Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 76082 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76082 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 380(@200wpm)___ 304(@250wpm)___ 254(@300wpm)
“Why are you looking at me? Do I look like I was in the fucking chess club? Can you move the pointy one over there?” He points to another spot.
Quickshot laughs. “Yeah, definitely listen to him.”
I glare at Animal. “Whose side are you on?”
“Hey, I suggested poker, remember?”
“Yeah, strip poker.”
This is comfortable. Too comfortable. Sometime in the past couple days, I’ve stopped thinking about them as my captors. They’re more like big scary guard dogs, who keep me safe. Well, safe from other people. Quickshot, Animal and Badass are definitely not safe for me. It’s too easy to like them, and that’s a road I shouldn’t go down.
“There’s a girl at the gate,” a big biker shouts over.
"We get a lot of girls, Devil," Quickshot shouts back without taking his eyes off the board. “Be more specific.”
Devil's blood red leather jacket is in stark contrast to his black T-shirt underneath. And the grin he sends my way is worthy of his name. It’s confident, seductive and I bet he’s tempted a lot of girls away from the straight and narrow.
"Says her name's Sandra, and that her sister's here. Only one I could imagine was your girl here." He nods his head in my direction.
"Sandra!" I jump off my stool, almost knocking the chess board over, but Quickshot’s reflexes are like lightning.
Animal's on his feet nearly as quickly. “I thought she was supposed to be kept out of this.”
"She was. She shouldn’t be here. How did she even find me?"
Quickshot doesn’t say anything, but his expression hardens. “I told her I was with the Eagles. She knew something was up. Wouldn’t take a genius to make it here.”
"Should I let her in or tell her to fuck off?" asks Devil. He looks between us, waiting for the call.
I should’ve known something was up. She bought my story way too easily. Like, why should she believe that a guy like Quickshot would even be interested in me? Might as well face the music. “Is it okay? Can I talk to her?”
Quickshot and Animal share a look before Quickshot nods to Devil. “Let her in.”
A minute later, Sandra comes in behind Devil, looking small and unsure, but she breaks into a run when she sees me and wraps me into a big hug. “Nat!”
"Hey," is all I say as we hug.
It feels so insufficient. We’ve had our ups and downs, but never like this. There’s so much I can’t tell her and I feel it all between us like a wall.
"Can we talk?"
"What? Yeah, of course. Sure. Do you want something to drink?"
Chef is behind the bar like usual, with his nose in a book. He's easy to pick out because he keeps the sides of his head shaved to show off the fancy red dragon tattoo there, which wraps its way down around his neck. He scared the heck out of me at first because he’s so grumpy, but once I noticed he was that way with everyone but Jewel, it wasn’t so bad. He looks up. “Got water. Fizzy or normal.”
She eyes the bar. “Really? That’s it?”
“You ain’t a member or an old lady, and my girl would’a told me if there was a new slut around, so yeah. Keep asking and the options dry up.”
“Fizzy I guess,” Sandra says with a chagrined blink.
"Same for me, please.”
Chef slams two glasses on the counter and aims a nozzle at them, filling both in turn. Eyes on my sister, he pulls a slice of lime out from the mini fridge and puts it in mine. I guess being with the guys ranks me slightly higher.
We take our glasses, and I guide Sandra towards the empty couches at the far end of the room. The guys move to follow, but I put up a hand. "Can you give us a few minutes?”
Animal frowns. Quickshot schools his expression better, but his eyes cool. Neither of them want me out of reach. Are they afraid of what I'll say?
“Please?”
They back off, casually leaning on the bar but making it clear they’ll be watching.
"Why did you come here?" I ask as we sit.
"Did you seriously think I’d be okay with you taking off with Eric over there? You’re like the least street savvy person I know and relationships? Even worse. A guy like that is going to chew you up and spit you out.”
I relax just a touch. Maybe she’s just being protective. It’s almost nice for a change, but she had to pick the absolute worst time to return the favor. “I’m not stupid. I know he’s not my usual type, but I’m having fun.”
It's Sandra's turn to frown. "It worries me. You're supposed to be the responsible one."
I shake my head. "Nobody can be responsible all the time. Just… I needed a change. And Quickshot—Eric—we met and things happened, you know?" I guess you could argue that all of that is technically true, and a big ball of lies at the same time.