Total pages in book: 139
Estimated words: 133511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 534(@250wpm)___ 445(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 534(@250wpm)___ 445(@300wpm)
So far as I knew, she’d never been back out here, and I’d only been out once, helping London with some groceries. Today, Loni had warned me to stay outside in the courtyard with the main group and to let her know when I wanted to go home so she could arrange a ride. Then she’d given me a hug and a kiss before setting me free to run around with Kit.
Em had already ditched us by then, glued to her old man, Hunter.
“She’s dick-whipped,” Kit had confided. “Pathetic. If I ever fall for some guy like that, please shoot me. My dad has lots of guns—you can borrow one if you need to.”
We’d spent the next two hours wandering around together. Kit had grown up playing at the Armory and she gave me the full scoop on everyone we saw. She seemed to agree with London about staying outside with the main crowd in the courtyard, rather than exploring the big, three-story building behind us. It looked sort of like a castle to me—apparently they’d bought it from the National Guard.
Surprisingly, the party really was family-friendly.
Mostly.
There was loud music and plenty of booze, but there were also kids running around laughing and screaming, stealing cookies and drinking endless lemonade.
It wasn’t all sunshine and light, though. There were lots of big, scary-looking guys surrounded by women wearing a lot less clothing than I was used to seeing. Something told me the whole family-friendly vibe would end once the sun went down. At least Jess made the right call on the boots—the few women I’d seen wearing slutty heels were having a really hard time getting around, given the mixture of cracked concrete, gravel, and grass that blanketed the area.
My boots made me feel strong and tall and capable.
That’s why—when Taz poured me a drink and smiled big at me—I didn’t even notice Painter watching us. I also didn’t notice him after the second drink, which was really more like my . . . well, I’d sort of lost track at the house, to be honest. (Let’s just say I was feeling festive.) That’s also why I completely forgot what London told me about staying in the courtyard. To be fair, I’d pretty much forgotten about everything by then—I’d been drunk before, but never quite like this.
It was fun. No wonder Jessica used to do it so much.
“You want to go for a walk?” Taz asked me after we’d been talking for what felt like forever and no time at all. I looked around, realizing that the sun had started to set. There were a lot fewer kids running around. Someone had lit a bonfire, and the music was louder.
“Sure,” I said, feeling adventurous. Maybe he’d kiss me. That would show Levi Fucking Painter Brooks a thing, now, wouldn’t it? Just because he wasn’t interested in me didn’t mean I wasn’t sexy and fun.
Taz caught my hand, leading me back along the big cement-block wall surrounding the courtyard toward a gate in the back. It was open, but a guy wearing a prospect’s cut stood guard, watching everyone who came and went. I didn’t recognize him, but when he saw me, his eyes widened. Then he whipped out his phone and started texting.
“This is really pretty,” I said, looking over the wide meadow we found on the other side of the wall. Beyond it the ground rose in a steep slope covered with trees, but back here it was just like a park. Gorgeous. There were quite a few tents and even another bonfire.
“We’re camped over there,” Taz said, nodding toward the far end of the meadow. “Let me show you.”
I frowned as his words penetrated my brain fog. My sense of self-preservation kicked in, pointing out quietly but insistently that going off with a strange guy in the dark at a biker party might not be the brightest of moves.
Shit. I really was turning into Jessica.
“Mel, get over here.”
I knew that voice. Turning slowly, I saw Painter standing behind us, arms crossed in front of him.
He didn’t look happy.
• • •
In retrospect, my mistake had been letting Kit into the house that afternoon. Truly, from that moment forward the whole day had been fucked, a runaway train careening down the track into a dark void of . . . well, mostly one very angry biker.
Why Painter was pissed, I had no clue.
Wasn’t like he’d spoken to me even once during the damned party. I’d been there for hours, yet the only times I’d seen him he’d been talking up slutty girls wearing painted-on jeans and stamp-sized bikini tops.
Not that I cared. Not at all. He could screw around with whoever he wanted, because . . . Double shit. His gaze met mine, burning through me, and I swear—the world started spinning. I forgot all about Taz as I fell into Painter’s eyes, mesmerized. Then I realized what I was doing and forced myself to look down, which wasn’t much better. I swear, the man was made entirely of muscles—delicious muscles that I could see all too clearly because he only wore a short-sleeved T-shirt under his leather Reapers cut. Faded blue jeans covered his legs, clinging to his thighs in a way that made my own clench. Worn black boots covered his feet. Together it was too much. Throughout the party, I’d tried to convince myself that he wasn’t as strong—or sexy—as the man I fantasized about every night. Nobody could be.