Total pages in book: 58
Estimated words: 71015 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71015 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
She moaned and sat back, leaning her head against my chest. “I blame you. It’s all your fault.”
I barely contained the urge to laugh at her. Somehow I knew that wouldn’t end well, and I managed to suppress it. “And why’s that?”
She pointed a finger at my face…or tried to. It ended up more towards the roll of toilet paper, which was a good ten inches from my face. “I found out about them Wardens, today.”
Was it bad that I thought she was cute when she was trying to be stern?
“Them Wardens?” I asked.
She nodded. “Yessum. Them Wardens. You’re one of them Wardens. Dixie told me so. And Baylee. And Rue, my long lost twin. And…” I covered her mouth, stopping the excessive flow or words pouring from her mouth.
“Was it bad, what you learned?” I asked as I pulled her up to her feet, and led her to the sink where she washed her face. Then her hair. Followed by her neck. Which inevitably meant the white t-shirt she was wearing became nearly transparent with the water that she was practically pouring over herself.
She shook her head once she was finished, and I couldn’t tell if it was due to the fact that she was answering my question in a negative, or trying to lose some of the water from her face and hair.
“No. It was all good. I was just unsure of whether I would want to be,” she held up her fingers and air quoted the last word. “ ’Owned.’ ”
“Ah,” I said, taking the hand towel hanging on the rack and covering her chest with it.
I could’ve taken off my jacket, but then I’d have my forty caliber out where everyone could see it, then it would no longer be concealed. Which made the concealed carry license I had null.
“Do you want kids?” She asked suddenly, startling me out of my thoughts.
“Uhh,” I stuttered. “No. Well yes, but no. Not right now. Maybe in a few years. Why? Do you?”
She shrugged. “Yes. Not right now, though. I just started my job. I want to work up the food chain some. Did you know that the human head weighs eight pounds?”
I couldn’t follow the woman’s line of thinking. “Huh. Imagine that. I think I’ve heard that somewhere.”
The smile was threatening to break out on my face again.
“It was Jerry MacGyver,” she said stoically.
My laugh burst free from my throat in a sudden boom, and Tru laughed with me, even though I doubted she knew what she was laughing at. “Do you mean Jerry Maguire?”
She nodded and started to walk out of the bathroom, wobbling side to side like she was on a tight rope.
Without waiting for me, she yanked open the door and started to walk outside.
Straight into chaos.
Chapter 13
I think I need a massage. There is so much tension in my vagina.
-E-card
Tru
“I’ve never been in jail before. Do you think my mom will be mad at me?” I asked Rue, my BFF.
She was leaning against my back, as I was doing to her, so we didn’t have to lay down on the disgusting concrete benches, nor touch the wall.
We’d been in the ‘drunk tank’ for going on six hours now, and I had a feeling that my mom was making me stay there because I was an embarrassment.
When I’d called her four hours ago, very much sober, she’d sounded disappointed in me.
I’d never disappointed my mom before, and it felt horribly wrong.
But she didn’t know what had happened!
“Me neither. It’s a first for all of us. Although, my husband’s spent some time behind bars,” Baylee said from her perch across the room.
My eyes widened in surprise. “Really?”
She nodded. “Yep. A couple years ago, he shot someone trying to kill his sister in the hospital. He didn’t get charged for the murder, but he was charged with bringing the weapon onto hospital property. He had to do probation and wear an ankle bracelet.”
Hmmm. I didn’t know what to think about how easily she waved it off, but it wasn’t me married to the man. Sebastian was scary. I didn’t know any of the men all that well, although their wives and I had made quick friends at the beginning of the night.
“What do y’all think about being married to a man who’s in a motorcycle club?” I asked, testing the waters a bit.
I was scared about that part of dating Grayson…or ‘Torren’ as they all liked to call him.
“It’s not too bad, really. They don’t do anything illegal to make their money. They help where they can. They actually do a lot of stuff around the community,” Viddy said. “When that tornado came through last spring, two counties over, they spent nearly two weeks over there cleaning up the mess and helping to rebuild. Then, they’d go down every weekend once they used up all their vacation time.”
I’d actually heard about that.
“Our husbands are all in public service in some capacity. They try their hardest to be good, but sometimes it just takes a little strong arming. They’re not bad people at all. They’re actually just like the normal citizens. They have hearts and consciences and everything,” Adeline said proudly.
“Torren saved my life a few months ago,” Rue said from directly behind me.
I froze, “What?”
I’d met Rue in the hospital a year prior, while consulting on a patient. We’d made fast friends, so I, of course, had heard about the incident, but this was the first time I’d heard of her blaming herself.
She nodded, and I could feel her hair bouncing against my shoulder. “Yep. I was responsible for getting him hurt. And I’m the reason that Tunnel died.”
Every single woman in the room shouted in indignation, but it was Adeline, the closest to me, that I heard the best.
“You were not responsible for his death, and you know it. Don’t hold that over yourself,” Adeline said fiercely. “He wouldn’t want you to. Tunnel had an oath that he stood by, and he would’ve done the same for anyone: man, woman or child.”