Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 122206 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122206 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 611(@200wpm)___ 489(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
I wasn’t sure how they did it.
I opened my work email and forwarded the daily schedule to Mr Collins, and I lightly suggested he consider hiring another mechanic or three because each of the men’s logs were jam-packed and fully booked for the next month. I wasn’t sure if he’d consider my suggestion, but I hoped he would. I was constantly turning away walk-ins because the lads simply didn’t have the time to fit any more cars onto their logs, even if it was only a half-hour job.
I could only book a next-day appointment if there was a cancellation.
The day quickly passed between dealing with customers, drawing up invoices, then triple-checking they were correct with the lads. I was checking on one of the cars Damien had signed off on when I entered the hangar, spotted him near bay three, and approached him. He heard me coming and turned, offering me a grin.
“Has anyone ever told you that you look like a librarian?”
“A librarian?” I repeated, worried I misread his lips as I came to a stop. “I don’t think so.”
“Well, you do. A pretty one at that.”
Damien looked over my head and smirked. I turned just as Dante approached us, looking rather annoyed.
“Slater”—Dante looked from me to Damien and glared—“what’ve ye been sayin’ to her? Her face is red.”
I hadn’t even realised I was blushing. I turned and looked back at Damien.
“Nothing, Date,” he answered without looking away from me. “Just making conversation … She’s real pretty, bro.”
That was twice he had called me pretty. I looked at Dante and swallowed.
“Back off.” Dante looked like he might have snarled as he took a step forward. “Ye can’t have this one, not a fuckin’ chance.”
Damien and Dante suddenly squared up, and I could feel tension as thick as Kim Kardashian’s bum. These two had history.
“Relax, man.” Damien’s grey eyes slowly narrowed. “I just said she’s pretty. Real fucking pretty.”
Within the blink of an eye, Dante punched the beautiful white-haired fairy, then the fighting started. So did my screaming.
“Stop it!” I stumbled back, fear embracing me in its arms. “Please, stop it!”
They aren’t Daddy; they aren’t Daddy; they aren’t Daddy.
JJ and Ryder appeared out of thin air and roughly pulled them apart. I snapped out of my fear-induced state and tensed, glaring between the pair. I was so cross with Dante.
“He’s a fairy!” I snapped. “Ye shouldn’t have hit him!”
“Ye think Damien Slater is gay?” Dante ignored his bleeding nose and laughed, “Really?”
I looked across the hangar as Damien began to speak, or shout, I wasn’t sure which one.
“I assure you, Ina,” he said as Ryder backed him away. “I’m very much a pussy-loving, breast-admiring, female-worshipping, straight man!”
I put my face in my hands for a moment before I dropped them to my side and looked up. “I’m not callin’ him gay,” I stressed. “I’m sayin’ he looks like a fairy. He is ridiculously beautiful with his white hair and pretty face … like a fairy.”
I turned to look at Damien once more but found a massive hand covering my eyes, preventing me from doing so. I knew Dante was speaking to me because he pressed his mouth to my ear, and I felt his lips move. I removed his hand and said, “I can’t hear ye, Dante.”
He turned my head and tipped my chin up. “I said, stop lookin’ at him.”
“I can’t. I need to look at everyone to see what they’re sayin’. I’m deaf, remember? No workin’ aids right now.”
When I turned my head, I saw that Damien was laughing from across the room. “I don’t hear you being called a beautiful fairy, you dog-faced mutt!”
I turned my gaze back to Dante as he bit out, “Shut your whore mouth! Ye stupid, gremlin-lookin’, ugly bitch!”
Another glance at Damien showed he was still laughing, and when I turned my head back to my friend, I could have sworn Dante screamed a little with frustration. My neck was killing me from swivelling my head around.
“I hate him,” Dante declared, turning me to face him completely. “I want to punch him every single time I see him.”
I shook my head. “Ye can’t do that.”
“I can.” His eye twitched. “I really can.”
“Ye could be arrested for doin’ that.”
Dante leered at Damien over my head. “It’d be worth it.”
I grabbed his arm. “Come with me, Rambo.”
Dante trotted behind me, but if he complained, I didn’t hear a word, which I was momentarily grateful for. When we entered the staff room, I told him to sit down as I grabbed the first-aid kit. I realised I was annoyed when I forcefully placed the kit on the table next to Dante. When I looked at him, he realised it too.
I’m sorry, he signed.
The movement was clumsy, but it made my heart flutter. We had had one little signing lesson during the week where I tried to teach him basic phrases. He struggled a lot, but he was a trooper who didn’t give up.