Unsteady (The Torqued Trilogy Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

else for your shit.” He throws his arms up and then lets them fall dramatically. “I’m so tired of you thinking you’re better than everyone. You’re an arrogant dickhead who walks around here barking orders and expecting everyone and everything to fall into place. You’re not the only one who lost Dad. We lost him too. Stop thinking the weight of the world is on you only.”
    All right, there’s certainly some truth to what he’s saying, but I’m not going to agree with him.
    What I am going to do is teach this little fucker a lesson, right here and now. Not because he called me a dickhead. That’s daily. But the fact that he brings up my wife is what has me living up to my nickname.
    Rawley’s jaw clenches and for a minute, I think he’s gonna take a swing at me, wouldn’t be the first time, but something distracts him, and he looks over my shoulder, his eyes unfocused. “Whatever.” And then he begins to walk away.
    I reach for him, fisting my hands in his shirt. That’s when mom screams for me to let go of him. “Red, that’s enough. Rawley, get to work. Red, knock it off.”
    Turning around, I notice she’s glaring at me too. I’ll never understand it, but she babies that asshole like he can do nothing wrong.
    “You wanna know why I don’t go to church?” Colt asks as my mom retreats back to the office.
    Rolling my eyes, I draw in a deep breath and stare at Colt. “Because they won’t allow you to?”
    “Sorta,” he muses, and then eyes me carefully. “I don’t believe in being a hypocrite. Most people who go to church and preach God to me, they’re some of the biggest hypocrites I’ve ever met.” Our eyes meet. Maybe he might be talking about me. What the fuck? I’m no hypocrite. “They go through their week, fucking people over, lying… cheating, just dirty shit. And then they go to church on Sunday, beg for forgiveness and think that’ll make it better. It don’t fuckin’ work like that.”
    “Is there a point to this?” I ask, picking up another repair order on my toolbox.
    “Uh, yeah. Don’t judge someone just because they sin differently than you.”
    “I’m not the one showing up late for work every morning. He is. What does this have to do with me?”
    “What are we going to do?” Colt asks, tipping his beer back as if his sinning church comment was never made. It’s the middle of the goddamn day, and he’s drinking, which is no surprise to anyone. Pushing fifty, Colt’s set in his ways and he claims having a beer midday helps take the edge off the work day. I also tend to think it’s the only way he can go home at night. Half shitfaced to deal with his crazy-ass wife.
    Colt rubs the side of his head. “There’s no way we can keep this place running if things keep going like they’re going. Without Lyric around, this place is going to shit.”
    “Thanks for the pep talk, man,” I grumble, tossing the repair order on my toolbox.
    Colt’s been working here for as long as the shop’s been open since the early 90s, so I listen to what he’s saying, even when I don’t want to. If anything, he knows what’s best for it too. And my dad trusted him.
    There’s some truth to what Colt is saying, but I also know my dad had faith we would keep the shop running. Since I was just a kid, about Nova’s age, this shop has been the only repair shop in Lebanon. I’ll be damn sure it’s kept that way.
    As I’m standing near the doors scanning the parking lot for a white Camry, Tyler walks up to stand beside me, waiting for me to talk to him. It’s his simple way of knowing when I need to vent, and I do a lot of it these days. I never thought I’d be put in this position. Though I did know if something ever happened to my dad, his intentions were to leave this all to me because I was the oldest and showed the most interest in the shop.
    Also, with Rawley and Raven only being nineteen, they just weren’t ready for something like this. Hell, I didn’t even think I