Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 95008 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95008 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
“It was good,” I replied, lifting my arms out to the sides. “I got a tan.”
“I see that.”
“Did you miss the smoke?” I asked, waving my hand in front of me as I got closer. “Decided to fill the air back up with it?”
“Funny,” he said, emotionlessly. “Guessin’ you didn’t come to see me. He’s inside.”
“I’m actually looking for Draco,” I said, fidgeting a little.
“He’s inside,” he repeated with a nod.
I lifted my eyebrows in surprise. “You didn’t think I was looking for my dad?”
Grandpa Grease laughed. “Nah,” he said shaking his head. “Only one reason a girl comes stomping toward the clubhouse, and it ain’t because she’s lookin’ for her pop.”
I grimaced, slowing my steps.
“Go get him,” he said, his eyes twinkling as he jerked his head toward the door.
The expression on his face bolstered me a little and I straightened my shoulders.
“Love you, kid,” he called out once I’d passed him.
“Love you, too, old man,” I replied.
The club was always sort of dark no matter how many lights were on and it took a minute for my eyes to adjust when I walked inside. It was relatively quiet as I looked around the main room, which was a little jarring. I was used to the sound system cranked up to eleven and the noise of up to a hundred people laughing and arguing and stomping around.
“Look who’s back,” Charlie’s dad, Casper, said, coming out of the room behind the bar. Habit made me glance through the doorway before he shut it behind him. I wasn’t allowed in that room. Ever.
“Hey,” I said, smiling at him. I couldn’t see Draco anywhere and I was losing my sense of purpose with every minute it took to find him.
“You have a good time with your grandparents?” he asked, coming over to give me a hug.
“Yeah,” I said hugging him back.
“Good,” he said as he patted my back. “How’re Howie and Louise?”
“They’re good,” I replied, pulling away. “On their way here, actually.”
“You tell them to stop by the club and we’ll give that RV of theirs a quick once over,” he said easily. “Change the oil and shit.”
“I’ll let them know,” I said, half distracted as I looked around the room again.
Poet was at his place by the bar with Rocky, another member of the club. Uncle Tommy was sitting by himself on a couch in the back corner nursing a beer—his usual place for exactly a half-an-hour after work. He said that giving himself that half-an-hour of quiet before going to the chaos at home was the only reason his marriage worked. Leo and Draco’s dad, Cam, were at a table discussing something that I couldn’t hear, their voices low. My dad was nowhere to be found, but I could hear Dragon’s voice somewhere in the back hallway. Bikes fired up in the forecourt and the familiar noise told me that most everyone else was headed home for the night.
No Draco, though.
“Think he’s cleanin’ up,” Casper said knowingly. “He’ll be out in a minute if you wanna wait.”
“Jesus, am I that transparent?” I asked in exasperation.
“These walls have seen more women comin’ in here lookin’ for their men than you could even comprehend,” he replied with a chuckle. “You ain’t the first, doll.”
“Maybe, I should just—” my words stumbled to a stop as Draco walked through the archway that led to the back hallway wearing a cut.
I don’t know why the sight of that leather vest on his broad chest hit me so hard, but it did. A mixture of pride, arousal and fear swirled around in my belly as I gaped at him.
“You’re back,” he said, striding toward me as Casper made a quiet exit. “You have a good time?”
“I—uh, yeah,” I replied, my heart starting to pound. He wasn’t happy to see me. I could tell by the set of his shoulders and the lack of welcome in his expression. He was being polite, but the familiar warmth was gone. I pressed forward anyway. “Can we talk? I mean,” I grimaced and clenched my hands together in front of me for courage. “I mean, I can talk. I’d like to uh, tell you some stuff.” I spoke so quickly that my words started rolling together like one long run-on sentence. “Some stuff about while you were gone and the things I haven’t told you and you deserved to know them and I know that now and I just really think that maybe if I told you—”
“Not necessary,” he said easily. He even smiled a little, like he was letting me off the hook.
“I know that things got a little heated before I left,” I said, fully aware that most of the men in the room had their eyes on us and I was making an absolute ass of myself. I figured I deserved it, though, and kept going. “And we both said some things that we shouldn’t have.”