Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 79360 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79360 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
What, it wasn’t enough that he had to steal one woman, now he had to take the other as well?
Fucking perfect.
“Hey, boy. You want a burger?”
I looked over at my pop after tearing my eyes away from Naomi, who was laughing at something Jessie had said.
“Nah,” I said, clearing my throat when it didn’t sound as strong as it seemed. “I just came to tell you I’m going to be gone for a few hours.” I let my eyes trail back to the woman who was now staring at me, smile wiped from her face. “I have a few errands I need to run.”
I was lying.
I didn’t have any errands.
But I wasn’t going to be responsible for what I did to Jessie if I stayed, which meant I had to go.
“Yo,” Ghost said as he came up beside me. “You that busy?”
Ghost actually talking to me was new, at least lately.
He was different over these last couple of months.
Since the men in our tight knit group had started getting married and finding life partners, Ghost had become even more and more distant.
It’d started off gradually, and now, thinking back, I didn’t remember when he’d disappeared almost completely.
But seeing him here at my father’s place was the first time in, at least, three weeks.
He hadn’t even ridden with us to the smokehouse.
I couldn’t remember the last time Ghost had missed a group ride.
Sure, he’d shown up eventually, but it’d only been after we’d arrived.
“No. Just a few errands that can wait. Why?” I asked.
His jaw worked. “I need a spot.”
I worried my lip with my teeth.
“You working?”
He shrugged. “Yeah.”
I wasn’t actually sure what Ghost did.
At first, I’d thought he was a law enforcement officer. But he was a little too free at handing out punishments, and any time a LEO walked in the door, Ghost walked out the back.
He helped them, yes, but he didn’t actually work with them.
He did his own private work, and it was rarely ever that I saw him doing his job…at least I didn’t think I did, anyway.
Though, I had never been to his house. He worked from home the majority of the time, and since he never allowed anyone to come to his place, none of us could ever confirm what it was he did.
So, him actually saying he was working instead of beating around the subject was enough to set off some red flags.
“Well, let’s go,” I said. “See you later, Dad.”
My father frowned at me, at Ghost, and then in the direction I assumed Naomi was still sitting.
“We riding?” I asked as I walked out the back door. “Or do you want to take my truck.”
If Ghost smiled, he would’ve done it right then.
“Ride.”
“What’s up?” I asked as I walked toward my bike. “Something wrong?”
“Thought you needed an excuse to get out of there. And I need an excuse not to fuck something up that’s been in the works for four years now. I need to go, I just need to make sure that I don’t let the crazy out when I get there.”
I looked at my friend, then nodded once.
“I’m there if you need me.”
He took a deep breath then released it. “I need you.”
For Ghost to say something like that, I knew he really did need me.
I looked back one last time at Naomi standing in the doorway of my father’s house, and knew that there was always one constant in my life…and that was my club. These men had always been there for me, even the jackwad, Jessie James, a time or two.
Without another thought, I turned my back on Naomi, and walked down the driveway to my bike.
***
“You need to give her a break, Son,” my father said. “She was scared, in a town where she didn’t know anyone, and honestly, she doesn’t even owe you an explanation. She owes you less than nothing. You gave her an orgasm, that was it.”
I refrained from saying ‘and how do you know that?’ But just barely.
“I don’t remember asking for your opinion,” I observed, staring up at my old man.
I picked up the bottle of water I’d filled from the fridge, and turned, not bothering to wait for the man’s rebuttal. I knew he had one.
I also knew that he liked Naomi.
Hell, I did, too. Which was the problem.
She’d fucking left me in my bed, gone to work, and then had disappeared. Without a single word.
I didn’t know if she was hurt. Didn’t know if she was okay. Didn’t know if I should be assembling a posse to start looking for her. I didn’t know a goddamned thing.
I’d gone by her house to find it empty. Then had called in to work to see if they’d heard anything from her before she left, only to be informed that I’d have a new partner for a few weeks while Naomi took care of some personal issues.