CHAPTER EIGHT

Kyle—

Two days later, I've got the Food Truck up and running for the dinner rush, and Sutton is supposed to be here helping me, but she's twenty minutes late.

I wonder if she's decided not to show at all. Great. I fought having her here, and now I realize I've already come to depend on her.

Pulling out my phone, I shoot her a text.

ME: WHERE ARE YOU?

SUTTON: I'M COMING.

ME: YOU MUST BE THINKING OF ME THEN

SUTTON: HA HA.

ME: WELL HURRY YOUR ASS UP

SUTTON: I'LL BE THERE IN A MINUTE. AND DON'T PUT THAT DISGUSTING SPICE IN THE CHICKEN CHILI BY MISTAKE

ME: YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME. I'LL DO WHAT I WANT

SUTTON: THEN YOU'LL RUIN IT AND DRIVE ALL YOUR CUSTOMERS AWAY. THEY MAY EVEN TURN YOUR TRUCK OVER IN PROTEST

ME: YOU'RE HILARIOUS. IF ONLY YOUR COOKING WAS AS GOOD AS YOUR JOKES

SUTTON: ARE YOU CALLING ME A BAD EMPLOYEE. OH, IT'S ON.

ME: NO, IT'S NOT.

SUTTON: OH, IT'S ON LIKE DONKEY KONG

ME: YOU'RE A WEIRDO. I'VE GOT TO GO. I HAVE CUSTOMERS WHO LOVE MY CHICKEN CHILI. THERE'S A LINE.

SUTTON: THANKS TO ME

ME: TRUE

I grin, tuck my phone away, and get to work. The smile stays on my face. It's hard to be in a bad mood around Sutton, even with the stress of keeping up with the line or when something goes wrong behind the grill.

She shows up five minutes after our text exchange, and we work side-by-side, but not too close. I keep my distance because the smell of her is driving me wild. At one point, she takes a picture of the line and then taps away on her phone.

"What are you doing? Get back to work, slacker."

"I'm posting the picture of the line and telling everyone to come on down for some delicious chicken chili."

"Oh. Why would you want to post there's a line they'll have to wait in?"

"It's called social proof. It tells them that if others like it, so will they."

"So, now you're my marketing expert?"

"Yep. I need a raise."

"We haven't broken even yet."

Her shoulders wilt. "We haven't?"

"You think all this is cheap? It costs money." I start ticking a list off on my fingers. "There's the loan I'm paying on the truck. Permits. Parking fees. Insurance. Food. Fuel."

"Okay, okay. I guess I'll have to post more often. I've got to come up with something that goes viral. Maybe you could do a handstand. Oh, can you do a backflip? Maybe shirtless?"

I roll my eyes and point with my tongs. "Get back to work."

I may sound tough, but I grin when she turns away.

The sound of motorcycles carries to us and echoes off the metal trailer. They roll to a stop and shut off their engines. A minute later, TJ, Marcus, and Billy appear.

TJ's eyes cut to Sutton, and he lifts his brows at me. I know what he's thinking. What the fuck's she doing here?

There's only one person waiting for food.

"You got this, Sutton? I need to talk to the guys."

"No problem."

I open the back door and hop down. Tonight, I'm parked near a courtyard off a busy street down the block from a popular farmer's market. My brothers take a seat at one of the picnic tables provided.

"What are you doing here? Come to have some dinner?"

TJ's eyes go over my shoulder to the trailer. "I see you caved. I heard it was true, but I had to witness it with my own eyes. What happened?"

"Rafe dumped her on me the other day. I didn't have much choice."

"So, how's it going?"

"We had a bit of a rocky start, but it's going surprisingly well."

"Glad to hear it."

"How'd it go the other night?" I ask, my voice low. TJ's answer is equally soft spoken.

"A plane came in; we watched them unload what looked like some bricks of heroine. A dump truck loaded with gravel showed up, and a guy jumped out with a shovel, and they buried the packs."

"No shit." My brows lift.

"The truck pulled out, and the plane took off. The entire transaction took under ten minutes."

"Wow."

"Yeah," Billy adds. "They were a well-oiled machine."

"I wonder how long this has been going on," I muse. "Rafe said he and our dad were going up with Cole and Crash tonight."

"Yeah, they're going to stake it out. If they show again, they're going to follow the truck this time. See where it goes."

"Did the dump truck have any chase vehicles for protection?"

Marcus leans his elbows on the table. "They had two guys in a pickup truck. Cole said if they can't get close to the dump truck, they'll try to see if they can get lucky and put a tracking device on one of the vehicles."

"How they gonna pull that off?" Fear for my brother fills me.

Marcus shrugs. "Hopefully, they'll stop for gas or something. Maybe they can catch them at a truck stop."

"Maybe I should go with Rafe." I'm already thinking about pulling my phone out and calling him.

TJ cocks his head. "You're not his personal bodyguard, Kyle."

"I know that." My face flushes.

"Rafe can take care of himself."

"Can he?" I snap, and TJ tightens his jaw.

"Besides, bro," Billy cuts in, "your father will be there. Wolf will watch his back. You know that."

"Guess so." My gaze flicks to Sutton, visible through the window. "Where do you think they're hauling this stuff?"

"Could be anywhere," TJ replies.

Billy shrugs. "My dad thinks LA, but Prez isn't so sure. He thinks that trip Silver made to Vegas has got to be connected, seeing as it happened right before he was murdered."

"I wonder if he knew what he was getting wrapped up in," I murmur.

"Probably figured something out. Maybe he talked to the wrong people, and it got him killed."

"Yeah. I just don't want it to get any of us killed," I say. A line is starting to form at the truck again.

"Looks like business is good," Marcus observes.

"Yeah. Sutton's been helping me out with posts. She's really good at it. It's been getting us a decent crowd of followers. Business increases every day."

"That's great," TJ says.

"I've got to get to work, guys." I stand.

"Sure. No problem." Billy stands as well.

"You want some food?" I offer.

"Nah, we've got to get going," TJ says, rising himself.

They head to their bikes, but TJ pauses.

"Oh, by the way. Your dad volunteered you to cook for the clubhouse picnic on Saturday."

My shoulders slump. "Seriously?"

TJ grins and swings his leg over his bike. I climb in the trailer and move next to Sutton, and begin filling orders. We work silently, and it feels good to be next to her.

She catches me staring. "What?"

"You doing anything Saturday?"