Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 154037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 770(@200wpm)___ 616(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 154037 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 770(@200wpm)___ 616(@250wpm)___ 513(@300wpm)
“Ahh…missed you.”
“And I missed you. And Raven.” Haddie slanted her attention to Raven.
Raven who was picking up her bag and slinging it over her shoulder and striding their way. “I’m impossible not to miss.”
Haddie was still clinging to Otto as she teased, “Now who is looking to get their ego stroked?”
Another giggle fumbled out of Raven, and Otto stepped back, gesturing toward the door. “Come on, you two, let’s get you inside.”
Haddie didn’t hesitate. She scampered up the steps and through the door and into the house where Raven lived with River and the guys.
Her family.
A traditional sort of family it was not, but to her, that’s exactly what they were. They were the ones who’d protected her. Cared for her and raised her.
They’d kept her sheltered and secreted until River had made their mother sign off as her guardian, even though she’d continued to do classes online since she’d freaked out when she’d tried to attend school.
Too many people around her. Too many voices. Too many fears still lingering inside her that she still didn’t know how to get away from.
She kept trying, though. She would never give up, and she knew one day, she would find her place.
Her comfort and her joy.
Her father might have destroyed a big part of her childhood, but she wouldn’t allow him to destroy her entire life.
She was slowly finding her way, even though it was difficult sometimes.
Which was why she was really glad she had Haddie.
Haddie who’d been her best friend since Otto had introduced them when she was nine.
Haddie who was brave and bold and ran out into the world without a care, embracing everything that came her way.
They might have basically been opposites, but the two of them were inseparable, and they spent as much time together as they could.
Haddie went directly for Raven’s room and tossed her bag to the bed right before she did the same with herself, flopping onto her back and bouncing on the mattress. Her light brown hair was spread all around her as she laughed toward the ceiling, so pretty that the guys lost their minds whenever they went out.
Ice cream shops.
Stores.
The few parties they’d gone to together.
The attention they garnered was something Raven was still trying to figure out how to deal with. How to handle it when her first instinct was to cower and hide.
Haddie sat up onto her elbows and cocked Raven a bawdy grin.
“This is going to be the best weekend ever.”
“What are you thinking? This is the worst idea you’ve ever had.”
And Haddie had suffered more than a few of them. Raven rarely got into trouble, but when she did, it never failed that she was with Haddie.
They were supposed to be watching a movie and then going to sleep. At least that’s what Haddie had told Otto before he’d left on business.
And there they were, slinking through the city under the cover of night.
“Your brother is going to be so pissed,” Raven continued, trying to talk some sense into her best friend.
Okay, Raven’s brother was going to be pissed, too.
Really pissed.
This endeavor was so off limits, so out of bounds, Raven would likely be grounded until she was twenty-seven, and she wouldn’t put it past her brother to try to enforce it.
Raven clomped along a foot behind her, trying to balance on the outrageous heels Haddie had insisted she wear. What made it even worse was she’d pulled a sequined cream-colored miniskirt and a black lacy tank from her bag and had insisted that Raven actually put them on.
She’d never felt so exposed in her life.
Haddie was dressed pretty much the same, though her outfit was red.
“He’ll get over it,” Haddie said with a grin.
They rounded the corner to the sound of heavy music thrumming through the air and the hoots and shouts of inebriated voices.
Apprehension stirred Raven’s conscience into unease. This was a bad idea. A really bad idea.
But Haddie just kept strutting along like it was the best one she’d ever had as they headed toward the bar and the buildings in the back where River’s friends all hung out. Where they had their meetings and dealt their dirty deals. Some of them actually lived there.
Okay, she called them his friends, but she understood what they really were. She knew it from the long row of motorcycles parked at an angle out front and the leather vests they all wore. Knew it from the way the conversations often cut off whenever she came into a room, and the way River and the rest of his crew were always looking over their shoulders.
She hadn’t gotten it at first, too young and naïve to understand, but she knew now.
They were members of a motorcycle club.
The Iron Owls.
And she was pretty sure they didn’t partake in the legal, their illicit activities dangerous. But when she’d finally gotten the courage to confront River about it, he’d promised her he would be fine, and he would never let anything happen to him. Told her not to worry.