Total pages in book: 212
Estimated words: 207966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1040(@200wpm)___ 832(@250wpm)___ 693(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 207966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1040(@200wpm)___ 832(@250wpm)___ 693(@300wpm)
By a couple minutes to eleven, I was done and ready to crash. I needed to relieve Pudge at six, so I reached into the drawer of my bedside table and pulled out a set of handcuffs.
That was when the blonde rolled into me and settled her head on my chest, draping an arm over my gut.
“Yo,” I barked and finally, her eyes opened. She took me in, startled, and rolled away quickly while blinking rapidly. She rolled too far and fell to the floor with a thud and a grunt.
“I gotta crash and unfortunately for you, you need to be cuffed to my bed,” I stated.
“What?” she whispered, her head popping up, eyes hitting the cuffs dangling from my finger.
I shoved away the thought that sleepy looked cute on her.
“Woke you at least five times, hostage, and told ya not to get your day and night mixed up, but you were comatose. I gotta be up by quarter to six, so go.” I gestured to the door. “Use the can, grab a drink, food, then you’re cuffed until I wake up.”
“You’re joking,” she whispered.
“Not at all. And make it quick.”
She got to her feet, trying to pull her leather pants on before getting all the way there so I wouldn’t see her underwear. She failed. She faltered a couple times trying to get them on, falling to the bed, bumping into the wall, before finally stumbling sleepily to my door. Her eyes hit my face, cheeks flushed, embarrassed at her clumsiness.
I followed her down the hall to the bathroom.
“You’re not comin’ in with me, are you?” she asked, wide-eyed.
“I’ll wait here.” I leaned a shoulder against the wall outside the women’s bathroom.
“Can I take a shower?”
“Fine,” I said. “I’ll make you some food while you do that. Make it quick. Clock’s tickin’.”
“What choices have you got for food?” she asked.
“This ain’t a fuckin’ restaurant. Your choice’ll be to eat or not eat whatever I find.”
“I can’t do gluten and-”
I cut her off, “Expecting me to cater to your fad diet? Not happenin’.”
“It’s not a fad diet. It’s Celiac Disease,” she told me quietly.
My nostrils flared.
“It’s when you’re allergic to gluten,” she added.
“I’ll find you something without it,” I muttered.
“Are there towels?” she asked.
I gestured to the bathroom and spun away to go to the kitchen as she let out a sweet, “Thank you, Jesse,” and I was thinking either this chick was broken-down and timid, or she’s got a good game face playing the grateful hostage. Time would tell.
***
Hearing Pudge’s booming voice, I poked my head out of the kitchen looking toward the bathroom.
He laughed as she walked past him in just a towel, carrying her clothes and smiling at him while sashaying to my room.
Her eyes hit mine and she stopped, looking tweaked.
“It’s open. I’ll be right in.”
She nodded and stopped at the wrong door. Rider’s.
“You just passed it,” I corrected.
She backed up, looking embarrassed and slipped back into my room just as Bront stepped out of his, which was directly across the hall from mine.
“Hiya,” she greeted.
“Hey, babe,” Bront said, eyes taking their time to travel the length of her.
“She looks like fun,” Pudge remarked as soon as the door snicked shut.
“Sure does,” Bront agreed.
I said nothing as they both shot a look at me that oozed envy. Not that the girl would go for either of them over me.
Pudge has to be pushing fifty and unlike Deke Valentine who has to be around the same age, the years behind bars have not been kind to Pudge. Man looked hard. Gaunt. In my short acquaintance with him I hadn’t formed much of an opinion, other than being open since Deke respected him and remarked to me the other day that Pudge isn’t completely hardened. That he has a big heart under that gruff demeanor.
Bronto might start to get some female attention if he keeps up with his new workout regimen. He’s big, tall, has dark ginger hair and a full beard. He’s lost weight in the past eight or nine months since we met. But even if he gets buff, Bronto is not remotely hard – which is why so many of us were surprised last night when he wailed on Pippa’s ex.
I got there first, since I was hanging out at Dina’s a few blocks away, but Bront got there just a few minutes later, eyes blazing. I had the ex cornered after he broke into Pippa’s place, telling him to sit his ass down and wait for more brothers to arrive, that Spencer Valentine wanted a word with him. He asked why and when I told him we were lookin’ out for Pippa, since she needed it after what he’d put her through, the guy looked like he was gonna crumble. Sat down and put his head in his hands lookin’ about to bawl. He no sooner sniffled before Bront burst in and without one word and the meanest scowl I’ve ever seen on the guy – ripped Joe Reardon off the couch and laid a beating on him.