Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 74489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 372(@200wpm)___ 298(@250wpm)___ 248(@300wpm)
“Will do. I’m gonna stop off at McClaren’s for a drink and some food before I head home.” I lived in the clubhouse on the Silver Saint’s compound, the MC I’d been a part of since I was twenty.
“You do that.” There was laughter in Hack’s voice, and I rolled my eyes, knowing what was coming next. “Maybe you’ll be able to get a bar bunny drunk enough to break your dry spell.”
“Fuck you,” I muttered as I opened the door to the truck and jumped to the ground
“No thanks, I have a sexy little thing to go home to for that.”
“Whipped,” I grunted before hanging up. I kept the fact that I was a little envious of his situation to myself. If my secret got out, every Silver Saints old lady would make it their mission to find me a woman. Shuddering at the prospect of all the blind dates and constant pestering, I stalked to my bike and straddled it. Yeah, I definitely needed a whiskey.
2
Ireland
Nothing was better than rocking out to my favorite songs in front of a cheering crowd. When we’d formed Chuffed Up, I’d thought we’d be lucky to play in public a few times and get some free drinks out of it. I never would’ve guessed I’d be able to support myself on my cut of what the band made. Well, when I supplemented it with piano and voice lessons.
We had a solid local following and played three to four nights a week at several different bars in the surrounding area. We didn’t get paid a heck of a lot for each gig, but the bookings were steady enough for me to afford a studio apartment. Which was darn lucky for me since my parents had told me I had to either go to college or move out of their house the day after I graduated from high school. They’d been outraged when I chose to use the years and years of piano lessons they’d provided by playing with a rock band. However, they’d allowed me to take my baby grand piano, which took up a good portion of my apartment and was my greatest treasure.
“Incoming,” Sally, our drummer, muttered.
McClaren’s was my favorite club to play at, except for one pesky problem. One of their bouncers had a thing for me...and he was headed my way.
“I don’t think that guy will ever catch a clue that you’re just not into him.” Michelle picked up her guitar and shook her head while she tightened one of the strings. The pitch had been a little low on D during our last set, messing up the rhythmic pulse in a couple of the songs we’d just played.
“Ya think?” Sara snorted, rolling her eyes as she put her bass guitar in the case where she kept it between sets. “He’s asked Ireland out every single time we’ve played here. It doesn’t matter how many times she turns him down; he keeps coming back for more.”
Sally pointed one of her drumsticks at me. “It’s because you’re too damn nice when you tell him no. Don’t smile to soften the blow tonight. And cross your arms over your chest so he can’t stare at your boobs. Men get distracted easily.”
“Saying no should be enough.” Michelle lifted her gaze from the string she was tuning to glare at Sally. “It’s not Ireland’s fault that the dude won’t listen.”
“Yeah, she shouldn’t have to do anything special to get the creep to stop perving on her every time we play here,” Sara agreed, lowering her voice as Scott climbed the steps up to the stage.
“Hey, Ireland.” His gaze drifted down the length of my body, lingering on my chest long enough that I wished I could get away with wearing a turtleneck on stage. Unfortunately, I’d sweat through the darn thing before we were even a quarter of the way through the show. “Great set.”
“Thanks.” I fanned myself with my hand. “Singing and playing piano is hella fun, but it’s thirsty work. I need to head over to the bar and grab a fresh water before we go back on.”
Scott stepped closer, and I flinched away when he reached out to swipe a lock of hair off my cheek. As usual, he didn’t take the hint to leave me alone. “I bet. You looked hot as fuck up here.”
“Yup, which is why I need some water.” Sally was muttering beneath her breath behind me. I knew that if I didn’t shut Scott down fast, she would get into it with him. “Thanks for coming to check on me. Talk to you later.”
Sally’s grumbling changed to laughter when I left Scott sputtering in disbelief as I hightailed it out of there. I headed straight for the bar and slid onto an empty stool while I waited for one of the bartenders to free up. The bar was packed tonight, and the alcohol was flowing steadily. I imagined money falling from the sky in my head because we took a cut of the bar’s take when we played at McClaren’s. So I was more than willing to be patient while the bartenders took care of customers. But Wendy spotted me as soon as I sat down and made her way over after a couple of minutes.