Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 92397 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92397 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
“No.”
“Is he hot?”
“Stop.”
“Does he give good dick? Because you look like someone who got good dick.”
“Avery.”
Her mouth dropped open and her green eyes went wide. “Holy shit! Did you finally lose your virginity? You hold out, you!”
“Shush! No one knows that I hadn’t yet,” Lyric hissed at her best friend.
“Hadn’t? Yet?” Avery squealed.
“Haven’t,” she quickly corrected.
“No, you said hadn’t. Past tense. I know you’ve been waiting for Rage—”
“I told you that when I was like fifteen. That was almost ten years ago, Ree.”
“Yes,” Avery drew out and tipped her head to the side. “And that’s why you remained a virgin all this time. You were holding out for your dream man.”
“Did you seriously call Ashton a dream man? Most people look at him as a nightmare.”
“Not you. Do you think I’m so blind that I can’t see you tracking his every move whenever you’re in the same room? Hell, whenever you’re within a mile.”
“I don’t think you’re blind; I think you’re seeing things. More like having hallucinations.”
“Uh huh. I’ve never known you to be a liar.”
“I’m…” She bit her bottom lip.
“See? You can’t even lie about being a liar!”
“Keep your voice down! I really don’t need my employees to know my business.”
“And that you got the business?” Avery grinned.
At least Carl was gone, but Trish and their resident goth girl, Raven, were in their areas busy tattooing. Hopefully they couldn’t hear shit above the whir of their tattoo machines.
“If it wasn’t Rage, who was it, then? Spill, bitch! We don’t ever keep anything from each other. Don’t make me burn our best friend cards.” When Lyric covered her eyes and groaned, Avery grabbed her wrists and yanked her hands back down. “Fess up! Because if I’m right, we have something to celebrate!”
Just as she thought. Avery would want to make a big deal over something Lyric wanted to keep on the down low. But before she could try to head off Avery again, the front door opened.
Saved by the bell!
“My next client is here.”
“Your next client is your father?”
“What?” She twisted her head to see Crow heading in her direction. She bugged her eyes out at Avery to make sure she kept her mouth shut.
With a grin, she elbowed Lyric and whispered, “Why is your dad so fucking hot, even as old as he is?”
Lyric scrunched up her face and shoved her back. “Eww. Will you stop lusting over the men in my family?”
“Never!” she exclaimed. “We’ll talk about that other thing later. I want details.” She wiggled her eyebrows.
“None to give.”
“Uh huh.” Avery stood and said, “I need to get back.” She paused to give Crow a quick hug. “How are you doing, Daddy?”
“For fuck’s sake,” Crow muttered at the same time Lyric fake gagged.
Of course, Avery had always teased him like that, but now, Daddy meant something totally different than when they had been connected at the hip as kids.
Crow’s brow dropped low in feigned annoyance, even though he treated Avery like a daughter. “Ain’t you supposed to be somewhere?”
“Heading there now!” Avery said in a singsong cadence. She added an exaggerated wink to the ridiculous finger wave she shot Lyric. “Toodles, bitch.”
Lyric expected to be relieved once Avery left, but instead, her father had shown up.
Why?
Her heart began to thump. Did he know? The blood drained from her face. “Is something wrong?”
Crow stopped beside her. “Dunno. You tell me. Left pretty damn early this mornin’.”
Having her parents know her business was one of the hazards of still living with them. And why she was saving to move out.
“Was worried somethin’ was wrong.”
“Nothing’s wrong, Até.”
Of course she screwed up by using the Lakota term for “father” since it set off his fatherly instincts. She normally used it when trying to get on his good side, which was just about every side unless you screwed him over.
Or he had a reason to suspect something.
Like now.
Ugh! She needed to come up with a believable excuse on the fly as to why she skipped breakfast—and more importantly, coffee—and snuck out.
She hated lying to her father because not only did it make her feel shitty, he had a sixth sense when it came to his offspring trying to pull one over on him.
“Nothing’s wrong,” she repeated. “I just needed to get caught up on some work.”
“Lookin’ for a second job swingin’ ‘round a pole?” Of course his expression and his words held no judgement, but she knew good and well her father would have an issue if she wanted to strip at Heaven’s Angels.
Her mother would have a strong opinion on that, too.
Lyric was pretty damn sure Ash would as well.
But, holy shit! “No. Why would you think that?”
“You live and work in a town full of the DAMC. In a town where we know just ‘bout everyone. Where noses tended to be stuck where they don’t fuckin’ belong and those noses are set right above lips that love to fuckin’ flap. You forget that?”