Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 66580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66580 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 266(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Shade’s expression softened. “Have I taken you to breakfast yet?”
“No,” I whispered.
“Then it’s not over yet,” he replied. “But I really do need to go, babe. Nothing to do with you—club business. I’m the president, which means sometimes I have to handle shit.”
“Okay, then,” I said, my smile genuine. “Go handle shit.”
“I’ll text you later. Let you know what tonight looks like.”
“All right.”
Shade reached for the door again, then turned back. He studied me, and I wondered what was going on in his head. I was still naked, and my hair was so crazy I probably looked like Medusa. I’d tucked the sheet across my chest so at least I wasn’t totally naked. He shook his head slowly.
“What?” I asked.
He didn’t reply for a minute, his face serious. “Babe, you know I’m not a keeper, right?”
“Who says I want to keep you?” I asked, raising a brow. “I’m not looking for a relationship, remember? But I’m liking this one-night stand stuff… I’d be up for more of that. Have some fun together and then some morning you can buy me breakfast. No need to overthink it.”
Shade nodded slowly, then turned and left the room.
You still sure about that not wanting a relationship? Wonder Woman asked. Because if I didn’t know better, I’d say you—
Fuck off, I snapped at her. Me and Shade would have some fun together, and then Future Me would give him a smile and a laugh when it was finally over.
Future Me was tough like that.
Totally.
Chapter Eighteen
Four weeks later
“Are you ready?” Sara shouted through the bathroom door. “Bone just called. He wants us there a couple minutes early. Said he needed to talk.”
“About what?” I shouted back at her, drying off my hands. I gave myself a quick glance in the mirror, just to be sure everything was right. Tight tank with a hint of bra showing? Check. Lipstick was bright and shiny, no smudges on the teeth. Combine that with my low-cut jeans and I’d be rolling in the tips.
Not that Shade would entirely approve—he liked it when I looked good, but he wasn’t so into the idea of me flirting for money.
Pretty uppity for a one-night stand, in my opinion.
Of course, that one-night stand had been going for a month straight, so there was that. At some point he’d leave town—I knew it was coming. That didn’t mean I couldn’t enjoy him while he was here.
Me hooking up with Shade wasn’t the only thing that’d happened in the last month.
Sara and I had officially moved in together, for one. Hannah didn’t need me living with her anymore. Heath’s family had swarmed around her like a plague of very respectable locusts, and now his mom was helping her with the kids most days. I thought the way they’d gotten together so fast was a little freaky, but then again, it wasn’t like the circumstances had been normal.
Considering that I was in a long-term one-night stand with a biker who’d made it clear he wasn’t a keeper, I didn’t have much room to judge.
I opened the bathroom door to find Sara already outside. Grabbing my bag, I followed her to the car, wondering what’d crawled up Bone’s ass. The man was impossible to read.
“We need to stop and get gas on the way in,” I said as I slid into the seat. “You told me to remind you.”
“Shit,” she muttered, turning on the car. “We’re coasting on fumes but we’re late, too. I think we can make it.”
“If we don’t, you can call Bone and tell him to come rescue us,” I said. “It’s his fault we had to rush out so fast.”
Sara nodded, turning her head to watch as she backed out of her duplex’s driveway. The bar was less than two miles away, so we’d probably be just fine. Worst case, we could walk. Wouldn’t be the first time.
By the time we pulled up to the Pit, there were only a couple cars out front. Not busy at all. I wondered if Bone would let one of us off early. Shade had messaged me saying that he had stuff to do tonight and wouldn’t be around until later, but maybe if I let him know…
Sara parked the car right in front, startling me.
“Bone will shit bricks if he sees this,” I said. “He wants you in the back, remember?”
Sara gave me a sweet smile. “Bone can get his back door action from someone else.”
I giggled, shaking my head. “Seriously—you aren’t supposed to park here. You’ll get in trouble.”
“If he wanted us parking around back, he shouldn’t have called us in ahead of schedule.”
“Fair enough,” I said. “It’s your grave.”
We climbed out of the car and started up the steps.
“Can you get the door?” she asked, pulling out her phone.
“Sure,” I replied, pushing ahead of her.
“Surprise!” a loud chorus of people shouted, and I froze, stunned. There were Hannah and Heath and the girls. A whole bunch of the Reapers and their women… Mrs. Collins, our old neighbor and even one of the church ladies who’d stopped by with the clothing after the fire. Karen something. I couldn’t remember her last name, but she was laughing and smiling at me just like everyone else.