Page 61 of Knot Your Basic B*tch
It was really just to say something at this point, it wasn’t like I wanted to work here anymore.
“Yeah, well, the men in this office should worry that we don’t fire them.” Papa Diesel aimed his rocket launcher at Dr. Miller who pressed himself harder against the wall.
I rolled my eyes, but inside the gesture loosened something inside of me that I didn’t even realize was tight—until I was feeling weightless.
I stepped away from my post at the front desk, shaking my head. “I just said that I needed a ride. I didn’t need all of this.”
Daddy Gee and Mag-dad each slung an arm around my shoulders, shepherding me out of the lobby. Each of them turned to give death glares to Dr. Miller that hepossiblydidn’t deserve—though angry enough that their glares made it clear that they would follow through in a heart-beat.
Daddy Gee leaned close to whisper into my ears, “Don’tworry about a thing pumpkin, we’re going to take care of everything.”
Father flung a business card on to the counter. “You can make a statement to our lawyers. Make sure to explain to them in detailexactlywhat you were doing with our daughter.” Father’s eyes narrowed, and a little vein was bulging right at his temple.
If Momma Rain was here, she would be pissed. Order him to sit down and waddle over to the kitchen to put on a cup of chamomile tea… but I digress.
Getting into the SUV, all my dads piled in all around me.
Maybe having the love and support of a pack of dads wasn’t normal. Not for anyone outside of a pack anyway. But I had six pairs of eyes looking out for me.
If this wasn’t normal then maybe I just didn’t want or need to be normal anyway.
CHAPTER 34
CHLOE
As soon asI got home, I grabbed my noise canceling headphones, a bowl of ice cream (pistachio flavored—for obvious reasons I wasn’t in the mood for vanilla, chocolate or strawberry), a handful of brownies and a poptart for good measure.
In short, I had everything I needed for my well-deserved mental breakdown.
Instead of perfect solitude, however, a knock came at my bedroom door.
When I saw who opened it, I groaned internally.
Papa Diesel was like a wall of towering six-pack, with just about every spare inch of skin on his chest inked up. He had an intricate tattoo of a dragon bursting out of the waves, mouth wide open and fangs bared—like it was ready to charge off his skin and launch straight into battle.
Honestly, if I was in any kind of physical danger, I might have my fingers crossed that Papa Diesel was the first one to get there. I’m sure he could tear through my enemies like a bowling ball scatters pins.
If only my enemies were more interesting than an ornerymiddle-aged dentist with more sarcasm than sense, then I might be in luck.
But I wasn’t.
Papa Diesel had the dubious honor of being my biological father. Though his DNA wasn’t a strike for or against him or anything.
In some packs, the kids were somewhat closer to their biological parent—which was kind of bullshit. They wereallmy dads. We were a family, and it didn’t matter which one of my parent’s blood flowed through my veins.
But out of all my dads, Papa Diesel was by far the worst at helping his kids handle their emotions.
Okay honestly, my bio dad sort of sucked at it.
It wasn’t because he had the emotional range of a drowning slug. No. Papa Diesel felt emotions, same as everyone else. It was more because he was about as good at talking about his feelings as a canary was at bench pressing two hundred pounds.
“Hey Peanut,” Papa Diesel, ruffled my hair with his big meaty hand. Like I was four.
“Hey Papa,” I tried and failed to keep all the stress of the day out of my voice.
“Okay, what’s wrong, Peanut.” Papa Diesel frowned at me. “Is it about that dentist? Because that was just your first job. They’re not all going to be like that. Don’t blame yourself for working for an asshole.”
Maybe it was because Papa Diesel was trying so hard. The fact that he was trying… even asking me how I was feeling right now was a big stretch for him.