Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 83970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83970 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
I crawl back into the lonely bed knowing I’m missing Diego, telling my brain that I miss the companionship most. My entire marriage has been one wish after the other of time alone, time to myself where I had no worries, and the second I actually get that wish I no longer want to be alone.
The ding from the cell phone Diego gave me has me scrambling for it like a teenager waiting for the late night call from her secret boyfriend.
Diego: Sleep tight, Beautiful.
The sentiment makes me smile, but I wait a few minutes to text him back. I don’t want to seem overeager, so I close my eyes and picture us in the hall again. I can feel my cheeks heat from the memory, and my body is stimulated once again.
Emmalyn: Goodnight.
Short and sweet. Not expecting anything else, I set the phone back on the bedside table, but the ding from another text message chimes less than a minute later.
Diego: I should never have said those mean things to you earlier. I’m sorry.
This is a new concept for me; a man apologizing for words. This would seem simple enough for most people, but to me it’s monumental. Many people would say words are just as hurtful as physical abuse; those people have never been kicked in the ribs until they’ve been spitting blood. His harsh words earlier, referring to my early morning hand session, stung when he said them, but his apology for them comes as more of surprise.
Emmalyn: You were speaking the truth.
I respond to him honestly. I was thinking of him. I don’t want to be lied to, so I don’t plan to lie to others. I could’ve left it alone and just ignored it, or I could’ve thanked him for his apology, but my body is still humming from the interaction in the hall earlier.
He doesn’t respond, and I spend the next several hours wondering if I should’ve just left well enough alone.
***
I wake up surprisingly refreshed for having been up half the night worrying about my text to Diego. I also wake up resolved. I’ve been here for thirty-six hours, and that’s long enough to get settled. My plans for the day include finding a job, if even a temporary one. I have to become independent, something I can’t do sitting in this room.
After getting dressed, I head out to the kitchen to track down Rose. I ran into her in the kitchen last night after my brief rendezvous with Diego. She told me to come find her in the morning, and she let me know that she and Doc will be staying here until Diego gets back. I was relieved with that information. Well, that and knowing that Wrench is with Diego and his team wherever they are.
I falter when I step into the kitchen. It’s packed with bikers. Many I’ve never met since I stormed out yesterday morning and was less than social at dinner last night. My eyes dart frantically around the room looking for a familiar face. They aren’t staring at me like they did yesterday morning, but their President isn’t at the counter hugged up to a tramp either. I can tell that they are aware that I’m here, but I appreciate the fact that they aren’t making a spectacle of me.
I spot Rose across the room and smile. Stopping by the counter, I grab some eggs and bacon and make my way over to sit by her and Doc. Doc nods at me and goes back to talking to Kid, who is also at their table. I look around and notice the women who were in the kitchen last night while we were making dinner are here. They smile at me and go back to eating, carrying on like it’s normal for me to be in this room sharing a meal with them. It brings me comfort. Bunny is not in the room, and that also alleviates some of the nerves I had walking in here this morning.
“Do you have any plans today?” I ask Rose.
“I’m all yours,” she says with a smile as if she already knows I’m going to ask her for a favor.
“I was hoping you could show me the town.” I cut my eyes to Doc and Kid who are still talking but at the same time, I can tell they’re paying attention to me as well.
“Sure,” she says taking a bite of toast. “Anything specific?”
I wipe my mouth with a napkin I grabbed out of the holder in the center of the table. “Bars.”
She raises her eyebrows at me.
I shrug. “It’s what I know, and I need a job.”
“You don’t need no job, Emmalyn,” Doc says from the other side of his wife.
“I do,” I tell him firmly. “I’m not going to stay here and live off of the club. I need to pay my way.”