Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 137310 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137310 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
Millie turned to our row and murmured, “Ringing out the dead.”
I didn’t know what that meant, but by the sound of it, I wasn’t sure I was going to like it.
Hugger had been so quiet, so lost for the last three days, I didn’t have the heart to push him on specifics. He told us where to be and when we had to be there. That morning, when they’d arrived, surprising us both, he’d let Dad, Nicole and Larry give him a hug, showing openly how shocked and touched he was they’d come.
But mostly he was stuck in his grief, and all I could do was stick close and make sure he knew I was there.
After a while, I heard all the bikes coming to life, and ran my gaze down that long, thick phalanx of Harleys.
Tack was at the front.
Rush was on his bike at the very back.
Suddenly, Tack revved his engine and then all of the bikers did it, one, two, three, four, five times.
The bikes went silent, and after a couple of beats, Rush revved his bike once.
“The Last Rev,” Keely’s trembling voice said. It broke when she finished, “It’s done.”
God, how beautiful.
“Now we can go,” Archie whispered and stood.
I stood with her and searched, finding Hugger astride his bike close to the front of the pack.
He wasn’t near.
But I knew his eyes were on me.
I touched my hand to my heart and my lips, then sent it fluttering in his direction.
Again, he wasn’t near.
But I saw him jerk up his chin.
Archie and Georgie escorted me to Dad, Nic and Larry.
And we headed back to Chaos.
A party raged outside the Compound, but inside, where only Chaos, Resurrection, Aces High (and Dad, Nic and Larry, and close friends to Chaos) were allowed, the mood was somber.
I had my eyes on my man sitting at the bar where all the brothers were hanging, drinking tequila and brooding, while the rest of us gave them a wide berth.
Dad, Nic and Larry had their eyes on me.
But it was Nicole who curled her fingers around my wrist.
I looked to her.
“Go to him,” Nicole urged.
I wasn’t sure.
I was the new girl. I didn’t want to do something stupid and mess up.
“None of the other ladies are doing it,” I replied.
“Then break the seal, sweetheart.” Dad was now close. “Those men need their women.”
“And these women need their men,” Nicole added.
Shit.
Should I?
I watched Hugger throw back a shot of tequila.
He had a beer on more than the rare occasion, but he wasn’t a big drinker.
He’d barely put the glass down before Shy filled it.
And Shy had barely filled it before Hugger threw it back again.
Shy didn’t bother with a glass, he just took his slugs direct from the bottle.
Fuck.
I had to make a decision.
A decision for my man.
I made it.
I walked to my guy, my pumps sounding loud in the solemn quiet.
Some of the men watched me coming, but I couldn’t tell if I was doing wrong or right by the expressions on their faces.
Even so, I kept going.
And when I got to him, I put my hand on Hugger’s back.
He twisted to me.
“Hey, honey,” I whispered.
I barely got the second word out before he turned fully to me, pulled me so forcefully between his spread knees and into his arms, my breath clean left me, and he buried his face in my neck.
I not only heard but felt the powerful hitch in his breath.
I fisted my hand in his hair, wrapped my other arm around him and shoved my face in his neck too.
I sensed all the other women finding their men as I held on to my own.
I didn’t know how long I stood there with my guy, my sisters with theirs, before I heard Elvira say, “Fuck this. Enough. Petey would be so over this shit, he’d spit.”
I peeked out from Hugger’s neck and saw her man, another gorgeous one (which seemed all that Chaos attracted, even if Malik wasn’t Chaos) was setting a Bluetooth speaker on the bar, and she was queuing something up on her phone.
Within moments, some piano notes and drumbeats filled the room.
By the time Bob Seger’s voice could be heard, Hop was singing with him.
It barely got to the second line before Tack, Boz and Hound had joined in, and they were doing it loud.
It wasn’t even the next verse before High, Snap and Shy joined in.
Everyone in the Compound gathered around the bar then, and we all sang it (though I didn’t know all the words, I’d heard the song, so I did my best), and with each word, we were singing it louder, a Chaos and Friends chorus of Seger’s “Roll Me Away.”
Some arms were linked, some thrown over shoulders, some curved around waists, but all of us were in some way connected so there was a circle of love around that bar, shouting out rock poetry.