by Vivian Ward
She cocks her head to the side and grins. “Us girls have got to stick together, and there’s no way any of the guys were going to let me get into trouble.” Chewing on her lip for a moment, she asks, “How come you kept calling me today? I figured you’d be mad that I basically kicked you out of the laundromat and told you to piss off.”
“Actually,” I enunciate every single syllable. “I was trying to tell you that you needed to file charges against her, otherwise she wasn’t going to stop her shit.”
“Wait a minute,” she shakes her head. “Why did she show up today anyway? She already busted out the windows. If she wanted to fight, why not just show up and do everything all at once because I guarantee the same thing would’ve happened if she would’ve shown up throwing bricks through my windows if I’d been there when she did it.”
“After you threw me out, I went to her place and had a chat with her. Apparently, she didn’t like what I said.”
“What did you say to her?” She asks as I start the truck and begin driving down to the police station.
“I thought threatening her would do the trick, but I guess I was wrong.” Her mouth pops open as she stares at me to continue. “I told her that you were going to file charges against her for busting out the windows. I thought maybe it’d be enough to scare her away.”
“Gee, thanks,” she says sarcastically. “Instead, it drove her right off the rails and she showed up, which only made things worse. I could’ve gotten in trouble, you know?”
Fuck, I just keep fucking things up, making them worse and worse. I pull up to a stop light and draw in a long, deep breath. “I’m sorry. That was never my intention. I figured she’d quietly limp away from the situation. How was I supposed to know she’d react like that?”
With her icy hands covered in blood speckles, she grabs my face and pulls me to her. “I love you, Lucas Hunt,” and she kisses me.
Leaning over, I grab her by the back of her head and press my lips tightly against hers. The guy behind me begins honking and when I look up, I see the light is green. “Shit,” I mumble.
The two of us laugh as we lurch through the intersection. “I’m sorry, too,” she says.
“For what? You didn’t do anything.”
“I know, but I lost sight of things this morning and pushed you away again. I promised myself a million times that if I ever had a second chance with you that I’d never do that again.”
“Wait,” I glance over at her. “Is that what we’re doing? A second chance?”
Chapter Twenty
Toni
“It’s what I’d like,” I sheepishly say.
Then I realize, what if I’ve misread things between us. What if it was nothing but a couple of friends hanging out and fucking for old time’s sake? Maybe all the flirting was just habit for him.
I can feel myself blushing as my cheeks grow warmer. Sometimes, I’m bad about jumping to conclusions and this is probably one that I shouldn’t have jumped to. Exes hook up all the time, but that doesn’t mean that they want to start over again.
Smiling, he gives me side eye as we drive down the street. “I’d like it, too.”
My heart feels like a thousand pounds is lifted off of it. When I was talking to Mon about everything this morning, she made some valid points that I hadn’t thought of because I was still so upset about all of the damage that Alicia had caused.
“I’m really sorry for lashing out at you the way I did. It was wrong and I shouldn’t have done that.”
He waves his hand like it was nothing. “Hey, you were upset and you had every right to be. I don’t blame you one bit.”
“I like this,” I say.
“Like what?”
“Us talking and communicating. If we’d done it years ago, our lives would be so different now.”
“Live and learn,” he reaches over, grabbing my hand. “All that matters is that we’re here now, and I think we’re right where we belong.”
“Me too,” I agree.
After we spend the next 90 minutes at the police station, I’m starved but I can’t wait to get back to the laundromat to get back to work. Everyone is still there working hard while I’m out wasting time over that stupid girl. I should’ve just beat her ass when she caused a scene at the diner, but I was trying to be the bigger person and let things go.
On our way back to the laundromat, we stop to pick up sandwiches and drinks for everyone. It’s the least I can do since they all showed up last minute and helped me take care of things this morning.
“Thank God, there’s food!” Mon shouts as we walk in, alerting everyone that it’s lunch time.
“Yes! Thank you all so much for coming down here today. I really appreciate it. My morning started off pretty shitty but it’s turning out to be a great day.”
“Even with your shiner?” Mark asks.
Smiling, I look over at Mon and the two of us burst into laughter. “Yes, even with my shiner. Mon, you’ve got a mean right hook. Thanks for not breaking my nose instead.”
Laughing, she tries to talk with her mouth full but she can’t. “Sorry,” she says, swallowing her food. “I had to do what I had to do. I wasn’t going to let shit go sideways and have her press charges against you after all the trouble she caused. What are they going to do with her?”
“They filed multiple charges against her. I was able to get her for trespassing, destruction of private property, disturbance of the peace, and assault,” I announce proudly. She deserves every single one of those charges. Okay, maybe not the assault since I started it, but why the hell not?
“Yep, and she’s more than likely going to lose her job at the bank. She was trying to become the bank manager but once they find out the trouble she’s in, they’re not going to give her a second thought.”
“Wait,” I say. “Which bank does she work at?”
“For right now, she works at Gateway Bank. Why?”
“No shit? That’s where I got my business loan. I’m so glad that she won’t become the new manager. The old one is hard enough to work with, and I could only imagine trying to get a loan with her.”
“Well, you won’t have to worry about that,” he says, taking a drink of his soda.
During lunch, the glass company shows up and gives me a quote on the windows. “What’s the damage on replacing these?” I ask.
“Including installation, it’ll be $4,500, ma’am.”
I nearly fall over. Forty-five hundred bucks? I can’t afford it, but I have to have windows and a door.
“Can I use my credit card?” I ask. The last thing I wanted to do was use my credit card, but it doesn’t seem like I have a choice in the matter now.
“Yes, ma’am. That’ll be fine. I’ll make sure we have everything to do it today.”
As I’m fishing my wallet out of my purse, Lucas grabs my arm. “Hey, I’ll pay for the windows. Put your wallet away.”
“What? No, I can’t let you pay for my windows. It wouldn’t be right.”
“Yes, it would,” he insists. “They were busted out because of me. Let me pay to replace them.”
“No, Lucas. Look at all the money you’ve saved me from having to hire someone. Besides, this is my laundromat and it’s my responsibility to take care of it.”
He shoves my hand with my wallet back into my purse. “I helped you because I wanted to, and I’ll pay for the glass because it’s the right thing to do. You’ve got all your money tied up in this place. I know you can’t afford it right now.”
“Neither can you,” I protest. “You haven’t head steady work in how long?”
“It doesn’t matter. I made plenty of bank when I was working, and it doesn’t cost me much to live so I can take care of this for you.” He stares at me. “Please, I’m asking you to let me do this for you.”
“You’re not going to give up. Are you?” I ask. When he’s persistent, he doesn’t quit and I can tell this is something that he isn’t going to drop.
“No,” he
flashes his perfect smile at me. “So put your wallet away and let me take care of the bill.”
“Fine,” I say reluctantly. “I’ll let you be the man.” I sigh.
“Thanks. I like being the man and taking care of you. That’s how it’s supposed to be.”
That’s Lucas for you: always has to be the hero, save the day, and take care of the ladies.
After we finish lunch, everyone gets back to work and by nightfall, we’ve replaced two walls worth of drywall and only have one to go. I can’t believe how fast it’s all coming together but I’m so grateful. If we keep up this progress, I should be able to open the laundromat within a month or so.
“What’s next, boss?” I ask Lucas.
His hair is coated in a layer of thick, white dust from hanging the drywall and mixing the compound to fill in the cracks, but he’s still sexy as hell. I’ll never get tired of seeing his rock hard body covered in sweat and dirt. He might be a ladies man, but he’s also a working man. Pure testosterone, and I love it.
“Boss? I’m not in charge, I just work here,” he teases. “I have a surprise for you next week.”
Packing up our things so we can go home and hit the shower, I smile at him. “There’s more surprises? How is this possible? What could you possibly have in store?”
He’s already done so much with helping out, getting his friends to do things for me, and paying for the windows. He has practically made this laundromat come together for me because without him, it would still be in complete chaos like it was the day that I bought it. This man is a lifesaver—and he’s all mine.
He belongs to only me.
“You’ll see. It’s a good one though and you’re going to love it.”
“Let’s get out of here,” I say, packing up my purse as I admire my brand new windows. There’s no dirt or filth on them like there were the old ones. I love them. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing that she busted them out because these look great and they’re energy efficient, too. The old ones were single-pane windows and these are double-pane with a layer of gas in between to keep the heat and cold where it should be all year long.
“Where to?” He asks. “Your place or mine.”
I shrug, “Doesn’t matter. We can go back to your place.”
Following him in my car, I realize that I’m not even sure where he lives now. I’ve not been to his house and I’m sure he’s moved since the last time we were together. I call him on my cell phone to figure out where we’re going.
“Hey,” I say as he answers. “Um, I just realized that I don’t know where you live anymore. Where are we going?”
He laughs, “That’s right! You haven’t been to my place. It’s a shit hole but it’s what I call home.”
“Where is it?” I press.
“Oh, it’s at off of Walsh and Eulena.”
“By that one bar? What’s the name of it?” I know exactly where he’s talking about because I used to go there all the time. I wonder if he lived there back then.
“You mean The Bar?”
“Yeah, that one bar. What’s the name of it?”
“It’s literally called The Bar.”
“Oh,” I laugh. “That’s probably why I couldn’t remember the name of it. How long have you lived over there? I used to go to that place all the time.”
“So instead of spending the evenings with me, you’d go sit down the street from my house without me? What a loser,” he laughs.
“I’ll hang up on you,” I playfully say.
“Yeah, but you’ll still end up in my bed tonight.”
“So true,” I sigh.
“Okay, I’m hanging up now. It’s just around the corner. You can park behind me.”
We get out and walk inside out of the bitter cold. He was right, his place is a shit hole, but it’s warm and I’m with him so that’s all that matters.
Chapter Twenty-One
Lucas
“Close your eyes,” I tell Toni as we pull onto the block where her laundromat is.
“What? Why do I have to close them now? We’re not even there yet, we’re only on the block.”
“Humor me. Will you? Just close your eyes. Trust me, if you don’t it’ll ruin your surprise.”
“Fine,” she pouts, covering her eyes with her hands as we drive down the street. “I feel so stupid riding around like this. Hurry up.”
“What are you talking about? I’m waving at people before I point to you to draw attention,” I laugh at her.
Keeping her eyes shut, she takes away one of her hands and slaps my arm. “You’re such an ass.”
“Yeah, but I’m your ass and you love me.”
Parking behind Mason’s truck, I run over to the passenger side and help her get out, warning her to keep her eyes shut no matter what.
He already knows that I’m surprising her with him being at the laundromat today so he keeps quiet while I move her inside. I gave him the keys to the place a couple of days ago while Toni was busy and couldn’t come in. He used his helper and together the two of them replaced all of the flooring in the laundromat and it looks great.
“Can I open them now that we’re inside?” She asks, still holding her hands over her eyes.
“Just one sec,” I say. Motioning for Mason to stand in front of her, I wait until he’s in place. “Okay, go ahead and open them now.”
She takes her hands away from her eyes and opens them. Her jaw immediately drops and she starts screaming. “Oh my, God! Oh my, God! Mason! I haven’t seen you in forever!”
Practically leaping into his arms, he gives her a bear hug. “It’s good to see you too, Toni! I’ve missed you.”
It’s only until the shock of Mason standing there wares off that she notices the floor. “What? Oh my, God! You guys re-did the floors in this place?” Admiring them, she walks all around, “How did you guys do it so fast? This is fantastic! I love it! All I have to do is get new machines put in and we’re golden! I can open the doors a lot sooner than I thought.”
“Mason did it with one of his helpers,” I say. “We’ve been planning this for a while, and he told me as soon as I was ready for him, he’d clear his schedule for you.”
Her mouth pops open with the biggest grin, “Awww, you did that for me? You’re so fucking sweet!” She kisses his cheek. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
“You are more than welcome. Lucas told me how bad of shape this place was in and how much everything was costing. I figured that since I have all the tools from my own business, I could tear up the floor in no time to get the new one put in.”
“That’s it! I’m buying us dinner. We’re all going out tonight!”
Mason shifts nervously, “I kind of have dinner plans at home with the wife and kids.”
“What? Bring them with us! I want to meet her. I bet she’s great, and I want to see your kids, too. Lucas said you had some.”
“That, I do,” he laughs. “Let me call the Mrs. and see if she’s okay with it.”
“You are awesome. Did you know that?” She says, wrapping her arms around my waist. “I’m so happy right now!”
“You should be. This place looks great. You’ll be turning over that open sign in no time.”
“Oh! I should call Mon and the guys so they can come see everything. Eeek!” she runs off screeching as she digs through her purse for her phone.
“It doesn’t take much to make her happy, does it?” Mason says, walking up to me.
“Nope, and that’s what I love about her. She can take charge when she wants, but she can also go with the flow.”
He lowers his voice while she’s on the phone. “Did you do it yet?”
“Not yet. I’m waiting for the perfect time, but when is it ever perfect? I was thinking about waiting until she officially opens the laundromat, but that might be too much for her in one day. Then I thought maybe her birthday, but I don’t want her birthday to take away from the engagement or vice versa. You know?”
“Dude, pop the ques
tion tonight while we’re at dinner. What are you waiting for? You know you guys are going to get married. It doesn’t really matter how you ask. You two have been in love for years, just do it already.”
I take a deep breath and let it out. “I don’t know if I can do it tonight. What if the timing’s not right? I want it to be perfect.”
He puts his hand on my shoulder and says, “Take it from a married man, it’ll be perfect because she loves you. That’s all she cares about. Look how happy you made her with tile, Lucas. Fucking tile,” he laughs. “She’s easy to please, just go for it.”
He’s right and I know it. I just need to do it.
We pull up to the restaurant and I feel like I’m going to puke because I’m so nervous. There’s only one tiny girl in this world that makes me weak in the knees and it’s the beautiful girl by my side.
Mason and his family pull up next to us just moments after we arrive and get out to join us.
“Hey Lucas and Toni,” he says. “This is my wife, Penny and these are our two rug rats.” He puts his hand on his daughter’s back, “This is Olivia, she’s three”
“Hi,” she says with a shy smile. She’s so damn cute; she looks just like her mom. Mason’s completely fucked when she grows up. He’ll be chasing the boys away like crazy.
“And this,” he picks up a little boy. “This is MJ.”
It’s crazy how much his son looks exactly like him. They’re a complete mirror of each other, except the kid’s cuter because he’s, well, a kid.
“MJ?” She asks.
“Mason Junior,” Penny says. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Thank you! It’s nice to meet you, too. I’m Toni.”
Mason grins at me and gives me a fist bump as we follow the girls and kids into the restaurant. “Is it obvious that I’m nervous as hell?” I whisper to him.
“Nah, and you’ll be fine. She’s going to flip out. I just know it.”
“Does Penny know?” I ask him.
