Page 12 of Chef
“And you fought to get out of there. Now you wear some of the nicest clothes I’ve seen on a brother. Your room is neat as a pin, and fuck, you smell good.” I huff out a laugh even though my memories are still there, lingering. “The man you are now, isn’t that kid that was picked on. You’re more than that.” He narrows his eyes for a moment. “Lemme guess, even though your siblings are shit you still made sure they were fed? You made sure the little ones got to school and were looked after?”
I swallow, looking at my hands before nodding. “I wasn’t the only one that was given shit all the time. I have a little sister, Hannah, she had it rough too.”
“She have the same father as you?”
“Nah, I’m pretty sure her dad is Asian. She’s beautiful, but she had it rough too. We’d stick together.” My lips tug up thinking about Hannah. She was tiny, but shit she had fire. She was the only one who really had my back.
“Where’s Hannah now?”
My lips tug up into a real smile. “She’s a dermatologist in Dallas. Living the high life. She has a real nice fiancé and she’s really made something of herself.”
Vex nods once before standing and slapping me on the shoulder. “So have you, Chef. You just gotta look around. Sage sees you, brother. You just gotta see yourself. You won't get Sage back until you do.”
I sit for a moment in silence, the only sound in the room is the noise from the kitchen where TumTum is clattering around and singing off key.
“Yo, we’re gonna take Sage’s car to your new place. May as well grab your shit and we’ll drop everything off at once,” Saint says, walking through the common room on the way to the door.
Looking down at my one duffel bag on the ground I scoop it up, following him, Omen and Vex out the doors to a cute little Toyota Yaris.
“Cute car.”
“Yeah and a fucking tight squeeze so, good luck.” Omen laughs as he hot foots it to the front passenger seat, leaving me to squeeze into the tiny fucking back seat. “Watch your feet,” he says as he pulls the lever and rams the front seat into my shins. “Oops, my bad.”
He and Saint share a look before they burst into laughter at my expense. I mean, shit, I guess I deserve it, but still. I’m fucking raw after that talk with Vex and all I want to do is climb into bed and make a plan. A plan to grovel on my fucking knees.
“We’ll stop fucking with ya once you do right by Sage,” Omen says, waving to some of the Keep guests as Saint drives the Yaris over the path and grass. “You do want her back, right?”
“I should never have let her go. I was a fucking idiot.”
“Yup,” Omen replies, popping the “p”.
We drive in silence for a beat, each of us in our own thoughts. Mine on Sage, Vex’s probably on his family, and, well, I’m not actually sure what Saint and Omen think about other than gators.
“What in the hell is going on here?” Saint mutters as he peers out of the windshield.
Sage
“Why are you moving so slow?” Damian asks around the toothpick in his mouth.
“Why do you weigh so much?” I grunt out, hands wrapped around Damian’s ankles. “Seriously, dude, you have to be like 250lbs.”
He makes a screeching noise, “How dare you? I’m built like a swimmer.”
“If that swimmer was a hippo,” Joe grunts and I lose my balance when I burst into laughter.
“Chop chop, mon cher,” Damian demands, wiggling his boot in the air.
I take hold of his ankles again, eyeing Joe who has Damian’s wrists. Justice is sitting on the porch steps sceptically watching us try to move Damian’s limp body while Loyal giggles next to him.
“Don’t look at us like that, Justice,” I scold, managing to get Damian’s fat ass off the ground enough to be able to drag him a little more comfortably.
“You can do it!” One of Vex and Loyal’s twins yells out. I have no idea which one it is, Addy or Bree, but I figure I’ll have enough time to figure it out. One is definitely quieter than the other, so I see that as a good way to tell them apart.
“What are y’all doin’?” Saint asks, leaning back against my car. Huh, I didn’t even hear them pull up.
Damian angles his head up., “They’re auditioning for the place of second best friend. One of the challenges is to be able to move a dead body.”
Chef raises his brow in that judgey way he does. “Why would they need to be able to move a body?”
