Total pages in book: 22
Estimated words: 20551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 103(@200wpm)___ 82(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 20551 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 103(@200wpm)___ 82(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
He harumphs. “It’s sudden, isn’t it?”
When I don’t answer, he asks me, “What’s going on, Brandy?”
I stop packing to look at him. “Look, I just need to get out of here. I’ll be back in four days—a week tops. But I’m fine.”
I try to force a smile, but I know he sees right through it. He finally shrugs his shoulders. I’m an adult, and it’s not like he can forbid me from going or anything. “You need some money or anything?”
I shake my head. “No, thank you, though. I’ll call you and let you know I made it safely.”
He leaves my room, and I finish packing. I call up Amber, and like the good friend she is, she’s more than happy for me to come and crash at her apartment. She doesn’t ask any questions, but I’m sure when I get there, she’ll ask plenty.
As soon as I finish packing, I’m out the door as if someone’s chasing me. There’s a part of me that knows Diesel is going to come looking for me. I’m just not sure when.
I drive the hour north, and my phone continues to quietly vibrate with incoming phone calls and messages. I should ignore it, but I dig the phone out and see that they’re all from Diesel. Fuck, this hurts. It hurts more than I ever thought I could hurt. It’s a joke that I was falling for him. I’m way past that. Somewhere in the past week, I’ve fallen in love with Diesel the biker. Right or wrong, smart or stupid, I did it. But I know that if there’s anyone that can break me, it will be him. Just the fact he does something dangerous has me wanting to run. I know I can’t stand by him day in and day out wondering if today is the day he gets hurt. The day he dies. I thought I was strong, but obviously not as strong as I like to think I am.
I shut off my phone. Mostly because I can already feel myself weakening, wanting to hear his voice. No, ending this now is for the best.
Chapter 11
Diesel
"What do you mean she quit?" I asked Scout the next day. I thought I was giving Brandy time to cool off last night, but obviously, I did the wrong thing. I should have tracked her ass down when she refused to answer the phone. I thought for sure that she would calm down, and we would be able to talk this out. All I had to do was to explain to her, and I'm sure that she would've understood.
I worried all night about my response to her, knowing what I said was wrong. Scout is nodding his head, running his hand through his beard. "She called this morning, said that she was quitting, and before I could ask any questions, she had hung up and she's not answering any of my phone calls," he says.
I grab the keys to my bike and walk outside. Standing next to it, I pull my phone from my pocket and dial her number again. I don't leave a message this time. I've left enough. I stuff the phone back into my pocket and drive across town to where she lives.
I barely get stopped and I’m jumping off the bike and running up the front steps of the duplex. I knock on the front door and stand back with my hands on my hips and wait for someone to answer. The door is shut tightly, and the drapes are all pulled, so I can't see inside. I knock again, but still no one answers. I walk off the porch and around to the back. There's a small outbuilding that is open, and I make my way to it. Inside there's an old man sitting in a chair, whittling a piece of wood. He looks at me as I stop at the entrance to his building, and his eyes widen. I'm sure he's taking in my large frame, and I try to look less intimidating than I am. "Are you Brandy's uncle?"
He tilts his head to the side and looks at me. "What's it to you?"
I put my hands in the front pockets of my jeans and stare at him. "Have you seen her?"
He shrugs. "I saw her yesterday. Said she was leaving town for a bit."
Fuck, I think I've really messed up if she's quit her job and left town to get away from me. I ask the old man, "Did she say where she was going?"
He shrugs. "I'm not telling you. It's not like her to just run off. So I'm assuming she's running from you."
I nod. "We had a misunderstanding, but I'm here to make it right."
He goes back to whittling the piece of wood in his hand and shrugs his shoulders as if he doesn't have a care in the world. "Yeah, well, I'm not telling you where she's at."