Whoa. The conversation had run away from me again. Along with the fact that most of my brothers were empty. I grabbed a bottle from the fridge and set it in front of River. Poured pints for Nash and Rubi and water for Saint. He didn’t drink much anymore, and I knew him well enough to gauge that he was done for the night.
Locke was done too. He waved me away and rolled from his stool, flashing a peace sign to the others before he tapped out and left the bar.
Nash’s gaze followed him before he looked at me. “You can tell him to shut the fuck up, you know.”
“Who?”
“This idiot.” Nash elbowed Rubi. “He has his worst ideas when he’s drunk, and that’s saying something, considering all of them are fucking shite.”
Rubi glared and flicked beer in Nash’s sparkly face. “Excuse you, Lord Nashie. Let’s see your mood board on the fucking subject.”
“He never asked for anyone’s ideas,” Saint interjected. “Leave him alone.”
Saint spoke rarely enough that people listened. I took my chance and slipped away, paying for a bottle to keep me company as I escaped the oppressive bar and took refuge on the steps outside. It was a warm night, the sky clear and punctuated with stars, aircraft flashing as they passed overhead. Ivy thought night flights were piloted by unicorns. I’d never bothered to correct her. Why bother when her take on reality was light years better than the truth?
I’d forgotten to open my beer. I jammed it on the stone steps with the heel of my hand, spilling foam over my fingers as bike engines sounded in the distance.
Folk. It was more than one bike, but I knew it was him by the shiver that rattled my spine. The awareness that bloomed in every sense, and the jump in my pulse.
Sure enough, the gates groaned a few seconds later and two bikes slipped through before they were fully open. A matte black Ninja and a stripped Fat Boy.
The Ninja parked out of sight, taking Alexei with it.
Folk eased his Fat Boy into the space beside Locke’s Dyna and killed the engine. Transfixed, I watched him lift his helmet and run a hand through his hair. It was longer now than it had been that night in Paphos. Wavy. Soft-looking. I was jealous of his hand, and imagining mine taking its place was a nice place to be, until the buzz of my phone jolted me back to the present—a text message that killed any chance of shifting the dark cloud hanging over me.
Lauren:Ivy didn’t feel well after the dentist. She wants to stay with me. You can take her to school on Monday if you’re not too busy or hungover from the weekend.
Hungover from the weekend. It was so outrageous I nearly laughed. How could she make something so obstructive sound almost reasonable?
But I didn’t laugh. My soul was dry. No humour to be found.I’d expected this message since I’d returned from the school run alone, but losing more precious days with my baby girl flayed me open all over again, snuffing the spark a mere glimpse of Folk had provoked. Smothering it with a cloud of resentment that drove me to my feet and back into the bar.
Keeping busy passed the time. But the sense of that time slipping away was killing me.
3
FOLK
He’s wearing my shirt.
That was my first thought as I turned from my bike in time to see Decoy rise and disappear into the clubhouse.
The second was that he was upset. The slump of his shoulders and the brutal grip on his phone were obvious tells, but it was more than that. Somehow over the past year, I’d become attuned to every nuance and mood of a man I barely knew, and I felt his quiet distress in my bones.
“They asked about you today.”
My phone was pressed to my ear. A conversation that mattered, but I’d tuned out as Decoy had caught my attention. “Hmm?”
“Folk.” There was humour in Jekka’s voice. Wisdom. “Are you even listening to me?”
Was I?
Jekka was my mum. I loved her more than I could say. But she talked a lot, and I was tired.
“I’m listening,” I promised. “Are they okay?”
“Of course they are. Dad took them crabbing at Cromer at the weekend. Then your brother had them out with the sheep all day today. But it’s you they asked for when I put them to bed.”
Grief throbbed in my heart. “I’ll FaceTime tomorrow. Can you tell them I love them in the morning?”
