Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 138588 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 554(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138588 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 554(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
Ain’t no use unless you get out of this life. All it will do is tempt a man with something he can’t have. Because you cannot have the whole happy family, wife and kids thing if you’re constantly under threat of going to prison.
He could, he supposed. His brother had an old lady and three kids he barely paid attention to. His brother would tell him he had it all. The family. The power. All the women he can possibly want to fuck.
Wyatt wanted more.
Of course none of it would matter if he froze to death here. What had he been thinking? Sawyer might be out with a lady. He wasn’t at the bar. The nice lady there had told him Sawyer had taken the night off. He would probably be gone all night.
Wyatt was pretty sure he’d used the last of his energy to walk up this damn mountain, and now he was going to die. Freeze to death and all because he didn’t have a cell phone. They’d taken his when they’d taken his bike and every cent of cash he had.
You want to leave, brother? You do it the way you came into this world. With nothing except a reminder that you are no longer family.
Wyatt took a long breath and tried to forget his “reminder.” He’d survived the ceremony and hidden out for a couple of days with a woman who was club adjacent while she nursed his wounds and got him some clothes. He’d hated taking her money for the bus to Alamosa, but there’d been no other way. He couldn’t stay with her because she wasn’t leaving the club.
So this was the end of the road. Either Sawyer would let him in or he would die on his porch sitting in an Adirondack chair and watching the most beautiful set of stars he’d ever seen.
The sound of tires on dirt let Wyatt know he’d at least had one lucky break in all this misery.
His gut twisted because he was about to find out his fate. He was betting everything on a friendship that had been strongest years and years ago. Sawyer was kind of a dick most of the time.
Twin lights shone on the tree line in front of him, and Wyatt stood up. Sawyer was also a guy who probably shot first and asked questions never. He moved off the porch, holding his hands up.
The door opened and a big dog bounded out. Wyatt closed his eyes because he was probably about to be eaten by a guard dog. Sawyer would have the biggest, nastiest, best-trained guard dog in the world.
Wyatt managed to stay standing as the dog hit his chest. And then he felt a wet tongue on his cheek.
“Well, shit,” Sawyer said with a sigh. “I probably should have taken my chance with the schoolteacher.”
Wyatt opened his eyes, and the dog let its paws go back to the ground, running toward Sawyer with a happy bark. So not a guard dog. “Hey. You remember that time I saved your brother’s life and you said you owed me one?”
Sawyer stepped close enough the moonlight illuminated his stark features. “You know I owe you for more than one night. You saved me, too. You finally wake up and leave the cult?”
Something eased within Wyatt. He supposed there had been a knot in his gut telling him no one would help him, that he was truly alone in the world. From the moment he’d known he had to leave, there had been a piece of himself thinking he would die. “Yeah.”
Sawyer looked him over, taking in the T-shirt and track pants and sneakers. None of which fit since they’d been Lydia’s ex’s. “Suppose they took everything. Your bike?”
He nodded. “A friend got me a bus ticket. I hitchhiked from Alamosa. Don’t call me a dumbass because I didn’t call.”
“They took your cell, too.” Sawyer stared at him for a moment. “How’d they take your tat? I’m betting they didn’t let you laser it off. Or black it out.”
“I’m okay.” He had to be. There was no other way to be.
Sawyer cursed under his breath. “Acid, or did they burn it off you?”
“I’m okay.” He didn’t want to think about it. Or rather he didn’t want to talk about it. It still hurt.
“Let’s get inside. I’ll call the doc. Hopefully he didn’t get into the eggnog.” Sawyer stepped around him, going to the door. “Don’t mind the dog. She’s not here forever. Just until I can find someone to take her.”
The dog seemed pretty at home to Wyatt. The minute the door was open, she ran inside as though afraid of being left out in the cold. It was actually a smart idea. If he was inside, Sawyer probably wouldn’t lock him out. “I don’t need a doc. I’m handling it.” He managed to walk in like he wasn’t desperate to get warm. Cool. He was going to play this cool. It didn’t matter that now he felt a little hot. Weird how he’d been cold before and now he might be sweating. “I only need a place to stay for a couple of days until I get my shit together. Maybe you could help me look for a job.”