Devil was there in the mix. “Dick, I told you to be on your best behavior.”
“And I am. Totally am.”
It wasn’t long before Martha, Dick’s wife, was there, putting her hand on his shoulder. “You don’t have to do this,” Martha said.
Dick looked around.
Everyone was tense.
She saw him roll his eyes.
“Dudes, seriously, you think I intend to mess up Christmas?” Dick asked.
There were a few shrugs from the Chaos Bleeds side, along with a lot of suspicious looks from The Skulls. The truth was, none of them could rule it out. Not when it came to Dick. He didn’t have the best reputation when it came to a peaceful approach. Hence his name, Dick.
Angel wasn’t so sure this was all innocent either.
Dick growled, and she noticed Killer smirking. “This is what happens when you’re known for being a dick.”
“Then tell them,” Dick said.
“We’re making agreements about dish duty,” Killer said after a moment’s hesitation.
Dick turned toward the room. “Lexie just told us that the ladies are doing all the cooking and the dudes are doing all the dishes, so I’m making sure I got the job I want. That’s it. Killer always cleans up the dishes, so if I win, I take his job from him.”
“You do know it’s supposed to be a group effort,” Angel said. “We’re all contributing.”
“Yeah, and I know Killer would clear everything into the kitchen, and then we’d have no choice but to pick up a towel and start.”
“Wait?” Martha asked. “This is what all this is about? You don’t want to do some dishes?”
“Duh.”
Martha turned toward Killer. “Crush him.”
“Excuse me, wife,” Dick said. “You’re supposed to be on my side.”
“Yeah, and you got me doing the dishes for life over a stupid bet, so let’s not get into that.” Martha stepped up to him and pressed a kiss to his lips. “I love you, Teddy Bear, but trust me, I so want him to kick your ass.”
Angel couldn’t believe this, but sure enough, there was a roomful of agreeing Chaos Bleeds men. They wanted Killer to take on Dick and win.
Angel didn’t bother to stay and watch. Seeing two men compete just for dish duty wasn’t her idea of fun.
****
Killer won. It wasn’t an easy fight though, much to Lash’s surprise.
Of course, Dick wasn’t quite happy about losing once, so he went for best out of three, then best out of five, before they got to ten, and both clubs got bored.
Lash sat behind his desk, going through a bunch of paperwork from their businesses. It was getting late, and he wanted to go spend some time with his wife. She had decided to sleep at the clubhouse tonight.
He got up about to turn off his desk lamp when Devil appeared in the doorway.
“You got a few minutes?”
“Yeah,” he said, taking a seat.
Devil stepped into the room and closed the door.