Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 91438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the wood paneling behind me.
“Yeah, I’m sure she is,” I said tiredly.
I was exhausted.
I knew I shouldn’t have come out today.
“Come on,” he said, picking me up by my elbows.
Easily, I might add.
He didn’t even strain.
Then he took both of his hands and wiped my tears off of my face before smoothing them down either side of his thighs.
I blinked.
“Thanks,” I said.
He shrugged. “Anytime.”
Then, with the man’s arm around my shoulders, he led me back into the main part of the restaurant.
And nobody took notice.
Not one single person.
They were all looking down, doing their own thing.
Which was surprising to me.
Normally, when a hysterical woman runs through the restaurant, when she comes back you’d expect them to stare.
But not one single person did.
Bristol smiled sadly at me as I was helped into my seat.
“Food will be out shortly,” he mumbled as he walked away.
I watched him go, impressed with how well those jeans fit his ass.
And still, not one single person looked up.
“Holy shit!” Bristol said, leaning forward and capturing my attention from the man who’d just walked around the bar.
I raised my eyebrow in question. “What?”
She blinked.
“You didn’t hear him?” She asked in surprise.
I shook my head.
“No, why?” I asked.
She bit her lip and leaned forward.
“He ripped the whole fuckin’ bar a new one. Those two ladies that were talking about you ran out of here crying. And he sent one of his men after them to make them pay their bill!” Bristol informed me.
I blinked.
“What’d he say?” I asked.
She smiled.
“That you were a human being, not a ‘fuckin’ circus sideshow’ and that everyone needed to ‘leave the girl the fuck alone and let her live her fuckin’ life.’ It was awesome!” She crowed.
That got a few looks, but they all just as quickly turned back to their plates and their own conversations.
“Wow,” I finally said.
Bristol nodded. “Silas is infamous. He’s like the most badass of all badasses! If you’re going to have anyone stick up for you, and it’s him, it means you’ll have the entire Dixie Warden Motorcycle Club at your back if you ever need it.”
I smiled sadly.
That would be awesome… if I were worth having that.
But I wasn’t, so I wasn’t going to look too much into it.
What was the point?
They didn’t know me.
And they didn’t need to. I was worthless.
“Here’s your food, ladies.”
I looked up to see yet another hot guy passing out food.
He didn’t look like he should be delivering our food.
He looked like he should be on the cover of a fireman calendar.
“Thanks Kettle,” Bristol said, pushing her food in front of her. “You’re not usually doing this. Are y’all short today?”
Kettle, was that really his name?
He answered to it, though.
“Yeah, Silas fired one of the men today because he said something he didn’t like,” Kettle said.
So the man’s name was Silas.
I liked it.
Kettle didn’t go into details, but for some reason I just knew that the man had been fired for saying something about me.
Fuck.
“Thanks,” I said, smiling at my plates that were placed in front of me.
I didn’t look at the man, though.
I could feel his eyes on me, studying me, and I knew that I wasn’t ready to be inspected so deeply yet.
Tears were still clinging to my lashes, and I just knew that Kettle would see right through me.
Especially if what I guessed was true about him being another member of The Dixie Wardens.
Although he wasn’t wearing the vest, but with his a firefighter shirt with blue tactical pants, I just knew he had to be a part of them.
My suspicion was confirmed moments later when he left.
“He’s a part of The Dixie Wardens, too?” I asked, popping a piece of fried okra into my mouth.
Bristol nodded as she delicately cut her grilled chicken into tiny, bite-sized pieces.
Awkwardly, I wielded my knife and fork, cutting into the chicken fried steak in front of me with a hacking motion.
See, we didn’t have food like this in prison. Which meant I hadn’t had to use a knife in eight years.
Knives of any kind, plastic or metal, were not allowed in prisons.
Nor was metal anything.
If it could be used as or turned into a weapon, it wasn’t allowed.
Plastic cutlery, mainly sporks, were all we were allowed to use, no matter what we were having.
And, God, was the food awful.
I moaned when I took my first bite of the chicken fried steak.
It tasted like heaven, breaded and fried.
And the gravy was delicious.
Then again, it could’ve been just above subpar, and I’d still think it was heaven.
Anything was heaven compared to what I had to stomach for eight long years.
It was nothing less than what I deserved, though.
“You suck,” Bristol said, eyeing my food with a longing eye.
I offered her a bite.
She shook her head.
“No, I’m trying to get all my baby weight off,” she said, gesturing to her stomach.
I rolled my eyes.
“Bristol, you have no baby weight. You have boobs. And you’re using those,” I informed her.
“Yeah, I like your boobs. Let’s just forget about losing weight,” my brother said as he dropped down into the seat beside me placing one arm around my shoulder and snatched a fry.
I leveled a glare in his direction.
“Don’t eat my food. Order your own,” I said haughtily.
He laughed and stole another fry.
So I stabbed him with my fork.
“Oww!” He yelled, cradling his hand to his chest and moving away from me.
“I said, don’t eat my food,” I reminded him none too gently.
He narrowed his eyes.
I shrugged, not caring.
He didn’t understand.
Nobody did.
Not unless you’d had to do time.
You didn’t realize how precious the freedom to eat what you wanted was.
They really had no clue.
And hopefully never would.
“Can I get you something, Berry?” That sexy voice rumbled from my side.
I looked up when I popped a fried pickle into my mouth, crunching down on it in time for Silas’ eyes to move to me.
The pickle crunched under my teeth, and I moaned.
So good!
His eyes flared, and he looked away to address my brother once again.