Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81009 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81009 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 405(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
The clicking of the door as it closed yet another relief. That had been the last time Nixie would have my cock. Time to end that shit before she got any worse.
I’d just gotten a towel wrapped around my waist when someone banged on my door.
It was followed by a, “Get up, Tex,” that came from Micah.
I drank down the third bottle of water before heading to open it up and see what the fuck he wanted. The sight of him looking well rested when I opened the door made me scowl. He’d probably gone to bed at a decent hour without getting hammered. Fucked Dolly, then cuddled up to her like a whipped puppy. Sometimes, I missed the old Micah.
“Already awake,” he said. “Good. We have church in fifteen. Liam is almost here.”
I hadn’t known Prez was coming. There hadn’t been church scheduled for today, but then after yesterday’s shit, I should have known we’d meet to make plans.
“Liam’s coming for this?”
He nodded. “I called him last night. He spoke with Blaise, and he wants to meet with us about our next move. We can’t stay locked up forever. Get some clothes on and grab something from the kitchen before you come in. I don’t want to hear bitching about food.”
Being given orders by Micah had also been an adjustment. He was younger than me, and until Dolly, he had been the world’s biggest pretty-boy player. Seeing him take a role or any responsibility was different. But then at least he wasn’t sneaking bitches into my room to get sucked off by Dylan, a stripper who had been his exclusively, while whatever female he was dating was in another room, waiting on him in complete ignorant bliss.
“Getting ready now,” I replied.
Micah glanced over at the closed door where Pepper stayed when she was here, then back at me. “You gonna be good with that?” He nodded his head in the direction of the other room.
If he was pressing for details, he wasn’t getting any.
“Good with what?” I asked, not admitting shit where Salem was concerned.
The way he cut his eyes at me made me think he wasn’t fooled.
“Yeah, okay, then I don’t have to deal with you causing issues. Lick’s unpredictable when unprovoked. Don’t need to light any fuses. We have enough shit outside the club fucking with us.”
My gaze narrowed. “What’s Lick got to do with this?”
He’d given her a fucking ride on his bike, not proposed marriage.
Jesus, Micah, not the back of every man’s bike is sacred. He should know that. Dolly had been on the back of mine when she needed a ride before he went apeshit over her ass.
“Just seems, of all the brothers, I wouldn’t have thought it would be Lick she gravitated to. Hell, even the club sluts keep their distance out of fear, unless he asks for them.”
If all my muscles hadn’t already been tensed up, they were now.
“What do you mean, gravitated?” I asked.
Micah shrugged. “I mean, gravitated. She doesn’t want to draw attention to herself and is quiet, except with Lick. When he talks to her, she converses with him.”
Salem had been talking to Lick?
My temples throbbed. She was naive and hadn’t been around men like Lick. She didn’t know the depraved shit he was thinking.
“She doesn’t belong here. She’s not like us,” I said tightly.
“And Dolly is?” He chuckled. “Don’t think it matters, Tex. She’s in danger outside of these walls.”
Dolly was different. She had been Pepper’s best friend since grade school.
I needed to talk to Salem. Warn her about things…Lick. Fuck, did she have to reel in men everywhere she went? My skin felt as if it were too tight. A restless energy pulsed through me, and the idea of putting my fist through the wall was appealing.
“I’ll be down in a few,” I said and closed the door as he turned to leave me the fuck alone.
Telling myself that I shouldn’t care who she gravitated to was bullshit. I cared. Even when she had been thousands of miles away, living another life, I had cared. I’d drunk her memory away so many nights that I couldn’t count them. Fucked so many women, only seeing her face when I closed my eyes, that it should be a damn crime.
So, yeah, Micah, this is a motherfucking issue.
19
Tex
Twenty-One Years Ago
Someone in the junior or senior class had money this year. I was sure I could get it right on the first guess.
I climbed out of my truck and stared at the historic white barn that had been modernized and turned into some fancy event venue. There was a water fountain out front, and twinkling white lights covered every fucking tree. Music poured out into the night from the two doors that stood open.
My prom at the same high school had been in the gym. This was an entirely different budget, and I knew the school couldn’t afford this.