Rock Chick Renegade (Rock Chick #4)(91)

Damn.

“My brownies!” I yelled and ran to the kitchen.

The brownies were burned to a crisp. Total disaster. I set them on the stove top and walked back into the living room.

Tex was lying on the chaise, stroking Boo who was lying smack in the middle of Tex’s big, barrel chest. They both looked like they were going to stay awhile.

“You got a cat,” he told me like I didn’t know.

“That’s Boo.”

“Hey Boo,” Tex said to Boo.

Boo purred.

“You ever need a cat sitter, call me, I got a business on the side,” Tex offered.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I told him, thinking it was a bit strange Tex was a cat sitter on the side. But then again he’d just dumped a bag full of tear gas in my living room, pretty much everything about Tex was strange. “I never go on vacation,” I went on.

“Vance’ll take care of that. Indy and Lee are goin’ to Grand Lake for Thanksgivin’. Jet and Eddie are goin’ to Cabo for Christmas. And Hank and Roxie are goin’ to St. Thomas in January.”

“Vance and Jules broke up,” Daisy put in.

Tex made a noise that sounded like “puh” then he said, “That’ll last, like, a minute.”

“She broke up with him two days ago. They’re over,” Daisy shared.

Tex’s big head swung to me. “Over?” he asked, like the concept of two people ending a relationship was foreign to him.

I nodded.

“Shee-it,” he muttered.

There came another knock on my door.

“What now?” I mumbled as I walked to it and opened it.

“Fuck,” Roam said, standing outside next to Sniff. They were both staring at me.

“Don’t say f**k,” I told him. “What are you doing here? You okay?”

“Yeah, what’s on your face?” Sniff asked.

“A facemask,” I answered.

Both of them kept staring at me. I knew it hurt my street cred, The Law walking around in a facemask.

“It’s important to take care of your skin,” I defended myself.

They blinked.

“Crowe around?” Roam asked, the first to get over the severe blow to my reputation, he was looking passed me.

“They f**kin’ broke up,” Tex boomed from the chaise.

Roam and Sniff stared at me again. Sniff looked disappointed. Roam’s face went hard. I knew what he was thinking.

“Roam, it isn’t…” I started.

“Get in here boys, we’re orderin’ pizza,” Daisy called over me.

“We are?” I asked when I’d turned to Daisy.

“Sure. Pizza, football and facials. What else do you do on a Sunday?”

Roam and Sniff pushed in.

Daisy stood up, twisting the top back onto the nail polish. “Time to wipe off the mud. Lay down, Sugar. You, Sniff, go wet this cloth, hot water. Hot as you can get it,” Daisy ordered Sniff and threw him a pale pink washcloth.

Sniff stood staring at the cloth a second then without a word (small miracle) he walked down the hall.

I lay down. Roam turned on the TV.

Thirty minutes later, slathered with face lotion and glistening from shoulders to hairline, facial done, enough pizza on the pub set to feed an army, the boxes sitting next to the jars and bottles of the facial debris, another knock came at the door.

Daisy, Tex, Roam and Sniff were all watching the game. I walked to the door.

It was Heavy and Zip.

“What are you guys doing here?” I asked.

“Came to see if you’re still alive,” Zip replied, pushing in.

“That the Broncos game?” Heavy asked, pushing in too and staring at the TV.

“Naw, Broncos don’t start until three,” Tex answered.

“You want pizza?” Daisy asked.

“Fuck yeah,” Heavy replied, already sitting on the couch and reaching for a slice.

I stood by the door, staring at my ever-growing company and wondering how this had happened. I wanted a quiet day. I wanted to learn how to cook. I wanted to spend the afternoon at a hobby shop perusing skeins of wool.

“Crowe here?” Zip asked.

“They broke up,” Sniff informed him, eyes never leaving the game.

Zip hadn’t moved into the room. He was still standing by me at the door and his eyes turned to me.

“Girl, I told you,” he said.

“I don’t want to hear it, Zip,” I replied in a soft voice.

He stared at me a moment then he looked to the floor and shook his head. Then to my surprise when he looked up again he also lifted a hand and patted me on the shoulder. Then he got himself a slice of pizza and a seat on the couch.

Heavy wasn’t watching at the game. He was looking over the back of the couch at me.

“I don’t want it from you either, Heavy,” I told him.

He watched me a beat then nodded once slowly then looked back at the TV.

My cell phone rang. It was Ally telling me that she was coming over.

“Bring beer,” I said to her and stared at my living room, “lots of it.”

“Gotcha,” she replied.

“And some pop, Roam and Sniff are here.”

“No problem.”