Etienne (The Shifters of Shotgun Row Book 1)(47)

Etienne



I didn’t know what I was more surprised about, the fact Justice and Lazare were working together and had actually completed a project, or the fact they’d made something for my mate.

Still, I had to roast them.

“What the hell is all this?”

Every single one of them put their hands in the air like they were under arrest. Sometimes, it paid to have the cop voice.

“We were just...I mean it was Callum’s idea...aw, hell, let’s just take a sledgehammer to it. She’s not gonna like it anyway.”

Loic, always the downer. “She’s actually gonna love it. Thank you.”

Justice puffed up. “We didn’t do it for you, buttmunch. We did it for Tansy. We like her, and she’s like a dandelion in the trash heap or some shit.”

Tansy was the dandelion and Shotgun Row was the trash heap.

He was actually dead-on.

“Okay…then. Need some help?”

“Yeah. The pit is done, but we need to finish the shelves and the picnic table.”

I looked at my watch. “She will be here in an hour. Better rush.”

I took off my shirt and grabbed a hammer. My mate deserved this. She’d come into this crew like a hurricane. It was like the air was different when she was here. She cooked for us almost every night, which she did because she loved the boys.

Even I had changed.

“She likes yellow, right? Shit. I didn’t know what color to pick. I suck at this girly shit.”

Lazare held a set of yellow-handled grilling tools up with a matching apron and grilling gloves.

“Like sunshine. Nice.”

I was serious, but he flipped me off anyway.

An hour later, we heard the truck coming down the road. “Pull the tarp down!”

We covered up the work and stood in a military-style line, waiting for her.

She threw the truck into park and then sat there for a while. Just staring at us.

Something wrong?

Y’all are freaking me out. It’s like the Coonass version of Magic Mike in front of me. What is going on?

Just get out, and I’m the only one who gets compared to Magic Mike from now on.

Noted.

“What’s going on, boys?” She got out of the car slowly and didn’t kill the engine. Left her purse in there, too.

“The crew has a surprise for you.”

Her eyes widened, but not in the “oh, what a lovely surprise” way. More like the “They killed someone and now they expect me to help them bury the body” way.

“Oh? What is it?”

“Take a look.”

Justice, with one yank, pulled the tarp off. We all stared at our project, mostly in awe. It was probably the first thing we’d pulled off together.

“This is for me?”

We all nodded collectively.

She didn’t say anything for a moment. “Fuck! We screwed the pooch on this one, boys. Take it down. Tansy, we’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

My girl wiped a tear from her face. “You’ll do no such thing. This is great, boys. Really. I’ve always wanted an outdoor kitchen. And it’s hotter than the devil’s butthole in Etienne’s kitchen, so this works. Thanks, crew.”

She cut the engine on the truck and walked toward us.

Then Tansy, the woman I never saw coming, did something that took my breath away—again.

One by one, she thanked each of the crew and either kissed their cheeks or hugged them and kissed their foreheads.

They all melted, as much as assholes can melt.

Somehow this little spitfire had united us.

And made me whole again.

“You didn’t do this just so I would cook all the time, did you?” She laughed. She circled her arms around my neck and buried her face in my bare chest.

“Yep. You figured us out.”



An hour later, she’d used that new outdoor kitchen to conjure up a feast of chicken, sausage, and potato salad.

“I should eat more chicken.” Justice held up a leg to the light like it was a diamond.

“There’s no chicken in the swamp, dipshit. Swamp rabbit’s good, though.”

Tansy turned up her nose a little at swamp rabbit.

“You would make some fine boudin, cher. Put you in between two king-nuts and have you for breakfast.”

Tansy put down her fork. “Are you eating or narrating a porn? Give the sausage a break and just eat.”

All movement at the table stopped. Everyone cracked up at once.

“What? He’s talking to that sausage like he’s paying it by the hour. Don’t look at me like that. I know what’s up.”

“Here I thought she was sweet and nice,” Justice said, shaking his head.

“Naughty and nice.” She winked from the seat next to me. It was too far away with all of this sausage talk, so I reached over and pulled her onto my lap.

“Oh, no. You two aren’t gonna start making goo goo noises and feeding each other, are you? I’m gonna vomit.”

“Nope,” Tansy said, but I knew that look in her eye. “He’s gonna feed me his sausage later.”

“I think she’s dirtier than us. And that’s saying a lot,” Loic quipped, but never stopped chewing.