Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 73192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73192 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 366(@200wpm)___ 293(@250wpm)___ 244(@300wpm)
***
Meeting the big, scary biker enemy of my not-calling-himself-my-boyfriend boyfriend should’ve scared me silly.
It didn’t.
Why?
Because I knew that a man that was friends with Tyler for so long would never hurt me—or him for that matter.
Every time I came up with a solution in my head, trying to explain what had happened between the two, I came up short.
I just couldn’t see how this could have happened without wires being crossed.
From what I’d researched about Rome—or what Janie had found for me and I’d read—I couldn’t figure out how the man currently standing in front of me at a popular eatery—again Janie’s doing because I would’ve had no hope in hell of finding him—would’ve done something like this to Tyler.
Not when everything pointed to him actually being a really good guy.
And, on top of all that, he cared.
Everyone that I talked to—mainly Tyler’s sisters and a few of his buddies when Tyler had slipped off to the bathroom the other night—had said that they were just as surprised by Rome’s actions as Tyler.
As I’d said before, nothing was ever as it seemed.
And I wanted to know the freakin’ truth.
Rome ordered and I stared at the material on his back.
Coming from a long line of motorcycle riders in my family, I knew what the leather vest on the man’s back was—a cut.
He was in a motorcycle club.
The top rocker read Bear Bottom Guardians.
There was a second rocker on top, just under the top rocker, that said ‘Dixie Wardens MC.’
Then there was the wraith-like woman that I’d seen on the other Dixie Wardens members backs.
The bottom rocker said Bear Bottom, Texas.
There were a few other patches here and there, one on the bottom that said ‘lost cause.’
And I felt my heart break.
This big man in front of me thought he was a lost cause—and maybe he was.
But I wouldn’t know until he talked to me.
Which he would.
My ears perked up when I heard him order one more thing. “I need a piece of pie—the lemon meringue, too.”
The woman nodded. “Anything else?”
Rome shook his head once. “No.”
“Are you okay?” the woman asked, sounding genuinely concerned.
Rome shrugged, but didn’t answer. Then he took his number and turned, heading straight for the drinking fountain and not once looking behind him to notice me.
Good.
I waved at the young woman behind the counter, but her eyes were trained on Rome and she looked at him with concern.
“Something wrong?” I asked softly.
Her eyes turned back to me and she smiled sadly. “He comes in here a lot. He doesn’t look good today.”
She didn’t elaborate and I wanted to know more.
But it’d be weird for me to question her about him, to be honest. I was new here and they obviously saw each other quite a bit. I was the outsider…not him.
Instead, I just gave her a sad smile—which was genuine—and ordered a small drink and a couple of street tacos.
Once I had my order number, I filled my drink up, then looked around for Rome—who’d taken a seat in the corner of the room with his back to the doors.
Which surprised me.
He didn’t look like he was the kind of guy who’d allow anyone to take him by surprise. He looked like the type of man who would want to see shit coming—such as me.
Carefully I maneuvered myself between the tables and took the table directly next to Rome’s. However, instead of stopping once I was behind mine, I kept scooting until I was directly in front of Rome.
He looked up with a bored expression and the moment he got a look at my face, his entire body went solid.
“Leave.”
I smiled. “I’m not really good at following directions. You should ask Tyler.”
Rome’s eyes went electric. “I’m not doing this. You need to leave or I will.”
I smiled, but I didn’t move. “I’ll just continue to follow you until you talk to me.”
Rome sat up from where he was leaning against the table and gave me a hard glare. “I said leave.”
Instead of replying to his order, I shook my head. “I’m not leaving. Mostly because Tyler misses you and he needs you.”
Everything inside of Rome seemed to deflate at that news.
I saw the devastation on his face clear as day.
He was broken.
“I…I’ve done enough. You should take your food and go. Don’t come back. Tyler doesn’t need my problems and I’ve caused him enough hurt.” Rome crossed his arms over his chest and I looked to my left to see not just the lady behind the counter staring at him with avid fascination, but also a couple of other women in the restaurant.
“Tyler talks about you like you’re still his best friend,” I murmured. “I don’t know what happened on your end, but I know what it looks like on Tyler’s and it’s not good. But…something I’ve learned since I started seeing Tyler is that what he talks about when it comes to you and whatever went down…the man he described to me doesn’t sound like the type of man who would do him like you did him.”