In the morning, it was all Cassia could do to drag her ass out of bed and walk to the garage. She unlocked the front doors, her eyes still squinty with sleep. As she meandered through the garage, bumping into an SUV in the middle bay, she hoped someone had bought coffee this week.
She reached the office and flicked the lights on, seeking out the coffee maker. And sure enough, the cupboard over the machine was empty except for some mugs and filters.
"Son of a bitch."
"Cass? That you?"
Cassia turned at the sound of her brother, Kent's voice. "I'm in the office."
He appeared a moment later, filling the doorway with his former linebacker's form. He took one look at her face and fell back a step. "I didn't do it."
"Where's the coffee?"
His eyes flicked to the cupboard behind her. "Uh... didn't Kurt pick some up?"
"Was it his turn?"
Kent shrugged, backing away another step. Her morning demeanor sometimes had that effect. "I'll just run over to Cafe Longhorn and get you one."
"And text Kurt and tell him to pick up coffee for the office on his way in."
Kent's 'yes, ma'am' echoed through the empty shop, as he was already several paces away from the office, and her morning attitude.
Grumbling now, Cassia moved through the office, pulling out job tickets and seeing what was first priority for the day.
When Kent returned, his twin accompanied him, and they didn't say a word to her as Kent set the massive cup of coffee on the engine cover under the hood of the car she was looking at. She didn't say anything in reply, just reached for it, slamming back a quarter of it in a single gulp, mindless of the heat.
Once she downed another quarter of it, she felt her morning fog starting to lift. By the time she was finished the whole cup, the pot in the office was finished brewing with the coffee her brother, Kurt, had brought in. When she walked into the office to get a fresh cup, she found her father sitting at the desk.
"Hey, Dad."
"Hiya, sweetheart." He didn't look up from whatever form he was writing up. "How are you?"
"I'm good." She poured fresh coffee into her takeaway cup. "You?"
"All right. Your mama is making roast dinner on Saturday, you coming?"
"Yeah, of course." Cassia turned to face her father. "What's the occasion?"
He shrugged his big shoulders and sat back in his seat, looking up. "She misses you guys."
Cassia smiled. "Oh, please. We were there two weeks ago for the twins' birthday."
Keith Morgan, former University of Texas running back, laughed and stood up, towering over her. He put an arm around her shoulders and squeezed so hard, she winced. "Two weeks, too long."
They walked out to the garage together and over to the car she'd been working on.
"So what's up with this?"
Cassia leaned in and pointed with her free hand as she explained. Her dad nodded, picked up the clipboard that was resting against the windshield, and made a note.
"All right. Call Ms. Brown and ask when she wants to come get it."
Cassia nodded, took a long swallow of her coffee before setting it down, and leaned in to finish with the car.
A few hours later, she paused for a brief lunch of a sandwich and a banana. She sat on a stool, facing the shop and watched her dad and brothers working for a while, along with the other two employees, Fernando and James.
Someone new pulled into the driveway at the front of the shop and Cassia swallowed her last bite, washing it down with some soda, before hurrying out to greet them.
"Welcome to Morgan & Sons." Cassia smiled as the elderly man climbed out of his vintage Pontiac.
"Hello, young lady." The old man smiled at her. "Your daddy here?"
"He's just inside. Do you know him?"
"Yeah, Keith and I go way back."
Cassia shrugged and turned to lead the way. They didn't normally let customers into the shop, but at least twice a week, someone would drop in, saying they knew her father.
Sure enough, when she got her dad's attention, he wiped his hands and came right over, shaking the older man's hand.
"Geoff, you old bugger. How are you?"
Geoff laughed and squeezed Keith's arm and they both walked off to the office to talk. Cassia walked over to the car her dad and James had been working on.
"What's up here?"
"Couple loose belts, and the rad is blown."
"Damn." Cassia whistled through her teeth before she zipped up her coveralls and bent to help James.
A few more hours after that, Cassia was ready to crawl into bed and not move. She left the shop early, since she'd opened, and walked home to an empty apartment.
She was relieved to have the apartment to herself, even if it was only for a brief period. She didn't know when Kyle would be home, but she enjoyed the quiet solitude while she had it. Then she remembered her father's request that they all have dinner on Saturday. She knew Kyle wouldn't be thrilled.
Walking into the bathroom, she started the shower and stripped out of her work clothes. She had managed to get through the day with relatively little mess but she could feel the dust and grime on her skin anyway.
Half an hour later, she stood in the kitchen, slicing some chicken for dinner. As she was tossing the chicken and vegetables in the pan, the front door opened and in walked Kyle.
"Mmm. That smells good. What is it?"
"Teriyaki stir-fry." Cassia stirred the mix, added some more sauce, and stirred again. "You want some?"
"Yes, please."
"Go clean up and it'll be ready in a few minutes."
Kyle didn't argue. They sat down at her little kitchen table ten minutes later, and dug in.
"How was work?" Cassia asked after the first few bites.
Kyle shrugged. "It was fine. Why?"
"Just making small talk." The thought made her smile, recalling Dylan and his inability to manage the same with almost every woman he met. She had no doubt her brothers had never had that problem. Maybe she should introduce them all. Then she quickly discarded that idea. Somehow, the thought of her brothers meeting Dylan did not seem like a good thing.
After dinner, Kyle migrated to the couch to watch TV. Cassia cleaned up and joined him on the couch.
"So Dad said that Mom wants us all there for dinner on Saturday."
Kyle looked over with a frown. "Why?"
"Why not?"
"They probably want to lecture me some more."
Cassia smiled. "I don't know about that. Dad didn't say anything when he told me earlier."
Kyle turned back to the television. "Whatever. I'll go but if they say anything about it, I'm leaving."
"Your call."
Cassia sat with him a little longer before her yawns grew too broad and too frequent. She said goodnight and went to bed.
In her dark room, wrapped up in the covers on her bed, she wondered if she could duck out of dinner early on Saturday and go for pie at the diner again. She told herself it was because the pie at the diner was better than her mom's, not that she hoped to run into Dylan Samuels again. That would be foolish, even if she did know he'd be in town this weekend, while the league took a break for the All-Star weekend in Los Angeles. He was a hockey player, and yet he could barely talk to women without getting uncomfortable. She was a stubborn, coffee-addicted mechanic, with a penchant for strong opinions, and foul language. It had turned off more than one man in the past, and she'd been hurt more than once by love. She didn't want that again. Not right now.
With a sigh, she rolled over and closed her eyes.
****
The team had practice the Saturday morning of the All-Star weekend. The only Star who'd been selected for the All-Star game was Tristen, and so the rest of the team had a few days off, with only the morning light practice.
Dylan ran through the drills with his teammates, laughing and joking about Tristen having to work through the event, while the rest of them had the time to slack-off. In a manner of speaking.
After practice, Dylan took his time getting dressed, still shooting the breeze with his teammates.
"What's the plan for tonight, Sams?" Seth sat across from him, toweling his hair. "More clubbing and picking up chicks?"
Dylan rolled his eyes and bent to lace his shoes. "Yeah. That's me. Always picking up chicks."
Jake Brown shifted closer on the bench, a sly grin on his face. "You don't have to lie, Sams. Tristen told us what you've been up to."
Scowling, Dylan face his captain. "What are you talking about?"
Seth and Jake exchanged a look as John walked in and sat down on the other side of his brother.
"You guys bugging Sams about his night of first impressions?"
Dylan froze, turning his gaze to John. "What?"
There was a beat of silence before they burst into laughter.
"Tristen told us you went to some speed dating thing at a bar last week." Seth continued to laugh, slapping a hand to his knee. "I mean, really, Sams? Speed dating?"
"Are you that desperate?" Jake nudged him with an elbow as he pulled a shirt on.
Dylan was going to kill Tristen when he got back. Rubbing a hand over his face, he stood up. The guys continued to rib him, and he tried to let it roll off his back, told himself that this was what they all did. Jokes, insults, and giving each other a hard time, was all part of what made them a team.
"I bet they were all winners there." Jake chortled as he stood up next to Dylan. "Did they tell you all the names of their cats? Or just the favorites?"
Dylan flipped his middle finger in Jake's direction.
"Come on, you gotta tell us how it was, man." John strode over, pulling his jacket on. "Is it something we should all do?"
