Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 75592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75592 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“Oh, and I got these,” he said, producing a pack of makeup wipes. “I know you’re not wearing any now, but you had makeup on last night. And if you were crashing here, I figured you’d want to wash that off before bed. What?” he asked, making me realize I was watching him with narrowed eyes.
“I thought you said you aren’t, like, a relationship guy.”
“I’m not.”
“Then how are you thinking about this kind of thing?” I asked, grabbing the bag of makeup wipes.
“Oh, the club girls, I guess. Meaning the ‘old ladies,’” he said, using air quotes, “and the hang-abouts. Someone is always asking about makeup wipes.”
And he—marvel of all marvels—listened.
It was kind of like remembering how I liked my coffee. And picking a contacts case in a color he thought I would like instead of what he liked or what was cheapest.
It was weird, and I had no idea how to navigate someone who gave a fuck about what I liked or wanted.
“You alright?” Rook asked, watching me.
“What? Yeah. Sorry. I think I need coffee.”
“Coffee here isn’t as impressive as the clubhouse. Wanna head back? We can get the meeting with everyone over with so you can settle in.”
And order office supplies.
Which was maybe the most exciting thing I had planned in years.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Tessa
The meeting went nothing like I expected.
First of all, I was included in all of it. Which was weird as hell.
In my experience, church only ever involved the bikers. The club girls and even the old ladies were kicked out.
But when we’d arrived and I started to excuse myself after the introductions, Rook threw an arm across my shoulders and pulled me back. “You’re staying.”
“It’s okay if you want to talk in private.”
“Don’t be silly. They’re discussing you,” Nyx said, shaking her head. “You should be here.”
Not all of the old ladies were around. It seemed like several of them were busy raising babies, so they were at home doing bath time and bedtime stories.
Nyx was there, of course, as was Riff’s girl Vienna, who was as shy as Rook had told me. Then there was Sway’s girl Murphy—the weapons designer—who had said her hellos, but then informed everyone that she had a project to get to and disappeared.
Detroit’s woman, Everleigh, was apparently on her way back to the clubhouse after a yoga class.
It was kind of a small club, now that I got to see all the men gathered. There were only ten of them, all in all. And only three of them—if we weren’t counting Rook—were single.
I guess that was why there was more of a family vibe than a brotherhood vibe between everyone.
Another surprise about the meeting was how casual it was, with Slash—the president—asking questions instead of demanding explanations, giving Rook a chance to explain himself, and looking to me for my feelings on the situation.
In the end, Slash made a few concerns known, but told Rook he was in charge of the situation and to report back with any concerns.
“We gotta get going,” he said as Nyx showed him something on her phone. He threw an arm over her shoulders, but gave me a nod. “It’s nice to meet you, Tessa,” he said in that deep, rumbly voice of his. “Let me know if you need anything while you’re here.”
With that, the two of them were gone. Raff insisted that he, Coach, and Colter hit the bar to find some fun, and Everleigh came in holding her smush-faced little dog, setting him down so she could literally jump into Detroit’s arms.
He caught her, hands on her ass, and kissed her silly right there in the kitchen before setting her down on the island.
“Being around this crew might make you rethink your feelings on love not being real,” Rook said, watching me watch as Everleigh said something that made Detroit throw his head back and laugh.
Two things became true at once: I believed Rook, and I really, really didn’t want to.
“So what now?” I asked, wanting to think of anything but something as dangerous as love.
“Now, you settle in,” he said, waving around the clubhouse.
“You aren’t staying?”
“I have to be at my apartment at night in case Nancy drops in.”
“But you’ve already seen her several times…”
“Yeah, she’s a pain in the ass like that,” Rook agreed, shaking his head.
“Do you want me to drive you back to town?”
“Nah. I’m gonna walk in. Gives me an excuse for why I was out if she is there waiting.”
I would love to say that I didn’t know what it was like to have to answer for every move you made. But I had far too much personal experience with that. Which was why I felt a tug of sympathy for Rook, who had no choice but to endure it.
“Okay.”
“Expect me to be blowing up your phone on and off tonight. Answer when you get time. Just so we can keep building that text history.”