Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 75414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75414 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 251(@300wpm)
I definitely needed to have my head on right when I finally tracked down Nave. Otherwise, I was going to sound like I was telling him some tall tale.
Hell, I was living through the situation, and I still couldn’t quite believe what was going on. What had become of my life in a few years.
It felt like the plot of some made-for-TV movie, all close-up reaction shots and a dubious amount of reality.
But it was real.
And I needed help if I was going to stay free.
The only person in the entire world who’d ever offered that to me was a man I’d known for just a few days many years back. He’d had shrewd eyes and a kind smile. And I wished to hell I’d listened when he told me all that time ago to run, to run far and run fast and never look back.
Would’ve. Could’ve. Should’ve.
But I didn’t. Not until it was way too late.
No, not too late.
I was still alive.
I still had some fight left in me.
More now, actually, than ever before.
I had a lot to live for.
And I knew that if I failed, I would never ever get a chance at living my own life on my own terms again.
I had one shot at this.
Even if this Nave guy wasn’t in town or if he didn’t want to help me, I was going to figure it out. I was going to do whatever it took never to have to go back to my old life.
That, finally, was a thought that I could fall asleep to.
CHAPTER THREE
Nave
“I almost thought it was going to have to be a blackout party,” Croft said as he set up the cups on the pong table while his brother brought Jello shots out of the kitchen to set up on the bar.
It had taken the whole day for the power to come back on. A clubhouse full of grown-ass men almost wept at the first huffs of cold air from the air conditioner when it rumbled back to life.
It was probably the first time since Sully nagged the higher-ups to put in a pool that Brooks and Fallon both agreed they were thankful for it.
“We’ve gone without power a lot longer than this,” Rune reminded Croft. “Between the hurricanes and normal grid issues, we were out for long stretches.”
My ears perked up, surprised to hear either of them—but especially Rune—talk about their time in Puerto Rico. Where they did, well, no one knew. Because they didn’t talk about it.
“Yeah, but we were prepared for it there. Fuck, I miss a good bonfire beach party,” Croft said, letting out a little sigh.
“Where’s Perish?” I asked, looking around.
“A couple of the club girls called. Their car stalled out over by the beach. He went out to see if he could fix it. Should be back soon,” Brooks explained.
“Good. Because these new guys aren’t gonna be interested if it’s a complete sausage fest around here,” I said, glancing around at the brothers either setting up or hanging about.
We were in short supply now, we uncommitted few.
It was just me, Perish, and the twins.
Maybe Fallon was right about wanting some fresh blood around the club.
“Rune and I could head over to the bar and see if we can get some more women to come party,” Croft offered.
“Not enough time,” Brooks said, glancing at the clock. “They’re gonna be here in half an hour.”
“You underestimate me,” Croft said, a smile spreading, his dimple on full display.
“Looks like Perish saved the day,” Rune said, glancing out the front window as a bike rumbled into the lot.
A couple of minutes later, he was walking in with his arms thrown over the shoulders of two blondes. Trailing behind was a brunette, a bottle redhead, and a chick with a split-dye—black and silver.
“Don’t worry. The girls called their friends,” Perish said when they walked in, as if he could see me doing the mental math.
“Well, big, strong heroes deserve all the cat,” one of the blondes said, making a little meowing sound and curling her hand up like a paw, her claw-like fake nails doing a little scratching motion. “He saved us from a creeper.”
“I dunno if he was a creeper,” Perish said. “He was trying to—”
“Leer down our shirts while making gross comments about gang bangs?” the split-dye girl said. “Yeah, he was.”
“Sounds like you need some shots,” Croft said, appearing behind the bar and lining up the glasses.
More of the club brothers came in then. Not far behind them were the friends of the girls with the broken car, evening out the odds a lot better.
“I got all the donuts from the bakery before they threw them out,” Dezi said, coming in the front door with five boxes of donuts. “The crullers are a little hard but edible.”
“Did you actually leave us any?” Sully—in one of his Hawaiian shirts printed with (I shit you not) his girlfriend’s face all over it—asked.