Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 111610 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 558(@200wpm)___ 446(@250wpm)___ 372(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111610 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 558(@200wpm)___ 446(@250wpm)___ 372(@300wpm)
I look past him, all the way out to the basketball court area, at the gathered people—family, friends, club members—who are watching through the windows as Chance and I come in.
“Yeah, guess I’d best let’cha git out there before the wolves come.”
I flinch at the wolf comment, thinking of Stephen, but Jim is having none of that. “You’ve got ghosts whisperin’ in your ear,” he recognizes, wiggling his fingers with the woo-woo comment. “I get that. Got ‘em myself from years on the job. Know what’s best for ‘em?” He doesn’t wait for me to guess, just continues with his advice. “Pardon my language, but you tell ‘em to shut the fuck up.” He laughs hard, the sound rusty and rough.
“That work?” I ask with a smile. “If so, it’s gonna put my friend out of a job.”
“Well enough, I s’pose. But the wolf thing? You’re their queen, Samantha. They’re all out there waiting on you, not this pissant.” He jerks his head toward Chance with a spark in his eyes.
“I’m not even offended,” Chance says good-naturedly. “You’re my queen too.”
I warm at the compliment from both of them.
Chance leads me out to the court, where there’s a bunch of plastic chairs in the middle and folding bleachers on the side, and every seat is filled with people here to see Chance. And me.
Suddenly, applause breaks out as they stand, watching Chance escort me to the front, where Evan is standing beneath the basketball hoop.
“Thank goodness you’re here. I was about to start reciting pi as far as I can,” Evan says. “Problem is I only remember three point one four.”
“Glad we could save you, then,” I tell Evan.
“More like save them,” Chance murmurs, amused as Evan heads up front. “He’s totally lying. He can probably go to twenty or thirty past the decimal point.”
Evan holds out his hands, and the crowd quiets. “I won’t pretend you’re here for me, so without further ado, my best friend and partner, Chance Harrington.”
Chance meets my eyes before stepping away, checking on me, but I’m okay. I want to watch him take back the helm of the ship he created. I smile encouragingly, and he takes the handful of steps away.
“Thanks, Evan. For everything, including most recently, keeping the lights on here at the Gentlemen’s Club.” Evan nods, acknowledging the thank you, and Chance turns to the audience.
“We’ve created a community here, a family of sorts, with the mission of improving men. And we’ve done a good job. Each and every one of you is an example of that. But it’s an imperfect journey, with distractions and disappointments along the way. Because that’s life.”
People shift in their seats, expecting Chance to give more of a rah-rah speech.
“That’s the truth. It’s never easy, but being your best self is still a worthy goal. Recent incidents have taught us something—becoming gentlemen isn’t something that happens inside a vacuum. Men cannot develop without an understanding of, and being in the presence of, women.”
A murmur of agreement goes through the crowd, and then there’s one voice over the others.
“We like Miss R better than you, anyway!”
There’s laughter as everyone looks for the speaker, and I see Lucas standing up, grinning widely.
He’s already emailed me to set up a counseling appointment, though I suspect it’s more for him to check on me than because he needs any urgent advice. Evan says Lucas is doing really well and has stepped into the vacant leadership role Stephen left. Lucas is rougher around the edges for sure, but his raw approach works.
“That’s okay, Lucas. I like her better than you too,” Chance jokes back. Everyone really laughs then. “To that end . . . Samantha, can you join me, please?”
I step forward, smiling at Chance and then looking at the crowd as they get loud and rowdy, whooping and cheering.
He lets it go on for a moment and then waves his hand to quiet everyone. “We will continue to be a community and organization that focuses on personal development and on building healthy relationships among all people. Sex is an important part of a healthy relationship, and it’s built upon a strong foundation of trust, communication, and honesty. That’s hard. So I’m proud to announce that Samantha Redding will continue to join us as our relationship and sexual health counselor. She will also be a regular contributor on the podcast . . . on that, Evan, we might need to rename it, too.”
“Already got ideas,” Evan says in a clearly rehearsed bit. “The Evan White Show, with some other people.”
There’s a few chuckles, and Chance joins in. “Not happening. But Samantha is going to be an essential part of the new club, and our new community. And before I ask her to say a few words, there’s one word I’d like to hear first.”