Colorado 03 Lady Luck (25 page)

I did, took two steps into the garage, my
mind cluttered then it uncluttered when what was hitting my eyes
filtered to my brain. I stopped dead and stared.

This was because, parked across from my
Charger, there was a kickass, badass, sleek, shiny,
beautiful,
oh my God
black
Dodge Viper sporting two, narrow, silver racing stripes up the hood
and over the roof. Vaguely, it occurred to me it had to be there
the other night when I’d taken off in a huff but that was how upset
I was. I didn’t see it.

Now I was seeing it.

Ty moved around me muttering, “We’ll take
the Snake.”

My head jerked to him as he headed to the
driver’s side like he was walking up to a sedan.

Then my eyes drifted back to the car and,
upon seeing it again, I felt a tickle between my legs.

Obviously, I enjoyed this tickle a bit too
long because I heard Ty call, “Lex, what the fuck?” and my eyes
went back to him.

He was standing in the open driver’s door.
He looked hot standing in the open driver’s door of a Viper. He
looked hot all the time but he looked
smokin’ hot
standing in the open driver’s door of a Dodge
fucking Viper.

“Where did this car come from?” I forced
out.

“Max brought it back to me the other day,”
he answered. “He was keepin’ it in his barn while I was gone.”

“It’s yours?” I whispered.

“Yeah,” he replied.

“It’s yours,” I repeated.

“Yeah,” he repeated too. “What the
fuck?”

“I knew you were good at poker but this…
this…” I waved a hand vaguely at the car. “Did someone bet it or
did you buy it from winnings?”

“I didn’t get it playing poker. I won the
pinks street racing.”

I felt my mouth drop open.

Street racing?

“The guy sucked,” Ty went on. “College kid
up from Denver skiing. Came to a gathering, thought his car could
do all the work not his driving. Bet me, lost, I got the Snake, he
got his bud to call a taxi to get a ride back to his Daddy’s
condo.”

I stared.

Then I asked, “You street race?”

“Not anymore.”

“You used to?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you good at it?”

He looked down at the Viper then back at
me.

“You’re good at it,” I whispered.

“
He sucked. Raced him in my Skyline
GTR.
That
I won
because I’m good.”

“Where’s that?”

“You’re standin’ in it. Sold it for a down
payment on this condo.”

“House,” I corrected and his lips
twitched.

“Condo, babe.”

I studied him standing in the door of a
kickass Viper, one hand casually laid on the top of the door, from
his other hand dangled his travel mug of coffee. I didn’t even know
if he could fit his big body in that kickass car but, obviously, he
could.

And as I studied him I thought Lady Luck was
definitely feeling generous.

“Lex, you gonna get in or what?” he asked,
his deep voice edged with impatience.

I was thinking “or what”. I was thinking, my
ass hit the seat in that car I might have a spontaneous orgasm. I
didn’t even want to know what would happen to me when he fired it
up. And I wanted to save my orgasm for when Ty got around to giving
it to me.

“You can’t drink coffee in a Viper,” I
informed him and his lips twitched again.

“Why not?”

“It’s against badass, muscle car law.”

He dropped his head and looked at his boots
but I could swear I saw his shoulders shaking.

“And we also can’t take it to a garden
center,” I continued. “The steering wheel will lock you try to pull
it into the parking lot of a garden center. We have to take the
Charger.”

He lifted his head and even across the
expanse, I saw his eyes were dancing.

“Get in the car, Lexie.”

“But –”

“Ass in the car.”

I stared at him. Then I moved across the
garage to the passenger side of the Viper, muttering, “Don’t blame
me if she ejects us, we try to take her on errands at a garden
center.”

“Live wild, baby,” he murmured and folded
his big body behind the wheel.

There it was. He fit. A miracle.

I gingerly aimed my ass into the passenger
seat. Then I got the door closed and my seatbelt on without
incident. Ty hit the garage door opener and turned the
ignition.

The Snake bit.

Another tingle, stronger. Nice.

I smiled at the windscreen.

“Fuck,” Ty muttered, my eyes slid to his, he
was looking at me and when I caught his gaze, he shook his head. I
smiled bigger.

He placed an arm around the back of my seat,
looked over his shoulder and pulled out, still shaking his
head.

She growled through the condo complex, I
allowed myself to feel her then when we were out of the complex, I
pulled my shit together.

“Who’s Max?”

“A friend, lives in Gnaw Bone.”

“Gnaw Bone?”

“A town not too far away.”

“There’s a town called Gnaw Bone?”

Ty didn’t reply because, obviously, there
was.

So I asked, “Why wasn’t he at the
party?”

“Different set of friends,” he told me. “Met
him on a construction job in Wyoming. He was a good guy, we found
we were both from around the same patch, solidified the connection.
We stayed tight even though, back then, he wasn’t around much. Now
he’s married with kids so he was around but I wasn’t.”

“Construction? I thought you were a
mechanic?”

“Diversified. Job was short, hours long,
money fuckin’ great. Same kinda job took me to Dallas.”

I took in a breath.

Then I tested the waters.

“And what led you to Shift?” I asked.

“
Poker. I was in Dallas. Sat some games. He
heard about me, thinks he’s got a big dick. Called me out, I bested
him. He went down and did it hard. Lied about collateral. Walked
away from the table unable to pay up. That isn’t my favorite thing;
I needed to make my point. I did. He got my point. Promised a
payment plan, started it, the job got done, I was back in Carnal,
payments were supposed to keep coming and he knew they didn’t, I’d
be taking a vacation in Texas. I got framed, went down and Shift
thought that was his good luck. Met a guy inside, he knew Shift,
didn’t like him, itchin’ to teach him a harder lesson than the one
I taught him. He’s out in about a week. I got word to Shift, he
didn’t sort out his debt, he’s first order of business when I got
out. He gets a visit from me
then
he
gets a visit from my friend. Shift saw the wisdom of sorting out
his debt.”

“Enter me,” I whispered.

“Yeah,” he whispered back.

“What’d you do to him?”

“You don’t wanna know.”

I looked to Ty. “Actually, I do.”

He glanced at me then back at the road. What
he didn’t do was answer.

“Ty, I don’t care about Shift. You know
that.”

He sighed. Then he stated, “Another reason
to quit the game. Sometimes men fuck up, do that shit, you can’t be
the man who lets it slide. Not my favorite thing to do. With Shift,
he’s such a piece of shit, gotta say, I didn’t mind but the effort
it took. Didn’t mess around, my message left him breathing if not
standing. Delays getting my money I have to wait for the end of a
hospital stay.”

“I’m surprised about that,” I said quietly
to the windshield. “Ronnie usually took Shift’s back.”

“Can’t offer you an explanation, baby,” Ty
replied quietly. “Didn’t hear shit about Rodriguez when I was down
there, that wasn’t exactly my world but I’m at a table, I don’t
care whose money I’m taking just as long as they’re good for it.
Maybe he hid that shit from Rodriguez. Losin’ that bad, he’d not
wanna spread that around. He’d wanna keep it quiet, save his rep
from takin’ that hit.”

“Yeah, that sounds like Shift.”

“’
Cause that
is
Shift.”

I fell silent and experienced the smooth
ride of the car, listened to the growl of the engine, eyes to the
wide, two lane road ahead of us, the beauty of Colorado all around
thinking he’d shared. As I sat there silent, I waited but he didn’t
ask for his take. I’d asked him a question, he gave me the answer
and there it was.

Yes, Lady Luck was feeling generous.

Hesitantly, scared shitless the Lady would
turn on me and strike, I pushed my luck.

“So, you made friends in prison?”

“One,” he answered and I felt the beat of my
heart ease because he answered.

“Just one?”

“Not a social club, Lexie.”

“Right,” I said softly.

And, surprisingly, he kept talking. “Name’s
Julius. Julius Champion, you believe that shit.”

“That’s a great name,” I told him.

Ty didn’t respond.

“What was he, um… in for?”

“Manslaughter.”

“Oh God,” I whispered and then I heard
it.

Ty chuckled.

My eyes moved quickly to him firstly because
I was shocked and secondly because I didn’t want to miss it.

It was good I didn’t miss it, his beautiful
lips curved, his face relaxed in humor, amazing.

Still.

“Manslaughter is funny?”

“No,” he stated firmly, all humor gone and
my heart started beating hard because, before I left Texas, I knew
this one thing about Ty. Shift had shared this. Shift had delighted
in doing it because that was Shift.

I knew voluntary manslaughter was what Ty
had been sent down for.

And he would not find that funny.

“Sorry,” I said.

“I was laughin’, baby,” he started gently,
“’cause Julius walked into his sister’s house and saw her man
takin’ his fists to her. He lost his mind and beat the life outta
him. You sounded scared. Men, they got reason to be scared of
Julius. He’d never hurt a woman. I know this ‘cause, on the
outside, he’s got three, they’re all devoted, they all visit him
regularly. The bitches fuckin’ carpool.”

This was so crazy, and funny, I felt
laughter bubble up and then it bubbled out. I watched Ty’s lips tip
back up.

My heart again eased.

Then I looked forward and asked, “Why do men
have reason to be scared of Julius?”

“He jacks cars for a living.”

My head swiveled back to look at him.
“What?”

“He jacks cars for a living. Don’t know much
about his business but, according to him, there’s turf wars. You
wanna be successful, you gotta learn how to take care of yourself,
protect your territory.” He glanced at me then back at the road.
“He’s an inch taller than me and twenty pounds heavier. Man sees
that and that man knows Julius knows how to use his fists and body,
smart thing for any of them to do is be cautious. Smart thing for
any of them who fuck him is be scared and run. Smartest thing is
not to fuck him.”

I looked back at the road. “Sounds like a
good friend to have.”

“He was. He took my back, I took his.”

“How does he know Shift?”

“He’s from Texas. Something happened, things
got hot there, he moved his business to LA. Better trade for him
there anyway. Took his family with him, he’s a family man, sister
got hooked up with an asshole. Julius took care of him and is doin’
his time. It isn’t his favorite thing to do but he didn’t complain.
Worth it to him. His sense of justice is whacked. His sense of
loyalty isn’t. I found the amount of loyalty he’s got balances out
the other.”

“So are you going to keep in touch with
him?” I asked.

“Never lose touch with Julius,” he answered.
“Sucks how we forged our bond but we did it and, you got a bond
like that, you don’t lose it.”

“You liked him,” I noted quietly.

“We were in prison, Lex, and he took my
back. He’s six foot seven and weighs two hundred thirty pounds.
That’s a good man to be at your back. But that place, it’s
populated but in there, you are alone, very alone. That is, you’re
alone unless you got a brother. We became brothers. We played ball
together. We worked out together. We ate together. Honest to God,
wasn’t for him, probably woulda lost my mind.”

My heart didn’t feel easy anymore. My heart
squeezed.

“Ty,” I whispered.

“No fuckin’ with you, bein’ in there and why
I was, it wasn’t for Julius keepin’ me sane, I woulda lost my
mind.”

“You don’t have to talk about this,” I told
him.

“Yeah, I do, baby, I don’t, I’d lose my
mind. Learned that and how I did was from Julius.”

My head turned to him and I saw his arm
straight, fingers curled around the wheel, muscles bunched with
tension.

“It’s over now,” I reminded him softly.

“Yeah,” he agreed and those muscles stayed
bunched.

“You’re going to a garden center,” I pointed
out. “Free to drive your kickass car on a Sunday to a garden
center. It’s over.”

“Yeah,” he repeated with no release of those
muscles.

I reached out and wrapped my fingers around
his bicep, saying gently, “It would suck, you bent that steering
wheel into a U.”

He took in breath and when he let it out,
his elbow bent and the tension went out of his arm.

I slid my hand away and faced front
again.

“You’ve had a wild life,” I remarked.

“Grow up with crazy, folks screamin’ at each
other all the time, Dad fall down drunk every other night and at
twelve you think bologna is gourmet, you get free, you live
wild.”

“Bologna?”

“Yeah, big score, me and Ike got
bologna.”

“Ike?”

“Isaiah, my brother.”

“And your full name?”

“Tyrell. No middle for either of us. Mom and
Dad had used up their creativity coming up with first names. Lucky
we got ‘em.”

I sighed. Then I muttered, “Bologna.”

“Bologna,” he repeated.

“For me, it was corned beef hash. Granddad
got the gumption to put together some corned beef hash, I was in
seventh heaven. Usually, he forgot I needed sustenance to survive
and I made myself PB and J’s. He also forgot to teach me the
importance of dental hygiene so a diet of PB and J’s led to me
having seven cavities by the time I was ten. I’m not a fan of the
dentist but I am a fan of dental hygiene, just, unfortunately, hit
the game late.”