Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 50811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 254(@200wpm)___ 203(@250wpm)___ 169(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 254(@200wpm)___ 203(@250wpm)___ 169(@300wpm)
Gage reached over and caught her hand, giving it a squeeze. They smiled at each other, and I wondered what that felt like. Having a woman who belonged to you. I’d had a couple of girlfriends over the years, and I guess they were nice. Gage and Tinker, though… They had a lot more than nice.
The back door burst open, and their daughter, Joy, ran into the kitchen.
“I caught a rat!” she declared, eyes wide with excitement. Then she held up a brown and white rodent almost too big for her hand, triumphant.
“Jesus!” Gage said, standing up. “Where the fuck did you get that thing? Did it bite you?”
“Rabies…” Tinker whispered, her face pale. “Why don’t you give it to your dad, okay?”
“It’s okay. Rats don’t carry rabies,” I told her.
“I found him under the porch,” said Joy. “He’s friendly. Look.”
She held it up to her face, and it snuffled her nose like a tiny dog. Tinker swallowed.
“I’m naming it Reaper.”
“You can’t just catch a wild animal—”
“I don’t think it’s wild,” I said. “That’s someone’s pet—look how it’s trying to groom her. It’s probably lost.”
Joy’s face fell. Then it brightened again, and she said, “I can make posters with his picture and we can go hang them up! He can stay until his family comes for him, right?”
“Let’s take it to the garage,” Gage said, glancing at his wife. “We can find something to put it in out there.”
“Okay,” she said, still not looking happy about the whole thing. Gage walked to the door. Joy followed, then darted back to steal a pancake.
“Reaper likes pancakes,” she told us breathlessly. She ran after her dad.
Tinker watched them go, slowly pushing her plate toward the center of the table.
“I really, really don’t like rats.”
“Yeah, I picked up on that,” I told her, trying not to laugh. “They’re actually kind of smart and friendly, though.”
“Do you hear the words coming out of your mouth?” she asked, studying me like I’d grown a second head.
“Used to have one as a kid. Great pets.” I took another bite of my pancake, enjoying the horrified look on her face.
“That’s just nasty.”
I shrugged.
“Thanks for the food,” I said, changing the subject. “Hey, could you give me Randi’s number? I need to drop something off for her, but I don’t want to show up without texting first. She’ll think I’m a stalker.”
“Are you?” Tinker asked, raising a brow. “I like Randi. She’s a good kid.”
“I like her, too,” I said. “And I like the black bra she left on my living room floor this morning, but I think it’d be sort of creepy to keep it as a souvenir.”
“I thought she wanted to go home after the fight.”
“She needed to clean up first. Didn’t want to bring her back covered in blood and dirt.”
She caught and held my eyes. “Are you going to do anything weird if I give you her number?”
“Yeah, I’m going to make it the centerpiece of my shrine to her bra. Once I have a lock of her hair, my life will be complete.”
Tinker threw her napkin at me, but I could see her fighting off a smile. Then she pulled out her phone, tapping at it. My phone buzzed—Randi’s contact info.
Mission accomplished.
I don’t usually warn people that I’m about to ambush them. Sort of defeats the purpose of the whole thing… except today was all about showing Randi that she didn’t need to be afraid of me—and I was convinced it was nerves that’d scared her off, because despite her tough talk, she wasn’t a one-night-stand kind of girl.
No, this was about the fight. Randi wasn’t used to stuff like that, and she wasn’t some kind of motorcycle club groupie who got off on my bad boy image. She’d been genuinely terrified, and then she’d gotten her face smashed in. Taking her to the Starkwood had been a serious fuck-up on my part, but she had no clue how stubborn I could be.
This wasn’t over, not even close.
I decided to give her ten minutes—fair warning, but not enough time to overthink things. And it wasn’t like the town was big—if she tried to dodge me, I’d find her eventually. I typed the message while Gage dug through an old box in the garage, looking for the part. They’d found an aquarium for the rat, who was now eating little chunks of pancake while Joy watched in delight.
I finished my message and hit send.
Me: You left something at my apartment. I’ll swing by and drop it off in ten
Nothing for a minute, then she answered.
Randi: You can throw it away
Me: Do you even know what it is?
Randi: I have my phone and purse. Nothing else is important
Me: This is an expensive bra. Replacing it won’t be cheap.
Randi: I don’t even like the bra. And I’m busy. Not at home