Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 104403 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104403 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 418(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Beth: At the clubhouse. U here?
Saint: 10 minutes out. Missed you today.
She grinned. They hadn’t had much time to text throughout the day. Hearing that he’d thought about her made her giddy. She bounced in her driver’s seat with a happy squeal. If only she could grab him and kiss the hell out of him when he arrived. Hopefully, they could sneak away for a few minutes alone in one of the bunk rooms.
But first, she had to tell him about Melody.
As she walked into the clubhouse, she glanced around. It was still early, so the place wasn’t overly crowded. Rizz chatted up a woman Beth didn’t recognize at the bar. Jigsaw and Rocket played a game of pool while their ol’ ladies sat nearby, laughing and drinking margaritas. Others played darts, some danced, and one of the newer guys, Beth didn’t know well, practically ate the face off some woman in a teeny-tiny minidress.
Just a typical chaotic night at the clubhouse, and she loved it.
She spotted Gator coming out of the kitchen and headed his way. As she reached him, she noticed her dad sitting in his usual spot at a table in the back of the room. What stopped Beth dead in her tracks was the sight of Melody sitting at the table with him. She wore a fake-fucking-expression of extreme sorrow, like someone who had terrible news to unload but knew it must be shared.
“Hey, p-cess,” Gator said. He smacked a kiss on her cheek. “How’s it hang… whoa, Beth, you okay? You just got really fucking pale.”
“H-how long has Melody been here?” If she hopped right in her car and came to the clubhouse, she had about a twenty-minute headstart on Beth.
“ ’Bout ten minutes. She got here same time I did. Why, what’s up?”
An icy wave of dread washed over her. “I saw her earlier. She was making out with Demo.”
“The fuck…”
Beth faced him. “Demo saw me. Looked straight at me and winked while his damn tongue was halfway down her throat.”
He gripped his hair where it spilled out over his red bandana. “Fuck, this is not good.”
“No, it’s not. I was worried he knew she had a connection to the club, so when they went their separate ways, I ran after her to warn her.”
Gator raised an eyebrow. “And?”
“And she accused me of trying to steal him. Said if I came near her again, she’d tell Copper I was sleeping with Saint.” She lowered her voice. “How does she know?” Beth whispered.
Gator ran a hand over his face. “Jesus Christ.”
“What do I do?” Beth grabbed his arm. “Is that why she’s here? Is she telling him? Should I go over there?”
“Give me a second to fucking think, Beth,” he snapped.
She winced. “Sorry.”
“No. No.” He pulled her into a one-armed hug. “I shouldn’ta barked at you. We gotta warn Saint. She could be running her big mouth right now. Oh, fuck.”
“What?” She whipped around, spotting her father across the room. He wore a stony mask of fury so intense that even Melody looked apprehensive. Beth’s heart sank to the floor. “She told him,” she whispered.
“Beth, maybe you should go,” Gator said in a tone more serious than she’d ever heard from the man. “You don’t want to get into this here.”
Copper rose, appearing to grow ten times his usual size. Fury radiated from the tense set of his shoulders to his narrowed eyes to his curled fists. Around him, people began to notice the angry giant whose presence grew by the second.
He scanned the room until his laser gaze found her.
Beth swallowed. “Too late,” she whispered.
Copper only stomped three steps toward her, but his long stride ate up too much distance between them. Anxiety popped and fizzled across her skin, making her tremble. Not with fear. Copper wouldn’t hurt her in a billion years, but worry for Saint had her heart pumping triple time. In no universe would this conversation end well, and Saint would take the brunt no matter what she said to her father now. In his mind, Saint had committed a grave sin. Hell, her dad probably saw her as a victim. She’d do everything in her power to prove that wasn’t true.
“Wish me luck,” she muttered as she took a step toward Copper, who stopped dead in his tracks, eyes fixed toward the door.
A sick feeling washed over her.
Gator grabbed her arm and yanked her back. “Fuck,” he said. “Shit’s about to get messy.”
“Wha…” She followed Gator and her dad’s gaze to the door where Saint stood, scanning the room.
Looking for her.
“No,” she whispered. Her knees buckled, and if it weren’t for Gator’s hold on her, she’d have collapsed to the floor. “Not like this.”
Gator stared down at her. “Oh, shit. This is real, isn’t it, p-cess? You and him? It ain’t just fuckin’.”