It Was Always You

Ch. 13 Challenge Accepted

After dropping the body off at the funeral home, she packed up her own stuff and headed home. The lights were already on inside, Juice's bike parked in the driveway. She knew he wasn't going to surprise her with candlelight, music, and her favorite dish like the night before, but she was equally excited to get inside and just be with him. The romance was appreciated but not necessary every day.

She checked her appearance in the mirror, smoothing her hair as best as she could. Stepping out of the car, she lifted her head to find Juice leaning against the open front door, arms crossed over his chest, a small smile on his face. He was barefoot with his sweatpants and a tanktop on, his muscular arms on full display. God, he was sexy. She was so lucky. She headed towards him, slipping her arms around his waist and burying her face into his strong chest. "Hey you," she murmured into his chest, the sound of it muffled by his shirt.

"Hey baby," he murmured, chuckling as he wrapped his arms around her, stepping backwards to pull her into the house and shutting the door behind her. He gave her a squeeze as he dropped a kiss to her forehead. "Got leftovers waitin' for you in the microwave."

"Mmm, sounds perfect," she told him, dropping her arms from around him and taking a step back. He locked the door behind her, dead-bolted with an extra lock on the inside. She walked straight to the kitchen to heat up her food as her stomach gurgled. "How was your day?"

"Just a shop day," he said on a sigh as he grabbed a beer from the fridge. "Nothin' exciting. You?"

"Office day," she replied with the same bored tone. "Ran into some of your buddies at the hospital morgue just now."

He looked surprised by that, eyebrows raised. "Oh yeah? What were they doin'?"

"Lookin' at bones. Didn't ask why," she replied around a bite of food. It tasted absolutely amazing, and she couldn't help but do a little happy dance.

Juice chuckled softly, the sweetest smile on his face. "Good?"

"Mm-hmm," she hummed, bobbing her head. "Thanks, baby."

"Didn't do much. Just put it in the microwave."

It wasn't as simple as he was saying. He'd probably heard her car, prepared the plate, put it in the microwave, and started the microwave before going to greet her at the door. It was a lot more than just putting food in the microwave, and a lot more than anyone else had ever done for her. "Well, I appreciate it," she told him, kissing his cheek. "Half-Sack's big fight's tomorrow, huh?"

He shrugged a shoulder, and she knew it was because the outcome of the fight was fixed so there wasn't really anything exciting about it. He'd told her all about how the club needed the money he'd earn from fighting, though he didn't explain what they needed it for. "Yeah, about that...we're not gonna go anymore."

A part of her was relieved; she didn't love the idea of watching Half-Sack get the shit kicked out of him. "No?"

"Nah, Lena called. Said she needed me and Hap's help around the house. Clay said we could spend the day there. Said it'd be too suspicious if we all went and bet against our own prospect anyway," he explained before taking a long sip of beer.

Angela raised an eyebrow as she dug into her plate. "You volunteer for that or were you volun-told?"

He smirked, one shoulder rising and falling. "Volunteered. I want to help her out. She's always helped me, so if I can help her, and the club's good with it? I'm there. Happy to do it, even."

Her heart warmed at the idea of Juice wanting to help her family. Of him seemingly being excited to do so. She couldn't help but smile at him. "Yeah, that and she's gonna have some hella good food for you."