Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 103637 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103637 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 518(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 345(@300wpm)
The mess had been cleaned, and while the places where his liquor bottles had broken had a faint odor of alcohol, it was almost as if the early morning confrontation never happened. It was near midday now, and while the day started slow for most of his friends and family on Saturdays, many of them already gravitated to the clubhouse, with some hangarounds sharing gossip over watermelon, and a few of the bikers congregated on outdoor chairs in the shade.
To them, it was a day like any other, but Mike’s gaze kept straying to Arden’s window upstairs. The blinds were open, which meant he was up, but Mike hadn’t seen him yet and kept glancing toward it in hopes of getting a glimpse of the boy.
Seeing Arden’s tears had been far worse than the minor stab Jeff had dressed for him. His chin still ached a bit from the punch, but any bruising that might be there would remain obscured by the beard. Had he fucked up? He had by getting so close to Arden in the first place, but his intentions last night had been pure. Arden had been so badly hurt by his goddamn ex, and Mike had envisioned that a good sexual experience would free Arden of some of that burden.
And then Arden had confessed his love and made Mike remember what happened last time he felt so deeply for another person.
“Watch where you’re going,” Mike snapped at a hangaround who bumped into him.
She wore a black bikini top under a fishnet T-shirt, and the garment barely covered her big breasts. Any other time he would have taken this as an opportunity to flirt but he wasn’t in the mood.
“Um. Rude? I brought you a beer,” She tried, raising her dark eyebrows.
He clenched his jaw, mumbled an apology, and took the bottle out of her hand. He was done with the coffee anyway. “Have you seen Arden today?” he asked just as she was turning on her heel.
Her face fell, but she stopped. She must have heard the gossip by now. “No. Why? Everything okay?”
What was her name? Sammy? He was pretty sure it was ‘Sammy’.
Mike shrugged. “It’s fine. Just wanted to know.”
What if Arden had already vacated the room? What if he’d gone to the bus station and returned to Reno, where Luke could easily target him? What if he’d hitchhiked and became prey to some perverted serial killer? He might be ferocious when angry but not ready to take on a serious opponent.
“Thanks for the beer,” he said, heading to where the guys were seated, enjoying their own drinks while a radio placed on the plastic table in the middle played sports news. The air couldn't have been any drier, scratching Mike’s throat with every breath he took, and he longed for the shade, because the heat was making his brain fry.
Kane sat in a rickety armchair with his leg in a cast, but made the effort of leaning in to clink his bottle with Mike’s. “Heard about Arden. Only uphill from here, eh? You’re now free to marry Harlyn,” he teased, but Mike wasn’t in the mood and ignored him.
“Did any of you see him today?” he asked, carefully sinking into the old sun chair that was so hard to get out of.
So maybe he was a bit paranoid, but when he thought of Arden out there on his own, of someone else flirting with him, being his shoulder to cry on, just to then use the boy’s vulnerability against him, he itched all over to go and knock on Arden’s door.
“He’s not left the premises,” Axel said as if he could read Mike’s mind without as much as glancing at him, busy setting up the grill nearby.
Kane snorted. “Wow. There I was, thinking you decided to just go back to all the pretty girls gagging for your dick.”
“Shut up, Kane,” Jack said from behind his glass of iced coffee before Mike could have.
“He probably didn’t get much sleep with all the clean-up,” Mike mused instead, his mind stubbornly returning to that moment Arden had stared at him in the dark, his eyes shining with love and hope.
And he’d ruined it.
He should have never gotten attached to someone so vulnerable and sweet. He should have kept it in his pants and had fun with girls who didn’t want anything more than that from him. But no, he always had to go for what was being denied to him. Stupid fucking brain.
Jack shrugged. “He got what he was asking for. Doesn’t matter how small he is, he can’t throw your shit around. It’s disrespect.”
Mike glanced at Jack’s big tattooed hand, the same one that had slapped Arden with such ease. It was the size of Arden’s whole face. He knew what Jack was saying was right but still longed to rub his brother’s nose in gravel. Would it be so bad to provoke him into a fight?