Page 113 of Crash Course
"This,boys," Zeke said, "is our reward for busting our asses this year. Sorry, Grams, no ATV for you. If you behave, we’ll get you a new gator."
"Smart mouth," Grams said. "And don’t think you’ll be destroying all my plants with these things."
"Cruz, yours is the black one."
Cruz hustled over, nearly gawking at the shiny chrome rims and jet-black paint. "Wait," he said, looking closer at the faint flecks of metal. "Is this the same paint as the Stutz?"
"Yep. You can thank me later because that was a total pain in the ass to figure out without asking you."
Nearly fucking bursting, Cruz threw his leg over the ATV and ran his hand over the chassis. So flipping cool. Then he met Zeke’s eye. "Thank you," he said, his voice catching.
He cleared his throat. "This is amazing. Dad would love it."
Zeke jerked his head and turned away, facing the rest of the crew. "Ro, yours is the blue one. Phin the red one. Brodie, you’re the camo. It’s a little smaller, but you’ll be more comfortable on it."
Brodie, gasped. "I got one, too?"
"Yeah. But your mom doesn’t want you riding alone. One of us has to go with you. Understood?"
The little guy bobbed his head and ran to the ATV.
Then Zeke turned to Ash, who stood behind him, laughing at all his brothers acting like toddlers. "And that leaves the last two. Mine is the one with the three-headed wolf. Yours has the FBI crest. I thought you’d like that."
For a few seconds, Ash stood, apparently paralyzed and Cruz’s stuffed stomach rebelled. Shit on a shingle, they’d better not be about to argue and ruin this perfectly fantastic family moment.
"I don’t understand," Ash said. "Why’d I get one?"
And, oh, shit.
"Hey!" Ro pointed to his ATV. "Check this out. There’s code imbedded in the paint. Very cool."
Zeke, however, blew right past that. He slid his shoulders back and focused on Ash. "Last I heard, youarepart of this family."
"I don’t work for BARS anymore."
"Jesus Christ." Zeke let out a frustrated huff and held his arms wide. "I’m trying to do something nice and you're giving me crap? If you don’t want it, fine. I’ll sell the fucker."
"Language!" Mom said.
Ho-kay. Time for an intervention because clearly old wounds over Ash leaving BARS were about to be torn open. Cruz hopped off the ATV and hustled to his brothers, clapping Zeke on the shoulder. "Nobody is selling anything. I don’t think he’s giving you crap. He's surprised. We all are."
"Yeah, well, he could say thank you and be happy about it."
"Boys," Mom said, "knock it off. We’ve had a pleasant night and I don’t want you two spoiling it."
Tell 'em, Ma.
But Zeke? His cheeks hardened into that stubborn mask this family knew all too well. "I’m not spoiling it, Mom." He kept his gaze on Ash. "I’mtrying to give my brothers—allof them—a gift. I’d appreciate it if we didn’t have to dissect it."
Phin being Phin, smacked his hands together. "I say we all get dessert. Then tomorrow, we’ll take these babies for a ride."
"I have to leave tonight," Ash said. "Meeting in Asheville tomorrow."
He turned, headed for the open bay door, but turned back. "Zeke, I appreciate the gift. Thank you."
With that, Ash left the garage, leaving Cruz to wonder how things between his brothers got so fucked up.
Perfect excuse for chasing down Ash and picking his brain about moving out. Cruz peered at his mother and hustled toward the door. "I’m on it," he said.
