Page 53 of Gang of Roses: Rebel

Fred laughed. “Good luck, Rebel. We’ve been dealing with his attitude all morning.”

I pointed at Crow. “See? This is why nobody likes your ass.”

Crow cocked his head. “And yet you keep showing up.”

I rolled my eyes. Because he was right. No matter how much we got on each other’s nerves, I always found my way back to his shop.

“Because you work on my bike.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” Crow winked.

The mechanics immediately started laughing again.

“The hell is wrong with y’all?” I asked.

“Nothing,” Fred said, trying and failing to keep a straight face.

Crow shook his head and grabbed a wrench from the nearby toolbox.

“Your bike will be ready in two days.” Crow said.

“Two days?” I asked.

“Unless you wanna stand here and stare at me while I work.”

The entire garage erupted with laughter.

“Man, shut the fuck up.”

“What?” Crow grinned. “I figured since you came storming in here looking for me, you couldn’t stay away.”

“Keep dreaming.”

Fred nearly choked trying not to laugh, and I looked between all of them.

“Y’all weird as hell,” I grunted.

“Trust me,” Crow said, glancing toward the front office where the receptionist had disappeared.

“You ain’t the problem.”

Something in his tone made me pause for a second, but I brushed it off. However, I didn’t understand why she was messing with me. Crow and I didn’t see each other as anything more than being friends. Yeah, he clowned on me sometimes, but we never showed interest. I never took any of it as flirting, and I damn sure wasn’t interested in him like that. As far as I was concerned, he was just a childhood homie. All I knew was he better keep his bitch in check before I came back and beat her ass because I didn’t tolerate disrespect.

I threw my middle finger up at Crow, who only laughed as I walked out of the shop. I took a deep breath and approached my truck and put my right leg over to climb onto the leather seat. At that moment, something caught my attention. I saw Rose’s ex-boyfriend Nico, the same nigga she had been dating when she died, standing with one of her close friends. Instantly, I frowned at seeing them. Why the fuck were they together? I thought to myself as anger shot through my body. Maybe it wasn’t what it looked like, but I wasn’t in the mood to give anybody the benefit of the doubt.

Before I could think twice, I took off toward them. The moment they noticed me coming, both of them jumped like they’d seen a ghost. Right away, the guilty look that flashed across their faces only fueled my irritation.

“What the fuck going on?” I demanded as I folded my arms in front of them.

Neither one answered, so I looked from him to her and back again. Somebody was gonna give me some answers.

“Nah. Don’t stand here looking stupid. I asked a question.”

Rose’s friend Julie swallowed hard while Nico shifted on his feet. For a brief second, nobody said a word. The silence rubbed me the wrong way.

“Why y’all acting nervous?” I asked. “And why the fuck are y’all together?”

“Rebel, it’s been four years, and I have a right⁠—”