Around five, hunger finally dragged me out of bed. I debated venturing downstairs to find something to eat, but the thought of being the random girl sneaking around the clubhouse made me hesitate. I didn’t even know where the kitchen was or what kind of food they kept there.
My stomach grumbled again as I checked my phone. I was supposed to be back at the diner in a couple of hours. Not showing up wasn’t an option. I couldn’t risk looking unreliable.
Technically, Lucas hadn’t said I couldn’t go to work. He probably thought he’d be back by now. He couldn’t possibly be angry if I left for my shift…right?
I glanced again at the cut draped over the chair. It felt too meaningful to put on without him here.
Wearing it felt like agreeing to something I didn’t yet fully understand. And the clock was ticking down if I wanted to make it to work with enough time to eat something before my shift started.
“I can’t just disappear from my entire life,” I finally muttered. “I have responsibilities.”
Decision made, I grabbed the uniform I’d worn yesterday and ducked into the bathroom. I took a quick shower, then pulled on my clothes.
When I came back out, the cut was still on the chair. I walked past it and grabbed my purse instead.
“I’m just going to work,” I whispered to myself. “He’ll understand.”
I hoped.
With a steadying breath, I finally headed out of his room, telling myself everything would be fine.
My stomach was a knot of nerves as I made my way downstairs. The clubhouse was quieter than I expected. I only heard a few voices drifting from somewhere deeper in the building, including a young child, which surprised me since I hadn’t expected kids to be hanging around a biker clubhouse.
Nobody was in the lounge area as I quickly crossed the space, which should’ve been a relief. But somehow it wasn’t.
I kept my head down and moved toward the front door, gripping my purse a little too tightly. Part of me still hoped Lucas would appear out of nowhere, waiting for me as he had at the diner last night.
But it wasn’t his voice I heard when I reached for the handle.
“You headed somewhere?”
I turned to see a young guy without a Hounds vest coming toward me. His gaze dropped to my uniform, and his brows drew together.
Heat prickled up my neck because I had the feeling he knew I hadn’t worn Lucas’s cut as he told me. “I need to get to work.”
He blinked. “Work?”
“Yes, I have a shift at the diner tonight.”
He shifted with a frown. “I don’t think Kevlar was expecting you to leave until he gets back.”
I tilted my head. “But I have no way of knowing when that will be, do I?”
The poor guy looked like I’d just ruined his entire day. He twisted a little to look back toward the stairs, and I noticed the back of his cut only had the bottom rocker, meaning he wasn’t a fully patched member. Something I’d learned when I did just a little research after Lucas started hanging around at the diner.
The prospect looked like he might try to run and fetch someone to talk me out of my plan, but then he seemed to thinkbetter of it. He glanced at my clothes once more, or specifically my lack of a vest, and muttered, “I guess I could come with you.”
“Then you’d better hurry.” My annoyance slipped through before I could stop it. “Because I’m leaving now, with or without you.”
He opened his mouth, closed it, then scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “Kevlar’s gonna be pissed.”
“He can talk to me about it later,” I muttered.
After a long, suffering sigh, he opened the door for me. “After he gets done with me for allowing this.”
“Allowing?” I echoed, my frustration growing.
As we stepped outside, my gaze scanned the area where I’d seen some vehicles parked when we pulled into the compound last night. My shoulders slumped in relief when I spotted my car. I was lucky that my dad insisted I keep a spare key in my purse because I had no idea where Lucas put the one I gave him.
