BangShift: Skid Row Kings Series, Book #3

by Winter Travers

  “Lee, drive before I take you right here and we break-in the back seat.” I glanced in the back, contemplating if that was something I wanted. “Lee, drive,” he growled.

  I shakily stuck the key in the ignition and shifted the car into reverse. I eased the clutch off while I gently pressed down on the accelerator. “Driving is something I can do, Kurt.”

  “I know you can drive me crazy, Lee. Now, let’s see if you can drive my car.”

  I looked over at Kurt and gave him a wink. “Buckle up, Mr. Jensen, I’m gonna take you for a ride.”

  ********

  Kurt

  Leelee could drive. Holy hell could she drive.

  “I think that was the longest but quickest drive to the grocery store.”

  Leelee laughed and turned off the car. “Come on; you knew I had to see how she drove.”

  “The whole way through town and back before you headed to the store?”

  “I could keep driving if you want me to.”

  I shook my head and opened my door. “It’s a good thing I think you’re sexy as hell driving my car, Lee.”

  Leelee hopped out of the car, rounded the hood and was standing at my door before I even hoisted myself out of the car. “I move like I’m ninety.”

  “Aw, you kind of do,” Leelee agreed with a laugh, “but you at least don’t look ninety.” She smirked.

  “That smart mouth of yours is going to wind you up bent over my knee, Lee.”

  “Promises, promises,” she tsked.

  I slammed the car door shut, leaned against the car and crossed my arms over my chest. “Remind me again why we were too stupid to get together before?”

  “Because I suffer from ‘Everyone Leaves Syndrome,' and you’re the last born and think you have to share and get everyone’s seconds.”

  “I think we were both wrong, Lee.”

  She stepped into my space, and I spread my legs so she could cuddle up to me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and looked me in the eye. “I think I came around before you did, though.”

  “How do you figure that?”

  “I don’t remember you flying halfway across the country to be with me while I was in a coma for a week.”

  I shrugged and brushed her hair off her neck. “I guess I just needed some sense knocked into me.”

  “Hmm, next time you need that, just tell me, and I’ll smack ya upside the head. Flipping your car and almost killing yourself seems a bit over the top.”

  I caressed her cheek, and she leaned into my touch. “I’ll remember that, gorgeous.” I pressed a kiss against the warm, soft skin of her neck and she gasped under my touch. “I think we should have stayed home and gone to the store later. This might be the only time we have alone.”

  “Oh, but Mr. Jensen,” she purred, “this is all part of the woo, and I have to admit, I’m loving it.”

  “I bet you are.” I nipped the lobe of her ear and wrapped my arm around her waist. My broken arm awkwardly rested on her hip, and I again couldn’t fucking wait to hold Lee like she deserved to be held. “You think we can speed shop and get back home before Jay does?”

  “I think that sounds like a perfect idea,” she murmured. “Although, no scooter.”

  I leaned back and looked down at her. “No scooter? Come on! There’s no way I’m going to be able to walk fast with this damn cast on. That scooter saves us so much time. I’ll even let you ride in my basket.” I wiggled my eyebrows at her and squeezed her waist.

  “As tempting as that sounds, I’m going to have to take away your scooter and take a raincheck on that basket ride.” She pressed a quick kiss to my lips and pulled out of my arms. “Come on, Mr. Jensen. The sooner we get done, the faster we can get back to the house, and you can try a different kind of woo on me.”

  I laced my fingers through hers and limped to the front of the store. “And what kind of woo is that?” I asked.

  “The kind where we don’t have any clothes on.” She winked at me and skipped to the cart rack.

  Now that was the kind of woo I could get behind.

  ********

  Chapter 21

  Leelee

  “Four packs of Oreos, Kurt? Really?” How in the hell did Kurt keep the rock-hard body I had glimpsed before and still eat like a hormonal teenager?

  “Yes. I would normally only get two packs, but Jay ate over half of them last time. Damn kid. I’m going to have to start labeling my shit.”

  “Is that what this has come down to? Labeling and hoarding your food?” I laughed as I grabbed a pack of crackers and tossed them in the cart.

  Kurt was pushing the cart, complaining the whole time that having the scooter would be better but I was standing my ground we didn’t need the damn thing. “Two things you need to know about me, Lee.”

  I stopped walking and turned to look at Kurt. “And those would be?”

  He popped a grape into his mouth that he had been munching on and pointed his finger at me. “Number one. Don’t come between my Oreos and me. We’ve had a close relationship for the past twenty-five years, and I am not above hoarding and labeling.”

  “That has been duly noted,” I said, motioning to the cart. “Now, what is number two?”

  “Number two is…see rule number one.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “You really are a simple man, aren’t you, Kurt?”

  He shrugged and pushed the cart forward. “I’m sure there’s more, but it’s all clouded by Oreos now.”

  “I’ll be waiting for number two.” My phone rang, and I pulled it out of my pocket. “Hell, it’s Violet.”

  “Answer it,” Kurt said as he tossed a pack of Nutter Butters into the cart.

  “You don’t mind?”

  “Why the hell would I mind? She’s your friend, Lee. Answer it.”

  I swiped left and put the phone to my ear. “Hey, Vi.”

  “Leelee! You answered,” she said, sounding surprised.

  “Yeah, you called.”

  “I called last night, and you didn’t answer. I thought maybe you were mad at me or something.”

  I shook my head at Kurt who was about to throw another pack of Oreos in the cart. “Four is enough,” Kurt growled but put them back on the shelf.

  “Four of what?” Violet asked.

  “Oh, not you. I was talking to Kurt. We’re shopping, and I’m discovering his love affair with Oreos.”

  Violet laughed. “We still have one pack in the pantry that is his. You can pick them up when you come over for dinner tonight.”

  I laughed. “Smooth, Vi, real smooth.”

  “Eh, I’m not very subtle. So, be here at six, bring a pie and Kurt.” She hung the phone up before I could tell her she was crazy and I looked at the phone dumbfounded.

  “What did she want?” Kurt asked.

  “She invited me to dinner and told me to bring a pie and you.”

  Kurt shook his head and cursed under his breath. “You going?”

  “Only if you go.”

  Kurt shook his head. “Is that how you’re going to guilt me into going there?”

  “I haven’t actually seen Violet in a while,” I said meekly.

  “That’s a lie, Lee. I know you see her every day at work.”

  “Yeah, but that’s different. I’m normally all greasy and under the hood of a car. I do like to see my friend when I’m not working, and we can have a drink or two.”

  “Or ten,” Kurt snickered.

  I bumped into him with my hip and rolled my eyes. “You’re coming, Kurt.”

  “You can’t make me, Lee.”

  “No, I can’t, but I can withhold naked woo.”

  Kurt stumbled over his feet and abruptly stopped. “But we haven’t even naked woo’d yet? How the hell are you going to keep that from me, woman?”

  “Well, man,” I said, moving his arms out of the way and standing between him and the cart, “come with me tonight, and I promise you will be rewarded accordingly. But, you have to agree, no arguing and n
o punching Luke or Mitch.”

  “I don’t know what you have against bloodshed. Sometimes, a well-placed punch is all you need to break the ice.”

  “No. Don’t even think about it, Kurt. I get why you’re pissed off at your brothers, but you also need to see where they are coming from.”

  “Siding with my brothers would not bode well for us, Lee.”

  I shook my head and wound my arms around his neck. “I’m not, Kurt. I’m just saying, I think you need to knock that chip off your shoulder and just listen. I think you might be surprised at what you hear if you just give them the time of day. Your accident made you wake up and see things differently. It did the same thing to them.”

  “Why can’t we just stay at home tonight and go to Luke’s next year?”

  “Because you need to talk to your brothers. We’re going, Kurt. And I’m bringing a pie.”

  “You can bake?”

  I slipped out of Kurt’s arms and headed back down the aisle we had just been down. “No, but how hard can it be?” It couldn’t be that hard. Not that I had actually seen someone make a pie, but they didn’t look hard. Jay and I typically bought a pumpkin pie from the grocery store for Thanksgiving, and it looked simple. Dump stuff in a bowl, stir it up, dump it into a crust and let it bake. Easy as, well, pie.

  “Lee, I don’t think you know what you’re getting yourself into,” Kurt called.

  “Kurt, I can tear apart an engine and put it back together in no time. I really think I can figure out a pie.”

  I glanced over my shoulder and saw Kurt had turned the cart around and was following me. “I don’t doubt your ability as a mechanic, Lee. I’m just saying, I think you at least need a recipe to make a pie.”

  I pulled out my phone and held it up over my head. “Google, Mr. Jensen. It never fails.” I opened the app on my phone, but my finger hovered over the search bar. “What kind of pie do you like?”

  “Your’s.”

  “But what kind.”

  Kurt shook his head and laughed. “I can tell you’re serious about this pie because you completely missed my high school joke.”

  I thought back on what he said and rolled my eyes. “You haven't even tried that pie yet, so you might want to withhold judgment.”

  Kurt put his arm around my shoulder and guided me over to the baking aisle. “I like banana cream pie, and I really doubt I’m going to change my mind about your pie, Lee. Although, if you want to do a taste test when we get home, I’m more than willing.”

  I slugged him in the shoulder. “There’s the crude Kurt Jensen I know.”

  “You know you like it, Lee.”

  I did, but he didn’t need to know that. I didn’t want a relationship where I had to be all prim and proper and being with Kurt was the furthest thing from that. “Now, shh. I need to find a recipe for banana cream pie.” I typed in the words and was bombarded with hundreds of recipes. “Holy hell. Who knew there were so many ways to make a pie?”

  “I know how my mom used to make it,” Kurt volunteered

  “You mean to tell me you know how to make a pie?” I asked, amazed.

  “Yeah. Follow me, Lee. I’ll show you the ways of the easy banana cream pie.” Kurt wandered down the aisle, and I followed him because, let’s face it, I was so lost that I didn’t even know where to start. Was Kurt Jensen the best person to help me make a pie? Probably not. But as of right now, he was my only option.

  And besides, who was I kidding? I’d follow Kurt Jensen anywhere. Even down the baking aisle.

  ********

  Kurt

  “Just slather the whipped cream on top, put some more bananas and we’re good to go.” I handed Lee the cream and leaned against the counter.

  “You do know you just made this whole pie, right?” Leelee looked at me like I was a god and I couldn’t help but think I could get used to her looking at me like that.

  I shrugged and swiped my finger through the cream when she opened it. “It’s not so much making it as just putting it together. We could have done an even quicker step and bought the already made pudding instead of the instant.”

  “Now that really would have been cheating. I want Vi to think I actually put some thought and time into the pie.” She laughed as she gobbed the whole container on top. The cream was mounded up an inch higher than the crust, and all it looked like was a pie shell filled with whipped cream. “I wonder how much this thing weighs.” She laughed as she tossed the empty container into the garbage and started cutting up the last two bananas.

  “Probably close to five pounds,” I guessed.

  “Holy hell, is that the time? We only have twenty minutes to get to Luke’s.” Leelee tossed the bananas on top, threw the dirty knife in the sink and sprinted down the hallway into her room.

  I grabbed a banana off the top, popped it into my mouth then put the pie in the fridge. We didn’t need the damn thing melting before we got to dinner.

  “Lee,” I called as I hobbled down the hallway. “It takes five minutes to get there. Why in the hell are you freaking out?” I opened her bedroom door and leaned on the frame as I watched her toss clothes out of her closet onto the bed.

  “Because I need to change, but I have nothing to wear.” She dropped to the floor and started pulling out shoes, looking for what, I had no idea.

  “What is wrong with what you have on?” She was wearing tight cutoff jean shorts and a dark green tee shirt with an old dragster on it. She looked hot as fuck with her pitch-black hair piled on top of her head, and her miles of long legs on display.

  “I look like I went to the store.”

  “Uh, isn’t that what you did? I didn’t know you were trying to look fancy at the store.”

  “I don’t want to look fancy, Kurt. I just want to look like I care and I know what I’m doing.” She stood and started tossing clothes again.

  “Lee, you have completely lost me. You’re trying to impress Vi and Scar who you have met and hung out with before.”

  “I’m not trying to impress them, Kurt, I’m trying to show that I know what the hell I’m doing.”

  “Yeah, that made everything clear as mud. You’re speaking in tongues, woman.”

  Lee huffed and tossed her hands in the air. “It’s hopeless. Everything I have looks like I’m a twenty something that doesn’t have a clue and married a guy I didn’t know.”

  I pushed off the door and sat down on her bed. “Come here, Lee.”

  She shook her head at me and crossed her arms over her chest. “No. You can’t fix this, Kurt.”

  “Lee, come here now,” I growled as I pointed to where my legs were spread.

  She scuffled toward me and looked down. “Naked woo is not happening right now, Kurt.”

  “Woman, I’m not looking for naked woo, although, for the record, if you were offering it, I would not decline it.”

  Leelee rolled her eyes and took a step away from me. I wrapped my arms around her legs and pulled her back to me. “Work with me here, Lee. You know my right arm works worth a shit. Stay.”

  “I’m going to ignore the fact you just told me to stay,” she snarled. She rested her hands on my shoulders and sighed.

  “And I’m going to ignore the fact that you’re tossing clothes around like a mad woman.”

  “Kurt, what in the hell are we doing?” She looked exhausted and ready to cry.

  I tugged her into my lap, and she curled her arms around me. “We’re together, Lee.”

  “But what are we?”

  “Together.” I didn’t know what else she wanted me to say. She was it. That was it for me. I wasn’t going anywhere but where she went.

  “I don’t know why that doesn’t feel like enough.”

  I tilted her head back and looked into her eyes. “I’m done, Lee.”

  Her eyes got huge, and she sat up straight. “What? What do you mean you’re done? You can’t be that mad—”

  “No, stop. That’s not what I meant.” I turned her in my lap, putting one le
g on each side of me and had her straddle me. “I mean, I’m done doing whatever the hell we were doing before. Being married but not fucking being together. I’m done.” I brushed her hair out of her face. “It’s you, Lee. It’s always been you since the first time I saw you bent over the fender of a car at the track, grease all over your hands and face and acting like it was the most natural thing in the world to tear apart a tranny.”

  “I don’t even remember that,” she whispered.

  “That’s because you didn’t see me that night. Or the next five nights at the track. I watched you, Lee. I wanted to know you, but I was afraid the girl you were wouldn’t live up to the girl I thought you were.”

  “I’m afraid to ask what you thought of me when you met me.”

  “Smart as hell, loves cars more than I do, can turn a wrench better than anyone I know, and I’ll be damned, but also the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. You’re everything I wanted and more. You pushed me away before, and I let you. But that’s not going to happen this time. You can sit here and say this isn’t right or you don’t like, and I’m not going to listen to a word of it. We’re fucking married, Lee, and it’s about time we start acting like it.”

  “But…you married me because you were doing the right thing.”

  “No, stop that bullshit right there. I married you because I knew it was the way to make you mine forever. I knew the second you signed those papers and took my name, that you were mine. Endgame. The whole enchilada. Hook, line, and sinker. Mine.”

  “But—”

  I delved my hands into her hair and looked into her eyes. “Do you like where you are right now, Lee?”

  “In your lap?”

  “Yes. Right here. In my arms, our bodies touching and no one but you and I. Do you like it?”

  “I love it,” she blurted out.

  “Then, what is the problem?”

  “What if Violet and Scarlett think we’re crazy for staying together? We may have been married for months, Kurt, but we’ve only been together for two months tops between our wedding day and now.”

  “Are you happy?” I didn’t know how else to get this through her head.