Page 179 of Remiss

“Don’t you mean harassing, Ax?” Devon asked.

“There’s another word for it, though. Diesel used it.”

“Harangue?” Ember supplied.

“He told it to you, too?”

“No, Mr. Caldwell,” she said. “He didn’t.”

“You do know those words aren’t interchangeable, big head,” CJ said. As annoyed and hurt as he was toward Axel, he couldn’t stay angry with him no matter how hard he tried. His feelings constantly swung from one direction to the next toward his little brother.

“They don’t?”

“Nope,” CJ said, picking up the other half of his sandwich and biting into it.

“Do I got to fire Diesel? He’s leading a man in the wrong direction with his words.”

“Did he say them to you or did you overhear him?” CJ asked.

“I was spying,” Axel admitted.

CJ didn’t want to know. That was between Axel and Diesel. “You don’t have to fire him. He didn’t intentionally mislead you. You mistook what you heard.”

“Can you pay him for me every month? I don’t get enough allowance to keep him on retainer.”

“How about I pay him for the year?”

Axel shook his head. “I should accept but that was just too fucking easy.”

CJ squinted.

“Never mind. Don’t worry about it.” Axel shifted from foot-to-foot, thought for a moment, then said, “Can you call ameeting? I wrote a biker’s creed for when you become Prez. I want to read it to see what you think.”

“I thought you wanted to be Prez?” CJ grouched, at loose ends.

Axel scowled. “Don’t make me take away my peace branch.”

“Fine, Ax.” There was no winning with his little brother. “I’ll call a fucking meeting.”

“It’s olive branch,” Skye said.

Axel swung his attention to her. “Listen up, I don’t know you and I don’twantto know you. You don’t get to come here and correct my fucking speech. You’re not part of my family and you’re not my friend.”

“I’m your brother’s friend.”

“Not. CJ’s just too nice to tell you to get to fucking stepping. If you don’t know about context clues, then do you at least know about body language?”

“If you don’t like me, you can just go to another table,” she said.

CJ frowned at her. “No, he can’t. This is our fucking table.”

“If he don’t like you, he can do whatever the fuck he wants,” Axel said. “IfIdon’t like you, all I got to do is call my mom and she’ll have you kicked the fuck out.”

“On whose authority?” Skye asked with a smirk.

“On hers,” Axel declared, “since our parents own the fucking school.”

Too late, CJ realized he should’ve seen that coming, but he didn’t and the damage was fucking done. Most of the student body believed CJ and his family had special privileges because of their fathers. Very few knew Mom and Dad bought Ridge Moore last summer. Luckily, Axel hadn’t shouted that shit at the top of his lungs as he liked to do, though it really didn’t matter. He said it to Skye Ratcliffe and her eyes flared in surprise before she gasped and stared at CJ.