Page 122 of Truck Me
“You never willingly talk to a Mutter. So get on with it.”
“True.” His voice is low and drawn out. He circles back around from the edge of the stage where he’s pretending to inspect something. There’s nothing there to see. He stops close to me and leans against the edge. “Maybe you should get out more.”
I furrow my brows. “I get out plenty.”
He chuckles. “Clearly you don’t. From what I hear, you like to keep it in the family. I mean, who fucks one sister, waits ten years, and then fucks the other? What’s that like?”
My temper snaps and I grab Linden’s shirt, lifting him off the ground. He may act like he’s tough, but he’s short as fuck compared to me. Where we’re all over six feet tall, not one of the Koch brothers is over five feet ten. I could crush him with one hand.
“Don’t.” I warn.
He laughs harder. “Or what? You gonna kick my ass while I’m at work? That should make for an interesting assault charge. I can see the headlines now. Grumpy beastly man attacks school official during school hours. What would Char think of you then?”
“Leave her out of this.” I shove him back, causing him to stumble and trip over his own feet. He quickly recovers, bounces back up, and brushes off his pants.
“Is that the best you can do? Such a disappointment. And here I thought you were meaner than me.”
“I’m not mean, and I’m certainly nothing like you.”
“You got that right.” He winks with a shitty smirk on his face that riles me up even more. “Because if I got a woman like Charlotte Weber in my bed, I’d make sure she never wanted to leave.”
I lunge forward, but before I reach him, a woman’s voice calls out. “Mr. Koch! What on earth are you doin’?”
This time I stumble, but I catch myself before I fall. Linden and I both pivot toward Tide Waters, who just returned from the class she informed me she had to teach.
Linden clears his throat. “Miss Waters. How was class?”
“Fine.” Her voice is clipped. Her typical sweet southern charm is gone and replaced with fury. She looks like she’s about to rip Linden’s head off. “Why are you botherin’ Mr. Mutter? It’s important that he gets this job completed before three. He has ten minutes.”
Linden’s smile returns. “We’re just catching up on old times. Weren’t we Garret?”
“No.” I bark out in response.
Tide lets out a long sigh before she looks at me. “Are you almost done? I hate to rush you, but practice starts soon.”
“Yes.” I turn my glare to Linden. “Would’ve been done by now had this asshole not bothered me.”
“Well, I’ll make sure he leaves you alone so you can finish up.” She turns to Linden with a stern expression on her face. “I need to speak with you about one of my students. Care to walk me to my classroom?”
His expression softens and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say his smile for her is genuine. “Of course, Miss Waters. Whatever you need.”
They leave out the same door I came in early. Once their voices have completely faded, I get back to work.
The sooner I get this done and leave, the better. The last thing I need is to lose my cool and beat the shit out of Linden Koch in front of a bunch of high school kids.
* * *
By the time I make it home, I’m both physically and mentally exhausted. I did not need that run in with Linden today.
I toss my mail on the table, grab a beer from the fridge, and get ready to take Bullet out back so she can run around for a few minutes before I find something to eat.
On the days I’m gone all day, Bullet usually meets me at the door, bouncing on her feet in excitement. But not today. She doesn’t even lift her head up off her bed. She just looks up at me with sad puppy eyes.
I lean down and rub the back of her head. “Come on, girl. Let’s go out.”
She whines, stretches her front legs out in front of her, and takes her sweet time meeting me at the back door.
“I know,” I grumble. “I miss them too.”