Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 75643 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75643 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
I pulled Phoebe with an excited tug and led her across the parking lot and into the shadows provided by the large trees that covered the back of the lot, which was rather convenient depending on how you looked at it, directly across from a cemetery.
Plus, every single person that drove into the hospital via the main entrance had to see the sight as they passed.
I was so busy paying attention to what was behind the group of bikers—both the men of Free and Hoax’s club—that I hadn’t realized how close we were until two strong arms hooked around my waist and pulled me into a tight hug.
“Baby.”
Hoax’s voice was like a balm to my soul.
I hadn’t realized how anxious and sad I’d been until I was exactly where I needed to be.
My eyes started to sting, and my nose itched.
And soon, I was no longer able to control my tears. “Mr. M is dead.”
Hoax’s hand went up to my neck and pushed, but I didn’t need the prompt. I was already burying my face into the crook of his neck and letting my tears free.
My sister, whose hand I was somehow still holding, squeezed in there, too.
Hoax started to laugh, but slung an arm around her shoulders, too.
“What am I, chopped liver?” I heard my dad’s amused voice say.
My mother answered him, something low and intimate, and I was fairly sure that I didn’t want to know what it was.
I loved my parents. I loved that they loved each other. What I did not love was the fact that they were still gross and did things that I didn’t want to know about.
And neither were they discreet about how in love they still were with each other.
Thunder, sudden and shocking, had me backing out of Hoax’s body and glancing up.
My mouth dropped open in surprise.
In the few minutes that I’d been out there, not once had I glanced up at the sky to see the dark clouds rolling in.
Those dark clouds looked foreboding and ominous.
“What a perfect end to a crappy situation,” my sister mumbled.
Then, of course, I heard my dad say, “It’s baby making weather.”
I gagged, sniffling as I did. “Yuck, Dad.”
My dad grinned unrepentantly.
That particular saying was something he and the rest of the men now staring at me said quite a bit.
“What’s baby making weather?” Hoax innocently asked.
“Baby making weather.” Dad pointed up. “When you’re shut inside because it’s raining too hard to do anything else but fuc…” My mom placed her hand over my dad’s mouth. Then she cursed and pulled her hand back with a glare.
“You bit me!”
Dad winked.
Hoax’s hand around my waist tightened.
I finally let go of Phoebe’s hand, and she stepped away.
“Well, I gotta go,” Phoebe said. “Y’all have fun walking to BF Egypt to get your cars.”
We all watched Phoebe walk to her jacked up truck, the older model Chevy that my mother had when she was our age, and get in. Without a single care or fuck, she left, gassing it the moment she got onto the road.
“That girl is going to get herself into trouble one of these days,” Elliott muttered.
We all looked at Elliott, the comedian and resident egger-onner of the group, and stared.
He threw his head back and laughed. “I wasn’t the one to teach her how to be trouble!”
Dad grunted.
I turned back to Hoax, who was staring down at me.
“Looks like I’m completely clear and free for a few days. Convenient, right?” I smiled.
His eyes studied mine. “Like the results, but not sure I like how those results came to be. I don’t like the idea of you being here, unsafe, while I’m thousands of miles away and unable to get here if you need me.”
My heart lurched.
“Oh, don’t worry about that,” my dad mused. “If this shit doesn’t get fixed, they won’t be returning.”
I rolled my eyes.
Hoax’s lit with amusement.
“I guess I should count myself lucky that you have this support system here for when I can’t be available,” he murmured softly.
I studied his eyes, which were semi-shielded by the brim of his cap.
“But who’s going to take care of you?”
His eyes smiled. “Don’t worry. One day you’ll meet some of my buddies, and you’ll realize I’m in good hands.”
“I have good hands,” I told him.
He whispered into my ear, “How about we go see what baby making weather is all about?”
Chapter 12
I don’t just flirt with disaster. I give it a fucking orgasm.
-Hoax to Pru
Hoax
“Just come inside for a minute, fucker,” Bayou growled in frustration.
I rolled my eyes, looking longingly at Pru’s house, which I’d just come from because Bayou had called with an urgent request for me to come over.
Leaving Pru to take a shower—which she’d been in for quite a long time—I walked outside and was going to speak to Bayou out there, but then he’d ordered me to come inside for a second.