Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 54059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 270(@200wpm)___ 216(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 270(@200wpm)___ 216(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
“I can make it.” I sound more confident than I feel, but my vision starts to clear as I trudge over to the kitchen. The smell of beef is too strong to resist.
The Andy-shaped person sets a plate with a giant burger and fries in front of me. I reach out and pat her ass. “Thanks, babe.”
“So you do recognize me.”
“Smells like you.” I pull her onto my lap, ignoring the pain in my ribs when she settles against me. “That peach and vanilla stuff you have in your bathroom.” I fill my lungs with it before picking up my burger. “Tell me what I missed.”
“I’m very mad at you, but since you can barely hold your hamburger right now, I’ll save my yelling for another time.”
I grunt because my mouth is full, and that seems to satisfy Andy. I have a hard head.
“Andy came looking for you.” Bam leans against the counter, a plate in one hand, a burger piled high with toppings in the other.
“Not to seem like I’m all that, but you didn’t text and you weren’t at the library, which didn’t seem like you,” she says.
I give her side a squeeze. “You are all that, and you were absolutely right to expect me to be there for you.”
“Pretty easy to guess you went hunting when I saw your girl’s bruise.” Bam picks up the story.
I went hunting and lost, which makes me both disappointed and angry. Not only did I get my ass kicked and came away empty-handed, but I didn’t give that fucker what he deserved. The back of my head throbs, but I don’t know if it’s because of my fall or embarrassment at getting roughed up.
”That cow is already dead, so you don’t need to strangle it more.” Bam stretches his arm out to push a glass of milk beside my hand.
It hurts to move, but I know I need the nutrition. I’ve got to heal up quickly and go back to Rico’s to take care of the business I didn’t complete. I ease up on the burger I’ve squeezed half to death and wipe my hand clean before downing the milk.
“So you went to the river?” I prompt.
Bam refills my glass immediately. He knows what I need. We’ve both been here before. Lots of protein helps us heal up fast. A diet of meat, milk, and eggs, and I’ll be in fighting form. “Easiest place to get rid of the body so we started there,” Bam says.
“You were on the rocks.” Andy shudders.
“The shock of the water probably woke you up, and you had enough energy to crawl to the shore, and then you passed out again. Basically saved yourself.” Bam lifts his own glass of milk in cheers.
“Don’t ever do that again.” Andy glares. My vision has cleared enough to make out her angry features.
“There’s a reason we work in pairs,” Bam adds. He’s not happy either.
“Okay. Okay.” I hold up my hands in surrender. “I got it.”
“I’d punch you, but you’re already brittle as a piece of burnt toast.” Andy is practically vibrating with her fear. I stroke my hand down her back.
“She’s calling you weak,” my friend jokes.
“I hear her.” I was weak in the moment. I should have been more aware. I knew I was going to have to fight, and I should have assumed that there would be weapons. I did nothing right, but Rico is also a dumbass. The strip club owner should have made sure I was dead. I wolf the rest of my burger, wash down the crumbs, and then lift Andy off my lap. “I’m gonna take Andy home and then go read to Julie.”
“I already called your mom and said you’d passed out from too much studying,” Bam says. “She took the kid to Mrs. B’s place.”
Mrs. B is an older woman who lives downstairs from us. She’s crabby and always has this sour look on her face whenever she sees me, but she’s never once turned down a request from Mom, probably because Mom rarely makes requests. I’ll have to make it up to Mom, Julie, and Mrs. B. My debts are racking up.
“Then, after I walk Andy home, I’ll see you back here.”
“I’m not leaving.” Andy crosses her arms. “You’re trying to get rid of me so you can plot your revenge against Rico, and that’s not happening.”
I gnaw on my lower lip and mentally debate how I’m going to handle this. I don’t want to lie to Andy, but I don’t want to worry her, either.
“We can’t let it slide,” Bam says.
“Sure you can. People do all the time.”
“No, it’s a safety issue, babe.” I touch her cheek, thinking of how delicate and breakable she is and how Rico, having tossed my ass in the river, will believe she has no protection. “If we don’t act, then Rico will think he can do whatever he wants with you. This isn’t a case where we turn the other cheek and Rico suddenly becomes a good guy. Instead, he sees you as someone without a safety net, someone disposable. The only reason that the Riders hold their territory is because everyone believes that if you harm one of us, you harm us all. So we can’t let it slide. This is what I do, Andy babe. I enforce the Rider law. Hell, Bam and I are the law.”