Page 29 of Truck

“Thank you, Rum, for thinking of us. Let me pay you for the lunch,” Rory sweetly offers, but I hold my hand up to her to stop.

“Nope. You won’t be paying for lunch, Rory. This is coming out of the club's funds. We’ll rack it up as costs,” I state firmly, and accept the nod of agreement Rum gives me.

“Come on, let’s water the areas we’ve covered and then we can work on the other side of the forecourt,” Rory stands, kisses Rum on his cheek with another quiet, “Thank you.”

The hose is long enough to reach the entire left side of the frontage, and Xero is whistling under his breath as he waters the bushes. What none of us expected as we finished clearing the area was for Xero to turn that hose of cold water onto us.

“What the fuck, Xero!” Collins snarls.

Mitchell growls as he turns slowly to look at Xero with a deadly look on his face. Xero, however, isn’t perturbed at all by the look and turns the hose on us once more.

Rory squeals as she gets a full-frontal shower from the hose, and she is dripping. What none of us expected was for Rory to bend down and grab a handful of what is now mud from the border and launch it at Xero. Christ, she has a good aim because it hits Xero directly on his chest. Rory laughs as she points her finger at him while chanting, “Nah, nah, na, nah, na…”

Collins takes up the idea and grabs a fistful of mud along with Mitchell. What ensues is a huge mud fight, and thankfully the hose is cleaning off much of the mud as we are all getting plastered with it. Of course, it didn’t all get aimed at Xero; we all ended up with a mud bath. Rum, of course, is standing well back, not getting a piece of mud on him, but he’s chuckling at the shenanigans.

Dripping with water, mud still stuck to our clothes. I know it’s not the right time to ask, but I follow Rory to her vehicle. As she starts to close the driver’s door, I catch the top with my hand. “Would you go out with me, Rory? For a meal?” I feel my chest ache a little with the fear that she’ll refuse.

Rory looks at me closely, and I mean her eyes run across my face and back again before giving me a shy smile. “I would like that, Truck. Let me know when, and as long as I’m not working, then yes, I would like that.”

“Will do. I’ll pop into the diner during the week and we can arrange something.” Rory gives me another sweet smile, and I watch as she drives away.

Truck and Rory sitting in a tree,

K-I-S-S-I-N-G!

First comes love, then comes marriage,

Then comes a baby in a baby carriage!

“Shut the fuck up!” I snap at the three assholes who are throwing kissing sounds at me. Rum is howling with laughter and not trying to hide the fact. “You are all fuckin’ assholes,” I state as I walk into the gas station to wash up in the restroom, but I don’t stop the smirk that crosses my face.

Back at the clubhouse after a shower, I’m called out to the compound where the new houses are being built. Dime, who it turns out is the man taking the lead on the building of our homes, has left a message for me to speak to him as soon as I get the opportunity.

I headed over to where I could see the team walking what appeared to be plots. Pegging down the size of the homes, I think! “What's up? You needed me?” I shout when I'm close enough to be heard.

“Hi, Truck. I needed to be sure you wanted this plot and not the one next to it because we are breaking ground to start the build this week.” Dime points to the portion of land that I had tagged for mine.

“Yeah, that’s my piece of land. Did you get the plans for the house? I did them and gave them to Books who is keeping everything documented and in order.”

Dime nods. “Yes. It was the one with four bedrooms, all with en-suites, a guest bathroom, and a half-bath downstairs. I reckon that is one vast kitchen that you want. But the dining area and a separate dining room are cool. The basement was a surprise, mind you. A games and cinema room is interesting, but the small gym is a hell of an addition.”

“It is a family house, and I intend to have a big family if it’s possible. I want three or four kids, and I need a wife who wants the same. Make sure the garden area is going to be large enough for all the stuff I’ll need for the kids, and a barbecue area, patio and a fire pit.” I rub the back of my neck thinking, shit this is going to be an extensive property. “Oh, I want a triple-size garage because I’ll have two vehicles and need room for my bikes.”

“Okay. I have the plans and we know what we are building, but we needed to know it was this spot. Across from you will be Finger and Tracker. You okay with that?”

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?” I ask with some shock in my voice. I’m not sure why he’d think I would have a problem with being near to the Pres and Enforcer of the club.

“Okay, well, I will contact you again when we have the foundations done. I don’t want any changes at that point, but if we need to, we can still tweak if absolutely necessary.” Dime gives me a look that says he’ll not be impressed if I try to change something at that point.

“I am good with the plan we have. Once you get the bare bones built, I’ll choose the kitchen, and all that is needed.”

“Good, make sure you have it all selected before then because I’ll want it ordered and ready for delivery so once we have everything ready we can get the kitchen and bathrooms fitted out,” Dime states as he takes out a notepad from his back pocket and jots down something. I don’t look because, honestly, it’s not of interest to me.

Back in the clubhouse I finish eating my late meal and rub my stomach, which feels rather bloated. I reckon I’ve eaten too much and I’m uncomfortable because of it.

After taking my plate into the kitchen, I thanked Bessy who was the cook for the evening meal. I also give Yvonne a nod of thanks as I pass her in the doorway as I head to the bar in the common room.

Robert is serving behind the bar, and for a prospect he’s a damn good barman. Maybe we should get a bar and make him the manager? The trouble with prospects is that you can imagine them in any role because they work so well to earn their patch. One day you imagine them a barman, the next an accountant, the week after it could be a car salesman!