Total pages in book: 79
Estimated words: 76807 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76807 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 384(@200wpm)___ 307(@250wpm)___ 256(@300wpm)
“Just me,” a voice said, calm, casual.
Squinting into the dark, I could just barely make out the outline of someone sitting on top of one of the ancient cars that one of the OG members left in the back, a car I was pretty sure every member of the club had christened with a chick. Except for me.
My eyes adjusted to the dark, finding one of the newest legacy prospects sitting there, a beer bottle dangling from his fingers.
Croft.
One of the twins.
The younger one. By four minutes.
Both twins were tall and fit with golden skin, dark eyes, sharp jaws, and dimples. But where Rune had two, Croft only had one.
Not that he was smiling now.
He wasn’t.
If anything, his gaze was far away, detached.
“What are you doing back here?” I asked, hearing the sounds of the party getting louder.
“Same as you, I imagine,” Croft said, sucking in a deep breath. “Looking for a couple minutes of peace. Some space to think.”
“Don’t let me interrupt then,” I said.
“Want one?” Croft asked, reaching down to the roof to pull another bottle of beer, holding it out.
“Sure,” I said, watching as Croft jumped down to hand me one. “Thanks.”
To that, he nodded.
Then I watched as he sucked in a deep breath, rocking his head side-to-side, like he was working out a crick, then huffing out a breath, and plastering on a smile that no one would know wasn’t real. Except for me. Before making his way toward the party.
That was… interesting.
Everyone was having a hard time getting a read on the twins. They’d been out of the area for a long time. And it seemed like no one but their family had kept in contact with them as they lived and did fuck-knew what down in Puerto Rico.
They didn’t talk about their time there, but Fallon and I both surmised that the guys hadn’t exactly just been soaking up the sun and peeling off bikinis while they were there.
They both projected a pretty easy-going exterior most of the time.
But, clearly, still waters ran deep in this case.
Because that smile Croft so easily doled out to everyone was clearly a mask.
I made a mental note to try to pay more attention to the two of them moving forward.
After I was back from my leave.
After, I hoped, some time took the sharp edge off my grief.
“Gonna miss you, man,” I said, cracking open the beer as I looked up at the sky.
I didn’t know at the time, though, that Clay had left me something a lot fucking more valuable than his apartment and possessions…
CHAPTER TWO
Cali
“I’m going to knock an eye out,” Sage declared, standing there with her hands pressing down her tits. And, to be fair, they were some knockers. And I had dragged her to the indoor trampoline park without letting her go home to grab one of those torture devices she wore to the gym that strapped those bad boys down.
I glanced around the facility, seeing no one but the girl at the front desk who was scrolling on her phone, paying us no mind.
“Let them bounce,” I suggested, doing little jumps in place that were already getting my heart rate up. “No one is here but us.”
To that, Sage shrugged.
She managed three bounces.
Before she dropped down on her knees, doubled over with laughter.
“What?” I asked, smiling at her chuckle I’d always liked so much. It always seemed to bubble up from deep in her gut, down in her soul.
“Let them bounce,” she repeated, shaking her head. “They bounced right out of my bra!” she shrieked, shoving her hand down her neckline to try to situate them back into her cups.
Sage, my woefully top-heavy friend, was always down for everything. Which was how we ended up at a trampoline park that was typically overrun with small children on our lunch break on a Wednesday afternoon.
She was five-foot-nothing with a body that said she did move it on occasion, but also that she was never going to turn you down on a late night trip for apps and margs. She was pale to the point of being able to make out her blue veins beneath her skin even from a distance, a lob of deep auburn hair, and big gray eyes.
“How about you give me some of that ass, and I give you some of these boobs, and we will each be perfect,” she said, getting back onto her feet to do much smaller jumps.
“We’re already perfect,” I reminded her, suddenly thankful for my flat chest as I bounced higher and higher, throwing my arms and legs out to do airborne jumping jacks, feeling the adrenaline start to surge through my body, chasing away the stagnated feelings that had been growing all morning. I knew if I didn’t get out and get moving, that the bad shit was all going to bubble up and take over.