Page 70 of Ravage

“True.”

“Let me know if you need a hand.”

“I’ve got it covered.”

I gave him a nod, and after checking on the others, I headed over to the old pickup in the back. It needed new brakes, an oil change, and a hundred other little things. I could’ve let one of the guys deal with it, but I was in the mood to get my hands dirty. So, I dug in, and I spent the next few hours busting my ass to get the damn thing back up and running.

I was still at it when the guys started closing out for the day. I was finishing up on a couple of spark plugs when Knox came over and leaned against the hood. “Thought this beauty wasn’t on the docket until the end of the week.”

“She wasn’t,” I answered as I continued to work. “I just wanted to get her done.”

“Something on your mind?”

“Nothing more than the usual.” I glanced up at him, and the bruises on his face were starting to fade from deep purple to a puke green, making him look even worse than he had right after the fight. It was hard not to give him hell about it, but I wasn’t in the mood to get into a back-and-forth with him. “Just called Ava and told her to keep the kids this weekend.”

“You think that’s necessary?”

“Didn’t see a point in risking it.”

“You’re probably right. I should get with Emery and make sure she’s good.”

My back stiffened at the sound of her name. When she was younger, Knox would talk about her all the time, but once she was on her own, those conversations had become few and far between. That didn’t mean he didn’t care. She was always on his mind. Her brother, too, but they had both grown up. They had lives of their own, and he wanted to give them the space that they’d earned.

But at times like these, he leaned in a bit, and I couldn’t blame him. I gave him a nod. “Yeah, you should. She’ll probably give you hell for it.”

“Yeah, that’s the best part.” He smiled and stood straight. “I’ve gotta get over to Jim’s and wrap up the week’s inventory.”

“Gonna be a late one?”

“Depends on how much of the inventory I deplete while I’m there.”

“Have you checked your face lately?”

“Yeah, it looks good, don’t it,” he snickered.

“Lay off the damn booze, jackass.”

“Aw, look at you being all worried about me and shit.”

“I’ll cut you.”

“Come on.” He opened his arms wide and started over to me. “Give me a hug.”

“I’ll fucking kill you.”

He dropped his hands and shook his head. “You’re no fun.”

“And you have a job to do.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m going.” He started for the door as he grumbled, “Life would be so much better if you’d just get fucking laid.”

“I don’t even know why we’re friends.”

“Because I’m the one who’ll put up with your bullshit.”

“Right back at you, brother.”

I could hear his laugh echo through the garage as he made his way out to his bike. Seconds later, I heard him drive out of the lot. There was no denying that I valued my friendship with the pain in the ass. Just thinking about all the crazy shit we’d been through brought a smile to my face. He was one of a kind. No doubt about it.