Did he really care if the walls weren’t straight? Damn, the garage doors might be off track if they weren’t.
“I have to finish with kitchen duty today. I wasn’t planning on going to work for you until Monday, but I wouldn’t mind giving up my weekend. I do charge extra for brick laying.”
“Just let me know how much you want, and I’ll make a check out to you.”
Jesus didn’t let him off so easily. “I’m not cutting my hair.”
“Brah, I was joking. I didn’t expect you to cut your hair.” Calling Suki to him, Reaper got the hell out the kitchen.
Frustrated, he was angrier at himself than he was at Jesus. He didn’t know why in the hell Jesus’ hair bothered him. He just knew it did. He was absolutely losing it.
Ginny wasn’t making him lose his ever-loving mind. He was already there.
Going through the living room and out the front door, Reaper went down the steps to Viper’s car. Opening the back door to let Suki inside, Reaper shut the door before getting in the front seat. He needed to take a day to buy a car. He had basically taken over Viper’s, and while his brother hadn’t said anything, Reaper didn’t want to keep imposing.
He had never owned a car, even when he was in high school. He’d used Ton’s or Viper’s when he’d gone out on dates, if he hadn’t wanted to ride his bike. He needed a vehicle for Ginny and Suki.
Arriving at the Colemans’ property, he found the brothers hard at work. They had started on Silas’s shed, where they would store the lumber and equipment until the house was built.
“How’s it going?” Carrying his tumbler, Reaper walked up to the busy men.
“Pretty good.” Silas wiped a band of sweat away from his forehead with the sleeve of his shirt. “We’ve got two of the side walls built. Matt and Isaac are starting on the garage doors.”
“Lucky for me, there are so many of you.” Taking a drink of his coffee, he nearly spit it back out.
Silas saw the face he made. “Something wrong?”
“Decaf.”
Silas grimaced in sympathy. “I’d offer you some, but we made the last in the can this morning. I have to buy more when I go to the store tomorrow.”
“I’ll make do.” Reaper set the tumbler aside.
Checking to see where Suki was, he saw her sleeping on the porch.
Taking his phone out, he looked to see if Ginny had called. No messages. Irritated that she hadn’t answered, he almost called, then decided against it. She was probably just catching up with Willa and hadn’t seen his messages. Still, the woman could have at least texted him that she loved him. She could have told him when he was sleeping, and he hadn’t heard her. He would have to ask her when he caught up with her.
Pitching in with Silas and Matt, they worked steadily for the rest of the morning. Breaking for lunch, they went inside Silas’s house to make sandwiches and grab drinks, then returned back outside. They finished Silas’s shed and spent a good hour filling it with the lumber and equipment. Locking when they were done, they walked over to Matthew’s house and began putting his shed together.
Clicking the last wall in place, the men all stood back to admire their handiwork.
Glancing at his phone, Reaper saw that it was four.
“I’m going to have to head out. We can do your shed tomorrow, Isaac. One of the brothers from the club will be coming to help with the brickwork. By Monday, we should be able to get started on the house.”
“Sounds good,” Silas said. “What time do you want Greer and me to pick you up?”
“Six good?”
“Yes, that gives me enough time to eat and shower.”
Saying good-bye to Ginny’s brothers, Reaper called for Suki, who had been playing with the goats that were eating the cleared out brush and weed from where they built his shed.
Driving back to the club, he felt the physical toll of the work he’d done last night and today catching up with him. Stiffly getting out the SUV, he let Suki run up the front steps before him, wishing he chosen the back steps instead. If Puck, Nickel, and Jesus weren’t standing on the front porch, smoking cigarettes, he would have cut across the yard to do just that.
Nickel hurried to open the door before he was on the porch. “Looking rough, brother. Tough day?”
“Fuck off,” Reaper said, going inside.
Bypassing the stairs, he went through the living room, heading to kitchen to get a drink before attempting the steps. He was surprised to see Ginny and Killyama behind the bar, placing bottles of liquor into a blue grocery bag. The brothers were standing on the other side, watching what the two women were doing with tortured expressions on their faces.