Chapter 29: Rebel Revenge: Chapter 29

“I just need to stop in at the hardware store before we go back to the house, okay?”

I groaned. “Have you gotten any quicker at doing that since we were in high school?”

Kian’s gaze strayed to a guy in cement-splattered workpants and a shirt with “Hennessy Exterior Painting” printed on the back. The guy’s biceps bulged from carrying two enormous cans of paint toward a truck with the same logo painted on the side.

Eventually, he dragged his gaze back to me. “What do you have against the hardware store, Vaughn? Truly, how did it hurt you? Because for as long as I’ve known you, which is a fucking long time, you’ve always complained about the place.”

I ignored the flicker of something inside me that hated the way Kian had noticed that guy. “It’s not the place I hate. It’s that when you drag me here it’s a minimum one-hour stay. Often more like two. They need a bored friend’s section where tortured people like me can congregate.”

He snorted on a laugh. “And do what? Play video games? Do arts and crafts, or sing along to an acoustic guitar?”

“So we can formulate a plot to get our loved one to actually leave the damn store in a reasonable amount of time.”

Kian glanced at me. “I’m your loved one, huh?”

I didn’t answer.

He parked the car and got out, striding off so gleefully I was surprised he wasn’t skipping and clicking his heels together in midair. I trudged along behind him.

He glanced back over his shoulder. “You could just learn to love browsing the aisles. Picking out new power tools makes every day better.”

I begged to differ, but whatever. Kian shoved a cart in my direction with a warning not to ram the backs of his heels like I’d done when we were in ninth grade.

The memory amused me. “I was hoping if I injured you bad enough, we’d get to leave before you moved into aisle twenty-seven and built yourself a nest.”

He shot me a look. “Ha ha. Hilarious.” But then his eyes got a faraway expression in them. “If I lived here, I could make so much stuff. I’d be the king of DIY.”

I grabbed the list from his hand, knowing if I didn’t take over the show we’d be here until closing. “Batteries. Tile adhesive. Oxy-something or other…”

“Oxyanedride. It’s a pool cleaner.”

“Right, I knew that.”

“You’ve never cleaned the pool once in your thirty-one years. How would you know that?”

He had a point. “Fine. I’ve never cleaned a pool. I’ve never had to cook or clean for myself. I’m spoiled white trash. Happy?”

Kian sighed. “No, not happy. I don’t live to piss you off, Vaughn. Though apparently, I’m not the only one who makes you all grouchy. What was with you not even saying goodbye to Rebel this morning?”

“Didn’t realize that was in our roommate handbook.” I strode away with jerky steps, taking the trolley with me. I wasn’t even sure why I was being so pissy. Might have had something to do with Rebel. Might have been the uncomfortable feeling I got in the pit of my stomach every time I thought about taking her to that party tonight.

Might have been Kian potentially murdering my father.

Or him checking out a guy right in front of me. None of them were exactly my idea of a good time.

When Kian caught up to me, he had a bucket of tile adhesive in his hand. He put it down in the shopping cart, then jumped in front of it so I couldn’t push it any farther. I tried to reverse, but he wouldn’t let the cart go.

“You like her,” he declared. “You like her, and it’s killing you to watch her with another guy.”

That was easier than admitting I was still gutted from the way she’d pulled away from me this morning. And that him checking out guys kinda pissed me off.

“Yeah, well, you like her too,” I grumbled.

To my surprise, Kian nodded. “She’s gorgeous. And funny. I like having her around.”

“She hasn’t got a dick,” I added on bluntly.

He raised an eyebrow. “Could you be any more jealous?”

“What the hell do I have to be jealous of?”

“That guy out there in the parking lot… Just ’cause I check out a guy doesn’t mean shit. And anyway, how do you know she hasn’t got a dick? She could be trans.”

“And I could be the fucking prime minister of Mars. I’ve seen her naked, Kian. Trust me, there’s no dick.”

Kian could barely conceal his grin. “When did that happen?”

I shrugged. “At Fang’s clubhouse the other night.”

“You get her off?”

“What? No. He did.”

Kian nodded, then steeled me with a glare. “You would have gotten her off though, right? I taught you at least that much before you up and married—”

“Shut up.”

He raised an eyebrow. “About your wife or how I taught you all about getting off?”

Heat flushed my face. “Don’t be a fucking dick, Kian.”

“Don’t be so in the closet, Vaughn. Nobody cares if you used to like me jerking your cock.”

I wasn’t doing this with him. Because people did fucking care. People had cared and people had gotten hurt. He was opening up old wounds, and I wasn’t in the fucking mood after everything that had gone down with Rebel during the night. I stormed off down the next aisle, even though it was clearly marked ‘ropes and pulleys,’ neither of which was on Kian’s list.

Caleb Black stood in the middle of the aisle, a length of thin rope in his hand. He glanced up when I entered, and I felt like I’d stepped right inside a pressure cooker. If he’d heard what Kian had said…

“Caleb!” I overcompensated with a wide smile and pointed to the rope. “Planning to rob a bank and take hostages?”

Caleb frowned and shook his head. “What?”

I chuckled. “Sorry. Bad joke. I’m looking forward to your party tonight. It’s okay if I bring a date and a couple of friends, right?”

He squinted at me. “Your date hot?”

She was, but I didn’t get why he’d ask. “Yes?”

“Good. She can come. No uglies. Your friends too, if you want, whatever. We’ve got plenty of beer.” He held up his length of rope. “Gotta get back to the house and tie down some of the inflatables. They were flapping around a bit when the breeze kicked up this morning. See you tonight.”

“See you then.”

Caleb stalked away, and Kian appeared.

“Where were you?” I asked.

“Giving you a minute to cool down, then I heard you say Caleb and I thought I’d better not interrupt. That was Caleb as in…”

“The piece of shit who hurt Rebel? Yeah, that’s him.”

“He reminds me of a snake. Was it me or were his eyes too close together?”

“It wasn’t just you.”

Caleb walked away to pay for his rope.

“You believe he’s using that to tie down inflatable skeleton decorations?” Kian asked.

We both stood in silence, our earlier argument forgotten against a common enemy.

“I’m not taking my eyes off Rebel tonight,” Kian muttered.

Neither was I.