Tate
“That was brutal.”
I collapsed in the chair behind the front desk and kicked my feet up. “No shit, man.”
“I swear, the next time I see Roman and Dante, I’m going to kick their asses. Calling in hungover. Couple of fucking pricks.” Kellan leaned against the desk and sighed.
We were both exhausted, and so was Ryker. The kid had definitely pulled his weight today to pick up Roman and Dante’s slack. “Hey, you said your aunt was stopping by,” I called to Ryker who was sweeping the mats. “Did we miss her?” It had been a complete madhouse today, and everyone coming and going had been a complete blur.
“She overslept. I called her on the last break and woke her up. She said she would be here to pick me up.” Ryker pushed the pile of dirt to the edge of the mat and grabbed the dustpan. “I’m not even sure what time she came home last night.”
Kellan and I glanced at each other. Didn't he know what time his elderly aunt came home? Did she have a rip roaring time at bingo or something? “I can give you a ride home if you want,” I offered.
“No, that’s okay. I know she’ll be here. Saturdays are normally pretty tough to wake up early, so I didn’t really expect her to be here on time.” He swept the dirt into the dustpan and dumped it in the garbage can. “I’m gonna change quickly before she gets here.” He disappeared into the bathroom, and Kellan quirked his eyebrow at me.
“Dude, how old is his aunt?” he asked me.
I shrugged. “I figured at least sixty. I mean, he calls her Haddie. Not exactly the name of some young chick.”
“What kind of sixty-year-olds do you know that stay out later than a sixteen-year-old?”
“I bet she’s probably friends with Bess. I bet she can stay out all night and still keep up with us.”
Kellan shrugged. “Well, I guess we’ll find out whenever she gets here.” He glanced at the clock on the wall and shook his head. “It’s fucking twelve-thirty? I don’t think I could sleep that long.”
There had been a few days where I hadn’t been able to sleep, and by the time I had finally fallen asleep, I hadn’t woken up till well past noon. “I’m gonna change quickly. Yell when she gets here, because I wanna see what this chick is like.”
Kellan gave me a mock salute and collapsed in the chair as soon as I got up. “I’m gonna call Molly to bring over lunch. What do you want?” he asked as he picked up the phone.
“As long as she’s making it, I’ll eat whatever.” The woman had a way with food. Everything she made was fucking good. I grabbed my bag from next to the desk and slipped into the office. I closed the door, quickly untied my belt, tugged down my pants, and tossed my shirt on the couch.
I wasn’t changing into anything spectacular or more comfortable, but at least now I wouldn’t walk down the street and get odd looks because I was in my gee.
Khaki shorts and a Powerhouse shirt completed my look, and I shoved my clothes in my bag.
I heard the bell jingle above the door and knew it had to either be Molly or Ryker’s aunt. I hoped it was his aunt, because I didn’t feel like hanging around waiting.
I planned on texting Hadley and asking her if she had plans before work. I wanted to talk to her more when she had texted last night, but I didn’t want to sound desperate, even though I was.
A glance at my phone showed she hadn’t texted me during class. I was relieved she hadn’t texted to cancel me picking her up, but I was also disappointed she didn’t text me.
I slung my bag over my shoulder and opened the office door.
I stopped in my tracks, and my jaw dropped. “Hadley?” I croaked.
“Aunt Haddie,” Ryker called at the same time.
Her eyes darted from Ryker to me, and her face paled.
Holy fuck. Hadley was Aunt Haddie?
**********
Hadley
I blinked rapidly, trying to wrap my head around what was happening. I had ambled into Powerhouse expecting to meet the guys Ryker always talked about, see where he worked, and then head home for some lunch. I had, of course, overslept and had manically dressed and hauled ass out the door, not caring what I looked like.
Now I saw what a mistake that was. Faded and ripped jean shorts paired with an old t-shirt with a cutout neck that hung off one shoulder coupled with flip flops was not how I wanted Tate to see me again. Granted, my uniform at the bar wasn’t much better. Although, I didn’t look like I had just rolled out of bed then.
Tate was standing in front of me, and I was frantically trying to figure out what the hell was going on.
“You finally made it,” Ryker said, interrupting my thoughts.
I quickly glanced at Tate who looked about as shocked as I felt. “Um, yeah. I slept right through my alarm. I’m sorry.” I did feel like a complete ass for promising to watch him teach today, and instead, I was a lazy ass who didn’t get out of bed.
The guy who was sitting behind the desk stood up and held out his hand to me. “I’m Kellan.”
I nodded and limply shook his hand. I recognized him from last night, and I prayed to God he wouldn’t figure out who I was. “Nice to meet you,” I mumbled. I was Ryker’s aunt right now, not a waitress at the strip club. “Ry talks about you all the time. You have no idea how thankful I am for you giving him a job.” As long as I didn’t look at Tate, I could do this. Kellan wasn’t my type, plus I remembered the brunette whose side he was attached to all night. This man was not a threat at all to my panties.
“Yeah, he’s definitely been earning his keep,” he replied. “Especially today. We went out with my girlfriend and her friends last night, and they managed to get Dante and Roman so drunk last night, they couldn’t make it in today.”
He didn’t know. Thank you sweet baby Jesus, he had no idea who I was. “That’s too bad to hear. Some people just can’t hold their liquor.”
Kellan laughed. “You have no idea how true that is.”
“Roman is the one who kicks ass with his bo,” Ryker added.
“Don’t say ass,” I corrected him.
“But you just did, and you say a hell of a lot more than that,” he countered.
“Don’t say hell either,” I chided. “I’m old and can say whatever I want. When you get to be my age, you can say whatever you want, and I won’t yell at you.”
Ryker sighed and motioned to Tate who was still frozen in the doorway to a small office. “That’s Tate.”
I looked anywhere but at him directly and nodded. “It’s nice to meet you,” I mumbled, holding out my hand. I just needed to get through the next five minutes, and then I could get the hell out of here.
He nodded at me and took three steps forward with his hand held out. The warmth of his skin enveloped mine as he gently shook my hand. “Ryker talks about you all the time. He calls you Haddie.”
I blushed and ducked my head. “Ryker is the only one who calls me that. He insists on it, and it drives me absolutely insane. Makes me sound like I’m seventy.”
Kellan laughed. “That is exactly what we thought before you walked in the door. We were convinced you were going to walk through the door with a walker and a hunchback.”
Oh Jesus. These guys had quite the imagination. I looked down my body and shook my head. “No walker yet, and I managed to straighten up enough to not look like the hunchback of Notre Dame today,” I teased. I realized I was still holding Tate’s hand and dropped it like a hot potato fresh out of the oven.
He shoved his hands in his pockets and slowly looked me over.
I cleared my throat. “So, are you ready to go, or do you have more to do?” I asked Ryker.
“I’m done,” he replied as he picked up his bag off the floor. “Do I get to drive home?” he asked eagerly.
“Um, about that.”
“No chickening out. You promised that I could drive today.”
“I’m not chickening out, the car did,” I replied, trying to avoid telling him. “I’ll tell you all about it when we get home.” I didn’t want to explain in front of Tate and Kellan that the car was DOA, and as of right now, walking was our only mode of transportation. Tate knew, but I didn’t want to talk about my problems in front of someone I didn’t know.
Ryker stepped around me and looked out the door. “How did you get here?”
“I walked. It was nice enough day; I figured that we could use the fresh air.” I was going to try to avoid having this conversation the best I could.
Ryker pushed the door open and looked over his shoulder at me. “I have a feeling I’m not going to like how this story ends,” he muttered.
“We’ll figure it out, Ry.” And I was back to being a shitty aunt.
He nodded, knowing he wasn’t going to like how we figured it out. “Later Master Wright and Master Holten,” Ryker called.
He disappeared out the door, but my feet didn’t budge.
“Hadley,” Tate called.
I held up my hand and shook my head. I couldn’t handle this right now. I was already unsure of what Tate and I were, and now this made it even more confusing.
“It was nice meeting you both,” I said quietly. Kellan nodded at me, and I didn’t give Tate the chance to reply.
Right now, I needed to go explain to my nephew how his life was going to suck even more than it already did. I would have to deal with Tate later.
**********