Read Flanked for Free Online Page B

mouthed it, almost silently. Good man.
    Silver mouthed her thanks and went back to deal with her brother. “I gotta wrap something up first. Give me an hour, I guess, so I can run home, grab my bag and then hit the road.”
    “All right. Shit. Hang on a sec, Susan.” There was some mumbling and Silver could tell Aaron had covered the phone and was talking to someone there on his end. She couldn’t even yell at him for calling her Susan again since he was paying no attention to her on the line. “Listen, sis. I gotta finish checking in and frigging Garret’s still giving me shit about needing my own room because you’re coming.”
    She let out a snort. Nothing was ever easy. “So then don’t get your own room. I don’t care if we have to share.”
    “You’re not ready to stay in a room with me, Garret and Skeeter. These guys are animals—” Aaron grunted as if he’d been punched. “Ow! Quit hitting me, Garret. I’m sorry, but it’s true. Anyway, Susan, I’ll text you my room number as soon as I have it.”
    Perhaps she wasn’t ready for what rooming with three bull riders entailed since it seemed as if they acted as immaturely as her students. Silver shook her head, without doubt ready for this phone call to be over. “Okay. I’ll see you when I get there. And if you call me Susan again, I’ll hit you so hard it’ll make getting stomped on by a bull look like a pleasure. Got it?”
    Aaron laughed. “Yeah, I got it. Later.”
    “Later.” She hit the button and dropped the phone back onto the table.
    Rico looked up. “You planning on taking the bike wherever you’re going?”
    “Yeah.” It was her only choice right now with her car still in the shop getting repaired.
    He cocked one dark eyebrow. “How long’s the drive?”
    “Two hours, I guess.” She shrugged. It was only in the next city, which was nice. She didn’t get to see her brother ride live and in person often. Usually she had to settle for watching whenever his events were on television, and then only when she didn’t have a gig the same time the station aired the competition, which seemed to always be on a Saturday night when she was busy.
    “Nope. You can’t go.” Rico shook his head.
    She frowned. “What do you mean, I can’t go?”
    “Ink’s too fresh. You can’t have all that friction rubbing on it right after I finish.” The frown in Rico’s brow creased deeper.
    “But…” Silver watched an unyielding expression settle on Rico’s face. She let out a breath of frustration. “Crap. It’s the only time his tour is this close to home for the entire season.”
    “You can drive. Just don’t ride. Borrow a car.”
    “Yeah, right. Whose do you suggest? The band’s broken-down old van full of equipment or my parents’ shiny new Mercedes?” Neither was going to happen as far as Silver was concerned.
    “Your cousin’s car?”
    Silver shook her head. “It’s her only transportation and she needs it for work. Beckie works weekends, remember.”
    Rico sighed. “Okay, I’ll put extra antibiotic ointment on it, wrap it in cellophane and then tape on a double thick gauze pad. Maybe if I protect it real good you won’t totally ruin it. But you have got to promise to keep it moist. I don’t want it scabbing up.”
    “I will. I promise.”
    “And once you’re there, don’t be riding any more than you absolutely have to. Get that brother of yours to drive you around.”
    “Yes, sir.” She nodded.
    He scowled and bent over her crotch again, twisting her thigh back into position with a bit more force than before. Uh oh, a pissed-off tattoo artist wielding an ink gun in your crotch was not good.
    “I’ll be careful, Rico. I swear.” Silver made sure she sounded as sincere and apologetic as possible.
    “You better be.” He shook his head again. She didn’t miss the unhappy expression on his face.
    In this surreal non-relationship of theirs, Silver wondered if this counted as her and Rico’s first fight.