Total pages in book: 145
Estimated words: 135792 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 679(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135792 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 679(@200wpm)___ 543(@250wpm)___ 453(@300wpm)
By the time Shane handed him a cold beer, Liv’s messages were still on read. The fuck was Knox playing at?
Shane leaned against the hood next to Liv, which meant that the phone needed to go back into his pocket. Not out of courtesy, but because Liv didn’t want Shane to get a glimpse of his screen. Their conversation and successful car repair seemed to have put the other man in a better mood, and he clinked his bottle with Liv’s as they looked at the sun setting over piles of rusting junk and covering everything in an orange glow.
“You mentioned dead bodies planted all around,” Shane started on his own. “It’s not really like that. This is a working junkyard, not a cemetery. We have connections with a few people who need a bit of an extra service, and it helps prop up the place’s finances, but most days we do what you did today. Dispose of rotting furniture, take apart computers for scrap, or refurbish a fridge.”
“Do all the workers know?” Liv asked, putting the icy bottle against his forehead after having a sip from it.
“Yep. More or less. Everyone who lives on this land, and this is a big area. Plus Dex, Frank’s nephew. He used to live here. Him and the bikers from the Demon Brethren MC know. For Jag, it’s his natural habitat, he doesn’t leave much.” Shane snorted and shook his head.
“He’s the weird guy? In the armor, right? What’s his deal?” Liv asked, jumping on the opportunity to get more information out of his new drinking buddy.
“He’s…” Shane drifted off and had more beer, as if he needed time to put his thoughts into words. “Jag didn’t grow up in a normal place. His family was some kind of self-sufficiency prepper cult in the woods. I don’t know all the details, but I’m pretty sure him running away had something to do with him being gay. He got here on foot from fuck knows where. He doesn’t even know which state his family lived in. But when he made his way here, he was half-dead, half-feral. Frank told me, because I was locked up when that happened. Frank took him in and gave him a place where his… let’s say ‘skills’ are of use.” Shane smirked and pointed to the horizon filled with piles of junk. “This is Jag’s kingdom, and I have to give it to him that he knows this place better than even Frank. And… he’s okay, when you’re not a trespasser.”
“Duly noted,” Liv said and cleared his throat, focusing on the fact that his phone still hadn’t buzzed. “So… if he’s gay, you guys are coupled up, and he doesn’t leave, who is he fucking?”
Shane snorted. “Well, he used to fuck his hand for many years, which is probably what made him so feral, but he met a guy who’d wandered in here, and let’s say… claimed him. They live on the other side of the junkyard because he believes that’s a good spot for patrolling. All I’m saying is, be glad you didn’t wander in when he was single.”
That was… disturbing, but Liv smiled regardless. “He’s safe as long as he keeps his hands off my man.”
My man. Such an odd thing to say, yet the words felt good on his tongue, like a tasty chewing gum he hoped would never lose its flavor. He had been watching gay porn and was turned on by it. So maybe it was weird that he’d never sought out a guy to try things out in real life, but with plenty of girls falling into his lap, it was very easy not to rock the boat. But now that fucking Knox was a possibility, his brain flared with fantasies he’d never trusted himself to entertain.
Shane took a big gulp of beer. “Nah, he won’t, as long as Knox doesn’t try to steal his meat. He’s very territorial about it.” He rolled his eyes. “Yet for some reason thinks it’s perfectly okay to take as much as he wants from a barbecue, since it’s ‘unprotected’.”
“Ha, in that case I will need to set up traps once I get Knox to do his magic. He is the meat king, my friend,” Liv said, making a broad gesture with his hand. “Will a nice meal be enough, or will I need to go through some sort of initiation in order to work with you guys long-term?”
“You’ve had your initiation yesterday, and you didn’t piss your pants, so consider yourself on probation. And by the way? Dex claimed to be the Ramen King for years, but only learned to make it from scratch lately, so I’ll believe Knox’s meat skills when I see them. I’m willing to invest a few pounds of ground beef though.”
And speaking of the devil, Liv’s phone vibrated, and he plucked it out of his pocket as if it was in need of air. What he saw on the screen powered a bomb their encounter this morning had planted. And now it was about to go nuclear.