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)
“This is need-to-know,” Dragon informed me as I turned to leave. “You can fill Draco in yourself, and we’ll spread the word to the rest of the club. Goes without sayin’, no old ladies, no kids.”
I nodded and got the fuck out of there, but when I went to grab my phone, it was no longer on the bar. Draco had it pressed to his ear, and he was grinning as he spoke into it.
“Looks like your pop just came back out. Drive careful, bud,” he said. He handed me the phone while he searched my face, trying to gauge my mood.
“Hey, Dyl,” I greeted, shaking my head at Draco. Turning, I walked toward the door.
“I’m about halfway,” my boy said with a sigh. “Has the drive always been this long?”
“Feels a lot longer when you’re the one drivin’,” I pointed out, my lips twitching. “How’s it been so far?”
“All right. I’m making good time.”
“Don’t be speedin’ on the freeway,” I ordered. “Set the fuckin’ cruise control.”
“I am, I am,” he replied defensively. “I don’t want to get a ticket.”
“Shit, I’d take a ticket over you crashin’.”
“I’m being careful,” he assured me. “Swear.”
“You’ve been stoppin’ for breaks?”
“I get out and move around every time I get fuel.”
“If you start feelin’ tired—”
“I’ll find a rest stop and take a nap,” Dylan cut me off. “I know, Dad. Jesus. We already talked about this.”
We had. We’d gone over it about a hundred times. I hadn’t wanted to drive separately, but Dylan’s friends had planned one last camping trip—the weekend after we were supposed to leave. I could’ve forced him to come with me—thankfully, he still listened to his old man even though he was nearly a man himself—but I hadn’t had the heart to. The kid was leaving everyone he knew behind.
“You still thinkin’ you’ll get here late tonight?” I asked, checking my watch. It was almost dinnertime. He’d be driving the last stretch in the goddamn dark. Bored, impatient, and tired. A fucking recipe for disaster. I should’ve set him up in a hotel halfway. Then he could’ve stopped for the night.
“Yeah, depending on if I need to stop,” he said dryly. “If that happens, I’ll call you. All right?”
“Cut me a break, kid,” I said, sitting down on one of the picnic tables in the grass out front. “Big trip and you’re still an idiot.”
“Geez, thanks.”
“Your brain ain’t developed,” I reminded him. “You’ll be an idiot for a few more years still.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Can’t wait to see you, bud,” I said, scrubbing my hand through my hair.
“Same.”
“Listen…” I hesitated. “Dependin’ on when you get here, I might not be here.”
“What?”
“I gotta head down to Sacramento early tomorrow.”
“Seriously?”
“No, I’m fuckin’ around,” I replied sarcastically. “Yeah, seriously. Gotta go down and pick up a friend and her kids. They’re gonna be stayin’ with us for a while.”
“At Uncle Draco’s?”
“No, smartass. Got us a rental.”
“When did that happen?”
“Today.”
“I didn’t even know you were looking today.”
“Well, I figured we’d be pretty cramped at your aunt and uncle’s.” The lie made my stomach burn. I didn’t lie to my kid if I could help it, and I hadn’t had reason to in years.
“What’s happening right now?” Dylan muttered. “So, all of a sudden, you found a house, and some lady is moving in with us?”
“Thought you’d be happy you wouldn’t have to sleep on the floor of your cousin’s room,” I joked.
“Wait, who is this lady?”
“You don’t know her,” I replied. “Just an old friend.”
Dylan was quiet, but I could still hear road sounds, so I knew he hadn’t lost service or hung up on me.
“Just wanted to let you know, in case I wasn’t here when you got here,” I said after a while. “I’ll be back late tomorrow night.”
“So, I could’ve just stayed another day,” he grumbled. “You’re not even gonna be there.”
“I want you home, and Eugene is home now, bud. We agreed, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m gonna let you drive,” I said as Draco rounded the picnic table. “Call me in a few hours and check in.”
“Yep. Bye.”
He hung up on me.
“That went about how I expected it to,” I mumbled as Draco dropped down beside me. “Fuck’s sake.”
“What’s goin’ on?”
“Leavin’ at four a.m. for Sacramento to pick up my old lady,” I told him, laughing with disbelief. “Had to let Dyl know that I might not see him until tomorrow night.”
“Back up,” he ordered, looking at me like I’d grown an extra head. “What old lady?”
We sat on the table watching as men went home for the night as I explained. By the time I was done, Draco was shaking his head in disbelief.
“She hot at least?”
“You’re fuckin’ jokin’, right?”
“I mean, might make things easier.”
“She’s gorgeous,” I admitted. “But it doesn’t fuckin’ matter because it’s all for show.”
“You’re gonna be livin’ with her,” Draco pointed out. “No one’s gonna believe that you moved a woman into your house if she’s gross.”