“No. It’s quarter-end, she’s working late.” He clapped my shoulder. “Have a great night, brother. I’ll catch you later.”
Epilogue
Gizmo
Alexandra
Two years later…
“AlexandraRobertson-Rolland,”adeepvoice announced.
I strode across the stage, my black gown billowing with every step, and beaming with a huge smile on my face. Most of my concentration focused on not tripping, I reached out and shook hands with the university president, a man I’d never seen before and likely wouldn’t ever see again.
It was all one big blur, except the high-pitched whistles that came from the back left corner of the arena. Rafferty, Mom, Dad, Trixie, and Roll were here, and the five of them were loud with their excitement.
Following all the pictures and fanfare outside the arena, we went to Mom and Dad’s house for a graduation party. I’d expected something small, but this party threatened to be a party for all time. It rivaled our wedding reception last summer, there were so many people at Mom and Dad’s.
All of the Riot MC was there, and a few of the brothers from Biloxi. Mom’s parents were sitting on the patio with Natasha and her husband. Across the yard, I spied Nate and Derek talking to Rafferty and Jasmine.
Barrel grills had been brought in to cook a variety of meat. There were tables dotted around the back yard, all loaded with food. Someone had draped a huge banner on the back of the house that read, “Congratulations Alexandra!”
“He won’t listen to me, but your dad ought to switch professions. Takes a lot of planning to pull off a shindig this big, and he sure as shit didn’t give me much notice on the amount of meat he wanted to serve,” muttered Tiny, a brother from Biloxi who ran his own, wildly successful, butcher shop.
I smiled up at him. “I’m sure Mom and a few other people had a hand in this.”
Tiny leaned toward me. “Hewould tell you that, but it’s a cover. Congratulations on your degree, sweetheart.” His cheek bulged as he moved his tongue around in his mouth. “Can you take a look at my back molar, I think something’s wrong.”
I smacked his forearm playfully. “You’re lying. Uncle Vamp put you up to that, didn’t he?”
He chuckled. “I’ll never tell, but you should consider doing work for the club. The dancers at Platinum’s need nice pearly whites to keep the money flowing, am I right?”
My response fled me when I heard the wayward sound of… a puppy barking?
I widened my eyes at Tiny. “Was that a puppy?”
He grinned. “I don’t know. Go ask your man, he helped with this party, too. I’m serious, those two should start a company.”
I looked toward the area where Rafferty had been talking to Derek and Nate. He wasn’t there any longer.
“You lookin’ for me?” Rafferty asked from behind me.
I turned around, and froze.
My man was sexy as all hell, but standing in front of me holding a brown and white Shih Tzu puppy…
Damn.
“Jesus, Lex. I don’t know if that look is for me, the dog, or both.”
“If you have to wonder, you need to go back to school. Who’s puppy is this?” I asked, petting the puppy’s soft fur.
“Yours. He’s your graduation gift from me.”
My eyes went wide. “You got me a puppy!”
“Yeah. I know how much you loved Zippy when you were growing up. Pretty sure we can handle this guy.”
“He doesn’t have a name?”
