Zac faced forward again, giving me only the smallest view of his ear and the back of his head. “No candy, but I’ve got some beef jerky in my bag up here,” he said in return.
“I’m good,” I told him, cringing. I folded my hands in my lap and stared at the side of Boogie’s head, debating whether or not to kick his ass later. Technically I was fine, so he didn’t deserve an ass kicking.
But he still could’ve warned me so I could’ve mentally prepared myself.
“Did you get everything done that you wanted to today?” my cousin asked, like he could read my mind.
I was still staring at his profile. “Yeah. It went fast.” Glancing at Zac’s head again, I changed the subject. We didn’t need to bring that up in front of him. “Your meetings went okay? Did you have to deal with that guy you don’t like?”
Boogie nodded, attention still forward. “No, it was my lucky day. He called in sick. I got one more tomorrow morning, and then I drive home in the afternoon.”
The sound of my cell ringing had me sighing.
MAIO HOUSE
I hadn’t gotten around to altering its name to MAIO HOUSE SUCKS NOW, but I would.
“Sorry. Hold on a sec,” I muttered to Boogie, before saying, “Fuck,” under my breath as I hit the answer icon.
He nodded just as my boss’s voice answered with “Hello?”
I shouldn’t have answered; I knew I shouldn’t have. No smart person answered their phones when work called on a day off. I was hourly, not on salary. That’s what I told myself at least to justify not being a “team player.”
“Hello?” Well, if we were going to get into this, I didn’t see a point in farting around. If Gunner called, it was only ever for a specific reason. “Do you need something?”
I was pretty sure it wasn’t my imagination that he seemed to pause, and then he asked in a tone that I knew was aggravated because that was basically the only one he had, “I was calling to see if you could come in and close tonight.”
Not a question, a statement.
Did I need my job? Not anymore.
Did I want it? Nope.
Did I feel obligated to keep it because my friend still worked there and I felt super guilty leaving her there alone? Yes.
But he couldn’t fire me for not coming in on my day off, riiiight? Especially not after I’d already stayed late twice last week. And he’d bitched at me yesterday for talking to a member for too long.
“Hi, Gunner. I can’t make it. I’m not home and don’t have my car on me, but I’ll be in tomorrow.” For my scheduled shift. Sucker.
I almost asked what happened with whoever was supposed to work; I was pretty sure it was one of the new girls, but… well, I wasn’t walking into that shit. I didn’t care that much.
“There’s no way I can get you to come in?”
Wow, someone was desperate. This was after he’d gone on a rant about us not working a second over our schedule because he wouldn’t pay us a dime over our allotted shifts. Then literally twenty-four hours after that, Asshole #2—another one of the owners—asked me to work an extra shift. They made no sense.
“Yeah, no. Sorry. I’m really not at home and won’t be for a while.” I made a face at my lap.
Gunner responded with a gruff huff, but whatever. You reap what you sow. Be an asshole and you get treated like one. He said, “Bye,” and hung up on me.
Ahh, the sweet taste of always being right. I made a face at my phone before dropping it back into my purse and focusing again on the two friends in the front. They were talking about… Trevor? Zac’s manager?