Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 77505 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77505 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
“They turned back?” I asked.
“Yeah, they just seemed to lose interest eventually and headed back. Maybe they don’t like straying too far or someone called them or something. No idea.”
“Did you get any cameras up?” Colter asked.
“Any?” Saint asked with a look that said, Seriously, you think that little of me?
“All?” Colter asked.
“We work fast when we need to,” Saint said, shrugging. “You two see anything?”
“I got some pictures, but we didn’t see anyone outside.”
We hadn’t been watching too closely either.
“Well, hopefully the cameras give us something to go on,” Saint said, shrugging it off.
We knew this would be a multi-day job, so there was no reason to be too disappointed about the night being cut short.
“Wanna check on Sugar, then we can get on the road?” Colter asked.
God, he knew me too well already.
I did just that, finding her still lying on her side on the bed, but watching the fish tank on the TV.
“We’re good,” I said, choosing not to wonder why I looked only at him when I said it. “Let’s head out.”
“After you,” Colter said.
I doubted the guys noticed the ghost of a smile toying at the corners of his lips.
Because no one else knew what was on his mind when he said that.
As I climbed on my bike and slipped on my helmet, I swear the little love bite he gave me throbbed.
And with that, I turned over my bike and tore off.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Colter
I was growing on her.
She might not be in a place where she could verbalize that. Hell, with how shitty things sounded about her childhood, I wouldn’t be surprised if it took her years to admit to any kind of feelings. But it was there in the admissions she made, in the way she invited me in. I doubted she did that with many people. Maybe not anyone.
I’d also caught her touching the spot near her clavicle where I’d left a mark several times as she grabbed Sugar and headed back out with Syn to walk her.
She was so beat from the earlier walk that she only wanted to go halfway down the road before she was tugging me back toward the hotel.
“Yeah, I’m beat tonight too,” I agreed, giving Syn a shrug. “Where you heading?” I asked when we got back and he walked toward his bike. “You know your brother is gonna ask me,” I added at his look that very much said What are you, my mother?
“I’m just going for a ride. I found it helps me sleep.”
“I get that. It always clears my head.”
“Yeah, something like that. I won’t be long.”
“Okay. See you in the morning.”
—
Dylan
I heard voices in Saint’s room as I passed, making me pause to eavesdrop, but all I could make out was the timbre of male voices, not any actual words.
I knocked lightly with my knuckles and waited.
“Everything alright?” Colter answered, immediately stiffening.
“Yeah, fine. I just wanted to tell Saint that Syn went for a ride to clear his head. Didn’t want you to worry.”
“Thanks, babe,” Saint said from his spot at the desk.
“Everything alright here?”
“Yeah, we just finished a call with Slash. Wanted to update him.”
“Alright. Well… goodnight,” I said, suddenly feeling awkward, like I was on the outside.
Which I was, I reminded myself.
Even if we were working together on this, I wasn’t a part of the club. I wasn’t part of anything anymore. I was on my own. I needed to remember that.
I blinked at the sting in my eyes as I unlocked my door and unlatched Sugar’s leash.
It was as I was straightening that I saw it.
A big decorative box.
Huge, really.
I wasn’t even sure where you found a box like that.
It was covered in dainty little purple flowers.
I couldn’t help but wonder what about me suggested to Colter that some part of me had always been drawn to sweet little girly things.
I mean, I wore almost exclusively black. I was hard and thorny. I didn’t talk about anything stereotypically feminine. Because in the world I’d grown up in, feminine things were not only looked down on, but relentlessly ridiculed. I’d learned young to pretend not to like girly colors, patterns, or interests.
That said, did some part of me always ache for it?
Yes.
How did he know that?
Maybe he didn’t. I needed to believe he didn’t. Because it was easier to think he simply thought all girls wanted flowers than to assume he understood some unspoken, secret little part of me without me saying anything.
I flipped the lid off the box.
He’d gone with a theme like last time. But not yellow.
Lilac.
I reached for the pajamas first. The pattern was similar to the box on the soft robe and matching nightgown.
I’d never owned a nightgown.
Half my life, I simply slept in whatever I wore during the day. Then, as an adult, I just threw on a T-shirt and slept in that and my underwear.