Taz
Taz wasn’t sure what excuse to use to get out of going over to Kai’s apartment for their little cooking lesson. Maybe he’d go with the whole, not feeling well thing, but then, if he showed up to work, she’d know he was lying. No, he’d have to come up with something that was believable yet didn’t trip him up later. He hated having to lie, but there was no way that he could follow through with helping her learn to cook for her college class. It wasn’t his fault that she took an elective that didn’t match her personal skills. Telling himself that wasn’t really helping because his cock kept trying to convince him to just show up at her place and forget about the cooking lesson. His dick had other things he wanted to teach sexy, little Kai, but that was a fucking awful idea.
He had to stop by the Smokey Bandits on his way to her place, and that gave him exactly an hour to come up with something. Otherwise, he was going to have to follow through with his promise and keep his unruly dick under control—something that was usually impossible.
Of course, the one person he didn’t want to run into was at the bar. Ryker stuck his head out of his office and called him back. “Can this wait?” Taz asked. “I have an appointment.”
“I know all about your little date with Kai for her cooking lesson,” Ryker teased.
“It’s not a fucking date,” he growled. “I’m helping her out because you asked me to, man.”
“I know, and I appreciate it,” Ryker said. “But I have another request.”
“All right,” Taz said, “name it.”
“I need you to work next Monday. I know that you usually have Mondays off, but I have to skip out early and I need someone here that I can trust. Can you run things for me?” Ryker asked.
“I’d be happy do, Boss,” Taz said. “I’m honored that you trust me.”
“Well, you’ve earned it,” Ryker said. “I mean, I wasn’t kidding the other night when I told you that you saved this place. One day, you’re going to realize that you’re too good a cook for my kitchen, but until then, I’ll take what I can get.”
“Don’t worry, Boss,” Taz said. “I’m not planning on going anywhere any time soon.” He was hoping that someday, he’d be able to save up enough money to buy a place, but that seemed to be taking forever. Every time he got a little bit ahead in life, something seemed to break or go wrong. His truck had broken down two weeks ago and needed new breaks and his bike was currently in the shop. He was lucky that one of his best friends was the club’s mechanic, but it was still costing him parts and he paid his friend for his time—it was only fair. Plus, his rent was outrageous, but that wasn’t something he could do anything about right now. He thought about getting a roommate, but there weren’t many single guys in his club who were looking for a place to live. Most of them either lived with their Ol’ladies or had a place to call home. So for now, he had to handle his bills, even if it delayed his dreams of opening his own place someday.
“Why did you come in this afternoon?” Ryker asked. “I thought that you’d be heading over to Kai’s place for your little lesson.”
“Stop making it sound dirty,” Taz grumbled. “It’s not like that. She’s in college for fuck’s sake.”
“Yeah, but she’s not a kid,” Ryker insisted. “She’s an adult and she’s gorgeous.”
“I’ll let your wife know that you said that,” Taz mumbled.
“You know what I mean, man. You have eyes, you’ve seen her.” He had indeed seen Kai with his own eyes, and she was gorgeous, just a Ryker said, but admitting that would end up with his friend harassing the shit out of him, and that was the last thing he needed.
“Well, I better grab my pan from the kitchen and a few other things that I stopped by for. Kai told me that she doesn’t have many ‘kitcheny things’, so I decided to grab my gear from here before heading over.” Taz waited for Ryker to give him just a little bit more shit about spending time with Kai, but it never came.
“Thanks again for agreeing to help Kai out, Taz. I know that you’re doing this for me, and I appreciate it. I think that Kai will too,” he said.
“Not a problem,” Taz agreed. He turned to leave the office and walked right into Ryker’s wife, Harlow. “Oh, sorry,” he said. “You helping out around here tonight?”
“Yeah,” she said, “since you agreed to help Kai out tonight, I told her that I’d cover for her.”
“I’m sure that she appreciates that,” Taz said. “See you around.” He started down the hallway to the kitchen when Harlow chased him down.
“Taz,” she shouted after him. “Wait up,” she said. “It’s like trying to keep up with a damn giant. Listen,” she started. From the way that she began her sentence and the way that she put her hands on her sexy, curvy hips, he knew that she was about to give him a lecture that he didn’t want nor need. But there would be no stopping Harlow—plus, she was kind of fun to watch. She really got into her lectures and was pretty animated. It was like getting a show for free with her.
“Go on,” he challenged, staring her down.
“Let me catch my breath,” she said. “You’re so tall, it’s hard to keep up with you.”
“Um, thank you,” he said, not quite sure what else to say to her.
“Wasn’t a compliment?” she breathed. “Listen,” she stared again. “Kai is a good kid, and I don’t want to see her get hurt.”
“She’s your age, Harlow,” he reminded, “and, I’m about Ryker’s age.”
“Oh,” she breathed. “I never thought of it that way. I just don’t want her to get hurt,” she repeated.
“I’m not planning on hurting her, Harlow,” Taz insisted. “I’m planning on trying to give her a few pointers on how to cook—that’s it. I’m helping her out with her college course work and then, I’m going to go home and enjoy the rest of my only night off from this place. You good with all that?” Yeah, he sounded like an asshole, but he just couldn’t seem to help himself. He was getting sick of everyone around him jumping to the conclusion that he was going to jump Kai just because she was hot as sin, and he had a cock.