Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 68143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
I shrugged. “Trust me when I say, I can do it.”
“Prove it,” Copper goaded me. “If you can actually run one, prove it. Milena, when’s the next marathon close to us?”
Milena looked up with a frown, her margarita halfway to her mouth. “Why would I know?”
“Because you’re the runner in the family.” Copper chuckled. “Do you have a way to look it up?”
“Sure,” she said. “Give me a minute.”
“Why are you so confident that you can run it?” Cakes, another club member, asked.
“Because running is fairly easy for me. I may not actually know the distance I run, but athletics has always just come easy. I run until I feel like stopping.”
“You run until you feel like stopping.” Cakes shook his head. “I run, and I can get like two miles before I’m dying.”
“Usually, I can get about an hour in until I really need a drink. Then I stop,” I explained.
“There’s one tomorrow,” Milena offered up. “It’s Halloween themed, and in Los Colinas.”
“Sounds perfect, sign Gunner up,” Cutter declared. “If he runs it without dying, then he can choose what we have for dinner at the next barbeque.”
I snorted. “That sounds more like a punishment than a reward.”
Choosing anything sucked.
Because there was no doubt in my mind, no matter what I chose, someone would have something to complain about.
“What do you want?” Cutter asked.
“If I win…” I tapped my chin. “You have to run a marathon.”
“Deal.” Cutter rolled his eyes. “Bro, you’re on your fourth or fifth beer. The race starts at seven thirty in the morning, and it’s supposed to rain all day tomorrow. You’re going to fuckin’ quit halfway through.”
“No, I won’t.” I scoffed. “Running is easy. I know that we’ve discussed this already, but you need to listen. I may not be able to podium, but I will be far from last when I finish it.”
“We’ll see.” He sounded so confident that I almost felt sorry for him.
“You ready to go run, baby girl?” I asked my daughter.
Six months ago, I had no clue that she was mine.
I was just a man denying himself literally everything in life.
No relationships, and certainly no kids on my agenda.
Six months ago, I’d thought I’d been done with children.
Then Audric, one of my club brothers, had literally whacked me upside the head with the news that I’d somehow slept with his wife.
Though, he hadn’t been mad that I’d done so.
Truthfully, I hadn’t realized I’d even done it because I’d been drunk off my ass at a club party.
From what I knew, so had she.
Though, she’d been able to recuperate a whole lot faster the next morning and leave before I’d even known that I’d slept with her.
She’d wound up pregnant, and she hadn’t shared a thing with anyone but her best friend. Her best friend had left that secret at Laney’s grave, and hadn’t told a single soul until she’d fought her own demons off long enough to share the news with Audric.
Audric had already suspected the father of his “daughter” was someone from the club. He’d just never suspected me.
Hell, I wouldn’t have suspected me, either.
I was usually religious about condoms and always provided my own no matter what. This time, though…I didn’t know what happened.
Would never know, because Laney had passed away several years ago now in a car accident that had also taken another club member’s son along with her.
They’d been able to save Lottie, thank God, but Apollo’s son, Tavi, and Laney had died.
Lottie had officially been living with me for six months now, and we had a good routine going.
I hadn’t thought it was possible to fall in love with another living soul until she’d walked into my life.
Now, I couldn’t imagine life without her.
Which was why I hadn’t considered not running this race with her.
I just hoped that she cooperated long enough for me to run it.
“Race! Yes!” She pumped her little fist.
Since the race was literally a mile and a half down from my subdivision, I decided to walk there.
Good thing, because when I hit the end of our subdivision’s street, the entire thing was blocked off to through traffic.
“Whoa,” Lottie and I said at the same time.
I couldn’t help the damn smile that lit my face.
In the six months that I’d known about her, I’d had a lot of self-reflection to do, and I was happy to say that, though it was still very hard, I was actually happy about being a father again.
A lot of that had to do with the come to Jesus talk that Audric’s new wife, Creole, and Apollo, our resident computer genius, had with me.
Creole and Apollo, too, had lost a child.
All of them had died way too young.
Creole’s son, Damon, had died at the age of three and a half.
Apollo’s son, Tavi, had died at the age of nine.