Page 28 of Moto
I make his omelet to the T, right down to the quarter cup of cheddar cheese. I have to admire him; if I were in that hospital bed, I’d be scarfing down Doritos and chocolate cake. Wait, I don’t need to be confined to do that. I do it anyway.
I plate the omelet, then attempt a quick cleanup. Turning to put the eggs away in the fridge, I unexpectedly slam into a rock hard chest. I scream in fright, dropping the eggs all over the floor as the man in front of me cackles like a hyena.
“Where thefuckdid you come from?” I put my hand on my chest, recognizing him immediately. He’s one of Reese’s barking friends.
“Kayla?” Reese yells.
“All good, bro. Just me!” the intruder hollers back. “Sorry, couldn’t help it. Just too easy,” he says devilishly. He’s not much taller than I am and has grease smeared all over his young-looking face. “Riley,” he formally introduces himself.
Right. Teardrop.
“Kayla.” I put my hands on my hips and look down at the floor.
“Sorry about that.” He starts to laugh again, as if uncontrollable.
“It’s fine.” I grab the hand towel off the oven handle and drop it over the leaky egg carton. “How did you get in here?”
“I walked through the front door.”
“Right, never locked,” I remind myself as I bend over and wipe up some yolk. Riley saunters into the other room as I trash the towel and grab Reese’s omelet.
“How bad?” I walk in on the middle of their conversation.
“It’s fucked up but fixable.”
“What is?” I hand Reese a fork and the plate.
“His bike.” Riley clues me in. “It’s trashed, but I can fix it. Just needs some new parts. I’ll order them tonight and have them shipped to the shop.”
“Sweet.” Reese takes a bite of the omelet. “If you have any issues, let me know. I’ll make a call.” He speaks with his mouth full. “Blech.” He makes a sour face and spits out a shell.
“Oops. How did that happen?” I react pseudo-sweetly. He glares up at me, but the look in his eyes is more entertained than annoyed. It really was an accident but so satisfying in the moment.
Reese takes another bite, this time unscathed. “This is actually really good once you get past the nails.”
“Glad you approve.” I couldn’t care less if he likes my cooking or not; he’s stuck with it for the next eight weeks.
Riley laughs again, his cackle hitting an all-time high.
“Relax, dude.” Reese chuckles himself, the sounds clearly infectious.
“I can’t help it. I like her.” Riley elbows me.
Glad someone does.
* * *
“What’s up with your friend?”I ask as I help Reese to stand. He needs to walk around to keep his muscles warm and avoid bed sores.
“Riley? He’s harmless. He’s been crazy like that ever since I met him.”
“How long have you known each other?” I ease the crutches under his arms and encourage him to move.
“God. Forever. Him and Knight. It’s always been the four of us. The Mad Hatter, Knight Rider, the Phantom, and the Doctor.”
“I take it Dev’s the doctor?”
“Yup. Pretty funny, huh? Never would have thought when we gave him that nickname he’d actually become an M.D.” Reese winces as he hobbles around the room. Judging by his frustrated grunts, it’s clear his recovery isn’t happening as fast as he would like.
