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)
Cyborg nodded at him as he opened the door. “We’ll have some classic cars at the party, most of them in need of repairs. Might be some extra cash for you if you prove you know your way around them.”
Knox stilled with the smile plastered to his face, because… was Cy a good-natured—if stern—guy, looking out for him, or was that flirting? How did guys even flirt with each other?
Knox had no idea. But he needed to find out if he was to work out if he liked dick.
ASAP.
Chapter 12
Liv
If Frank and Ezra’s suburbia-worthy bungalow looked surprisingly normal in the junkyard, Shane’s house was somehow both less and more so. Located on the edge of the fenced-off land, across from the woodland surrounding Frank’s junkyard from all sides, it was new, well-maintained, and even had a little orchard planted around it.
But then there were the sculptures. Without exception, they were freaky as hell.
Twisted creatures of rusted metal, rubber, and plastic were scattered throughout the garden surrounding the property and guarded the cleared area around it like Shane’s own robot army. Only that they were made of, well, junk reclaimed from the artificial mountain range crossing the scrapyard.
Some were reminiscent of fantastical characters, but even those that were in some way beautiful unnerved Liv more than he’d like to admit. They made him think back to that moment when he’d believed Jag to be a statue. And then Jag had moved and blown into that fucking horn.
Not fun times.
So he chose to focus on the vehicle he’d been asked to look at after a whole day’s work. Frank had led them to a shipping container filled with clothes earlier, and each of them got to pick some stuff to wear, but Liv hadn’t seen Knox since, and it was gradually crumbling his patience.
Back at home, they often did their own thing, sometimes not seeing each other for days at a time if one of them stayed with a girlfriend. But in this new, perilous situation, not knowing where Knox was and whether he was safe was making Liv itch.
Still, they both needed to prove their worth if they were to stay here and wait for the whole thing with Vladdy to blow over, so he turned his attention to the car. A well-maintained Ford Mustang from the eighties, it was quite the stunner with a metallic purple body and pale leather upholstery. Nothing to sniff at, even though it wasn’t optimized for speed.
“So… what exactly is the problem?” he asked, flinching when the tail of Shane’s Pitbull, Cerberus, smacked the back of his leg. Damn, he hated being surprised like that. Especially by a dog that could either wag its tail at him or bite off half his calf.
Shane sighed and sat in a swing made out of a tire. He lit himself a cigarette. “I don’t know, you’re the expert. It’s making weird noises in the engine, like a raspy growl.”
Cerberus grabbed a discolored tennis ball from the ground and brought it to Shane, huffing with excitement. Shane might have been acting all relaxed as he threw the ball for his pet, but he kept watching Liv, and it didn’t feel like being checked out. Nope, Shane was assessing him. For his usefulness? As a potential threat? Fuck knew, but after Frank and Ezra, Shane was another person on whose good side Liv needed to be.
“This is a really good-looking car. And you said that it makes weird noises when it starts and during acceleration?” he asked, trying to act casual, despite having no doubt whatsoever that the big pittie wasn’t here just to play with its owner. He’d met enough insecure fucks with big dogs to know the animals could become a threat real fast. A very well trained dog could be the perfect addition to anyone’s life, but also a great weapon. Considering the kind of stuff that went on in the junkyard after dark, Liv wouldn’t be surprised if all of Shane’s dogs were trained to kill on command.
Well, other than Eros, a small and strange dog that looked like a Corgi-shaped Husky. That one was so excited to hump Liv’s leg when they’d arrived that Shane had to lock him in the house.
Liv had also seen several young Rottweilers playing in a fenced-off yard and he could imagine them going for the jugular at the snap of Shane’s fingers. The van outside the house advertised dog training services, so Liv figured it had to be Shane’s other job.
Shane reached for the ball when Cerberus fetched, and threw it again, watching the dog speed up before the piece of rubber even flew into the air. “Yeah. I heard it maybe once. It’s my partner’s car.”
Liv cleared his throat, eager for this thread of normalcy. “Oh? What’s his name?