Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 69772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69772 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Today I was with an old timer who liked to sit back and allow me to do everything, as well as a couple of flight attendants I’d worked with before and I knew would keep the passengers happy.
Years ago, when I’d decided to get my commercial pilot’s license, I’d thought it would be fun.
But now it was more of a burden.
I’d promised myself that I would keep the hours up so I could keep my license, but now I was regretting that promise to myself.
It wasn’t like it was bad flying, but it just took up so many of my days.
And there was this certain person I wanted to go check on after yesterday.
Ande had let it slip in our conversation at the station that Quinn had taken a gunshot wound to the calf. It’d only been a graze, but my heart didn’t care that it was only a graze.
It wanted to make sure that he was all right, and hearing it from other parties, secondhand, wasn’t going to cut it.
Not this time, anyway.
I could handle hearing about his wellbeing when he wasn’t hurt. I couldn’t do it secondhand when he was.
Unfortunately, I had to practice some patience, which I wasn’t very good at.
I had to work.
I needed to work.
But someone was on my mind, and that sat with me through the entire day, until I got home and decided to skip my weekly skydive just so I could get to him that much faster.
The three missed calls from him while I’d been in the air hadn’t helped matters, either.
I decided to drive straight to Quinn’s apartment instead of returning any phone calls, only to find a strange old man answering the door with a scowl on his face.
“Um,” I said carefully. “Is Quinn here?”
“Quinn don’t live here no more,” he snapped.
Then he slammed the door in my face.
My stomach sank, and I stared at the door in shock.
He didn’t live here anymore?
He’d lived here since he’d moved home…
“Lookin’ for Quinn?”
I blinked, surprised to find Quinn’s brother, Gable, at my back.
He looked… rough.
I’d also seen him around my house multiple times since the first day I’d seen him at my place and had forced myself not to ask him how Quinn was doing.
“Yeah,” I grumbled. “You okay?”
He shrugged. “I’ve been better.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “I haven’t seen you around my house or my brother lately.”
He flashed me a wink. “I knew you noticed who I was.”
I snorted. “Other than the huge eye widening thing you did at me to keep me quiet, you’re pretty remarkable, Gable. Plus, you have that little shock of white hair that you can’t always cover up fast enough.”
Gable had a couple of strands of white hair that grew at the top of his head where he’d sustained a head injury when he was young. Ever since then, the white hair had grown in between his dirty blond strands.
And all the hair dye, colored contacts, wardrobe changes, and acting couldn’t hide who a person was when you’d spent a lot of quality time with them in your formative years.
“I figured you were there to watch my brother,” I admitted when he didn’t say anything. “And I didn’t want to out you.”
“You know I was there to find information on your brother, and you didn’t want to out me,” he repeated. “Why?”
I looked at him seriously before I said, “Costas is an adult. If he wants to play stupid games, he can win stupid prizes. Honestly, I think jail would be good for him at this point. I think he’s stuck in this gang and will wind up dead if he’s not careful. Yet he still thinks he’s invincible.”
His lips turned up at the corner. “I’m headed down to the bar at the corner if you want to meet us there. Quinn’s supposed to show up and be our designated driver.”
I fell into step with him. “If I show up, you won’t have a designated driver.”
Because he’d be coming home with me.
Gable snorted. “I figured.”
If I won the lottery, I’d still be the same asshole. Only, I’d get a pirate ship. I’d arm it to the tits. Hire crew. Drink before noon. Oh, and hunt down real pirates.
—Shayne to Quinn
QUINN
I was in a piss poor mood.
My calf ached.
Someone still wouldn’t return my call.
Oh, and now I had to run a fuckin’ raid on the house that she lived in.
Overall, life was fucking awesome right now.
“What are you so glum about?” Elliette asked as she took up the seat next to me.
Elliette was a great girl. A great friend.
Honestly, I would call her one of my best friends.
But there were times when I didn’t want anything to do with her, because she never knew how to leave well-enough alone.
This was one of those times.
The only reason I was here was to be a designated driver for my brothers.