Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 80902 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80902 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Holy moly. That is definitely more than a handful.
He chuckles and nips my bottom lip. “It's probably better you don't. Pretty sure Havoc’s gonna kick my ass if he finds out what we just did, and if I ever get the chance to get you under me, I'd like to have working equipment.”
“Crap, maybe we shouldn’t have—”
“He doesn’t own you. We just gotta talk. I’m not fucking done with you.”
My cheeks flush. I'm single, and I've been single for a long freaking time, but what does it say about me that I might have done this with any of them? That my heart beats a little faster for all of these guys?
Sledge must be able to sense my hesitation. He kisses me softly. “Don't overthink it, beautiful girl. You don't owe me a thing. I just wanted to show you that it's okay to let someone take care of you. You fucking deserve it.”
“I don’t know what I want to happen now,” I say honestly.
A week ago I was used to the idea that I probably wouldn’t even date until Mia was a lot older, and I’d been okay with that. Happy even. But maybe it isn’t so much that I’m happy on my own, as there was nobody that made me want more. Now there isn’t just one, there are three and I don’t know what to do with that. The last thing I want to do is come between them, so maybe it’s best that I step back and think a little before I mess all of our lives up.
“So, do you ever get out to do anything fun? Grownup fun?” Sledge asks, interrupting my internal crisis.
I shake my head. “Not often. Not since I moved in here and it’s just been the two of us. When would I have the chance?”
“Ever ridden a motorcycle?”
“Jailbait biker chick, remember?” I say with a little laugh, fishing my underwear out of the couch as I get dressed.
“Lately?”
“No, not for years.”
“You work for a cleaning agency, right?”
I nod. “Why?”
“Do you have any time this week? I know you’ve got to pick up Mia and shit, but I’d like to take you for a ride.” Sledge laughs when I raise my eyebrow at him. “On a bike. Me and the guys.”
Saying yes is the opposite of stepping back, but somehow I find myself nodding. “I’m usually done early on Thursdays. I don't know exactly when, though. It depends on when we finish the job.”
“Call me when you're done, then.”
“Yeah.” I lick my lips, tasting the last traces of us on them, and his eyes follow my tongue like he knows. “Okay. Um, listen, I should go pick Mia up.”
Sledge leans in and kisses me softly. “Fuck you’re even more awkward than I am. I’m going to go. Call me, okay? And not just for the gutters.”
“Okay.”
14
SHELBY
“Hey, neighbor.”
I swallow a sigh before turning. Mia's carefully examining the flower beds to see if any of the seeds she planted are starting to sprout, while I put our things into the car. I put on my people pleaser smile, hoping he’ll understand from the uniform that I need to get to work.
“Hi! Matt, right?” I remember his name, but I don’t want to give him the impression that we’re anything more than friendly acquaintances. He seems fine, but he's no Sledge, Phoenix or Havoc, and I have enough on my plate figuring out what’s going on there without some random neighbor throwing his hat in the ring.
He smiles, undaunted. “Sure is. How are you doing? Life treating you good?”
“I suppose? Business as usual I guess. I don’t want to be rude, but—” I open the car door and put in Mia’s backpack and my lunch.
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. I’m trying to get in the habit of walking in the mornings and I saw you. Do you have a sec?”
Something in his voice makes me hesitate to say no. “What’s up?”
“Look, I’m not telling you what to do with your life, but it’s been hard to miss that there’s been a lot of activity around here lately. There’s been some talk, and with the break-ins that just happened, not everyone is happy to see the kind of company you’ve been having. The Screaming Eagles have a reputation, and it’s not good for property values if you get what I’m putting down.”
I glance over at Mia. She’s playing with rocks on the front steps, lining them up like a little army. “They don’t have anything to do with that, and not to be rude, but who I hang around with isn’t anybody else’s business.”
“No, no, of course not.” He leaves the sidewalk and approaches close enough to lean his weight on the top of my car. I hate looking like I'm on the defensive, but I take a step back anyway. Matt's a big guy, and it's all the more obvious when he's up close. “Me personally? I just worry when I see guys like that hanging around a pretty young woman with a kid. Blink twice if you're in trouble?” He laughs at his own joke.