Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 88736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88736 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 444(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
“Poker.” Callie gestured at the table. “And I’m kicking everyone’s ass.”
“You are not,” Kara’s stepmom argued, rolling her eyes. “Is Charlie keeping the girls?”
“Yeah,” Kara said, plopping down beside her as Callie scooted over and patted the spot beside her for me to sit. “She took the kids over to my house so they could use the sprinkler.”
“Didn’t want to watch them at her house with the pool, huh?” Farrah asked as she sat back down. “Don’t blame her.”
“I think Bishop had work or something,” Kara replied. “I wouldn’t want to watch that many kids in a swimming pool by myself.”
“Amen,” Callie murmured.
I listened to the women chatter, talking about anything and nothing as they played cards. They were all so easy with each other, and in turn, they pulled me into their orbit, making it easy for me too. I’d had a lot of friends over the years, some closer than others, but if I was honest, I’d never had a group like this. Deep in my gut, I knew that it didn’t matter if it was today, next week, or twenty years in the future, they would always scoot down so I had a seat at their table. It wasn’t acknowledged or mentioned. It just was. I had a place with them. I was one of them.
We’d been there a while, and I’d demurred on playing poker at least five times, when I finally rose to my feet.
“Don’t go chasing after that boy,” Farrah advised with a laugh. “If you’re hoping for his company, just start dancing on a table. He’ll find you.”
“Don’t do that,” Callie advised, glaring at her sister-in-law across the table. “You give shit advice.”
“Always worked for me,” Farrah replied smugly. “Flush.”
“There’s no way in hell,” Callie argued, her head snapping down to look at the cards Farrah had laid on the table. “How the hell are you cheating?”
I walked away as they bickered, laughing as I searched for a cooler. The day wasn’t sweltering, but it was still too warm to be sitting out in the sun without a drink. I debated whether or not to grab a beer or stick to water when my gaze caught Curtis standing outside the clubhouse door.
I couldn’t see his face as he spoke to Dragon, but there was something about the set of his shoulders that immediately made alarm bells ring in my head. Switching directions, I walked toward him, my heart thundering. Something was off.
When I was twenty feet away, he turned to look for me, and when our eyes met, it felt like the bottom had dropped out of my stomach.
“What?” I whispered as I jogged toward him.
Just as I began to pick up speed, Casper came running out of the clubhouse.
“On me,” he bellowed. “Prospects and Hawthorne boys, stay here.”
Bikers all around me rose to their feet and hustled toward their bikes.
“What’s going on?” I asked, panic rising in my throat. It felt like I was running through wet sand, like I was in one of those nightmares where you keep running and running, and you aren’t getting anywhere. It all happened so fast.
I reached Curtis in time to hear the tail end of Casper’s sentence.
“Ambulance at your house.”
In an instant, my entire world imploded.
Chapter 14
Curtis
“Roxanne,” Draco sang under his breath as we walked toward the clubhouse.
“Fuck’s sake.” I shook my head and shoved him away from me. “I think you missed that car more than I did.”
“I just wish I would’ve known one of the oldies had it,” he said. “I would’ve hot-wired it and taken it for a joyride.”
“I’ll take you out soon,” I promised for the tenth time. I kept putting it off, and the Chevelle had been sitting in the garage since I got it back. I still had no idea who’d had it. No one would cop to it, and Gray wasn’t talking.
“You keep sayin’ it,” Draco replied. “But I still haven’t had my ass in the passenger seat like old times.”
I understood his annoyance, but I didn’t have any excuse for him. The truth was, I wanted Teddy with me during the first real drive, and we just hadn’t had the opportunity yet. In a perfect world, I’d take her to an old, deserted lookout and fuck her on the hood like I’d promised. The reality would probably be a lot less exciting.
Draco’s whining was put on pause when we ran into Uncle Leo, who wanted to talk about a project Draco had been working on at the garage. I listened with half an ear as I watched Teddy across the yard. She and Kara were sitting at a picnic table with my grandma and aunts, and they were all laughing and talking over each other. I fucking loved it. I loved that she fit in with them. That she felt comfortable around them now. That she left me to my own devices when we came to the club because now there were people she wanted to see.