CHAPTER FIVE Mad Bell

CHAPTER FIVE

Mad Bell

"Mad Bell? Yo!!"

It was Twigs who snapped me out of my frustrated thoughts. Nothing particular, just the same old shit that usually dragged me away when I least expected it. Cocking my head, I raised a brow at him.

"You alright?" He slapped me on the back with the question.

"Fine," I grunted. "What do you want?"

"I was telling Boom about that sauce you made for those wings last time. Think you can make some for us?" His eyes lit up with hope.

Sometimes I got a wild hair up my ass and tried making something new or fiddling with a recipe I already had. Usually, the testing often went to whichever brother was around at the time. Twigs happen to be the one buggin' me two nights ago when I was messin' with some new sauces for the wings. Honestly, Twigs had been drunk off his ass that night, and I was surprised he even remembered them. It kinda made me wonder if he remembered them correctly .

"Yeah," I said, moving to grab my notebook. "But you gotta let me know what Boom says about them."

"You got it, brother."

I flipped to the page that had the original recipe on it as well as all the notes I made after. Mostly ways I thought I should tweak it.

Twigs leaned over in my space.

"The fuck is that?" he asked, peering down at my notebook. "You write in code? Dude, that's…" His words trailed off as his eyes moved from my notebook to take in my face, which was currently scowling, almost daring him to finish that sentence. "Cool. That's super cool. Yeah. Gotta keep them secrets, I get it."

His cover was not well played off. I could feel him laughing at me. If I had thinner skin, it might have bothered me.

It wasn't that hard of a cipher to crack, but I wasn't even worried about Twigs figuring it out. As much as I respected Twigs as a brother, I knew him too well at this point. For one, his brain didn't work that way. And two, I didn't think he really cared enough to. If it didn't have anything to do with tits and ass or was in the pyro realm, he lost interest pretty quickly.

"Make a double batch," he said with a nod and a stupid smile on his face. "I'm fuckin' hungry."

"Sure thing," I said with a roll of my eyes. The boy's eyes were always bigger than his stomach. I'd bet he'd only make it eight wings in until he started groaning about being too full.

I laughed to myself and shook my head as I reached for a bowl.

"You coming to the clubhouse tonight after you close up?" Twigs asked, shifting his weight from one foot to the other and then back again. There was a part of him that was always moving, always going. He couldn't sit still to save his life. I would have sworn his mind was going constantly too. Like his head was full of nothing but zipping thoughts, racing around one right behind the other.

I raised a brow at him. I very rarely went to the clubhouse to party. I dropped in to have a beer from time to time, maybe even play a game of pool if I was in a good mood, but I didn't party. I didn't go all night long like a lot of them did. I was never on the hunt for a dirty lay or even to get my dick sucked. Knowing my luck, shit would end up turning into trouble somehow, and I was staying far away from that kind of shit.

Twigs snickered and shook his head at my non-verbal answer.

"Fine," he said, slapping me on the back. "Let me know when my food's done. I'm gonna go grab a beer."

He was gone out of the kitchen before the words were fully out of his mouth.

I made enough wings to satisfy Boom and Twigs for the night and they would probably be about a handful leftover for breakfast, which I knew Twigs would go for.

I lost myself in mixing shit. Didn't take long before they were done and I had other orders coming in. There went the little break in the day.

The next couple of hours went by in a blur. People walked in and out of the kitchen, but I paid them no mind. It was me, the grill, and the tickets coming through.

"Can I get some fresh fries?" Maisy asked from behind me and I actually flinched.

"The fuck for?" I barked.

She huffed, a clear sign that tonight hadn't been a good one and she wasn't going to answer me. I felt bad for snapping at her for all of two seconds. And though I wouldn't admit it, part of me wanted to go out there and yell at the brothers for either being shitty or not stopping whatever fuckers were messing up her night.

But then I remembered how much she got under my skin.

I didn't smile. I wasn't that much of a dick. That wasn't to say that I didn't think something along the lines of how it might have been Karma at play.

"Maddie?!" she said, sounding utterly tired and done with the day.

"What?" I growled. Fuckin' hated when she called me that. I felt the lines of my scowl deepen. I was never able to hold back my reaction. Which pissed me off because I knew I was only feeding her inner mean girl.

"Fries?"

"Fine," I grumbled as I snatched up two big potatoes and lumbered over to the cutter. With two hefty presses, I had a bunch of potato sticks ready to be fried.

She stood there waiting as I dropped the basket into the oil. Her eyes were unfocused, her jaw clenched tight.

"Bad night?" came out of my mouth before I could stop it.

Those sapphire blue eyes slowly slid to the side until they met mine. I couldn't tell if she was sad, tired, or pissed off. Maybe it was a combination of the three.

"It's just been a long day," she said.

I couldn't think of a damn thing to say, so I stood there like an asshole. Once the fries were done, and I knew they were perfect because I'd stood there watching them the whole damn time, I pulled the basket up and finished getting them ready to go out.

She'd moved to the window, her gaze sharp as she looked out at the main area.

"Here," I said with a grunt as I shoved the basket at her.

With a shake of her head, she seemed to clear some of her shitty mood away.

"Don't worry, I've got it," she said, plastering the damn smirk on her face that made my blood boil. My jaw clamped together so hard I was sure I'd cracked my teeth. One of her hands held the basket of fries while the other one reached out for my bell. If I could've breathed fire, I would have.

Time seemed to slow like this was a damn movie scene. I almost heard the thick sound of my heart pounding in the background. My gaze was locked with hers but my attention was on the scene playing out in the peripheral. Her finger was not even an inch away from ringing my bell.

Was today going to be the day she made me snap?

Her eyes twinkled and she moved so quickly I couldn't even register it until it was over.

She booped me on the nose.

She fuckin' booped me on the damn nose .

"Ding," she said before whirling around and heading out of the kitchen.

All I could do was stare at her ass as she swung it in a seductive victory waltz until she was out of sight.

What. The. Hell?!