She sighed. “He did.”
“And did both Katie and Maisie ask him to release her?”
“They did.”
“And did he?” Booker challenged.
“No,” she grumbled.
“You all had a soft spot for Rooster, I get it, but the fact remains, whatever Katie decides to do stands,” Hatch said.
“Why did you have a soft spot for Rooster?” I asked.
“Let’s go start dinner, and I’ll fill you in,” Dani said.
* * *
Katie
“You look good, baby.”
“You look like an asshole,” I lied. “Razordidimprove your face, though.”
In reality, the man who stood before me still held some of the boy I’d met in high school, but only just. He was a little taller, still lean, but so much more muscular, and he had a full beard, longish hair, and his eyes were just as blue as ever.
“I deserved that,” he conceded.
I crossed my arms and glared at him. “Saywhat you need to say, then I want you to go home.”
“Thisishome.”
“You have been gone for a long time, Beckham. You can’t say that anymore.”
“Anywhere you are is home, KitKat.”
I scoffed. “What a load of shit. You don’t even know me anymore.”
“That’s not true,” he countered. “I’ve kept tabs.”
I frowned. “What do you mean, you’ve ‘kept tabs’?”
“Baby, we had something special back then. Just because I left to get my head together didn’t mean I was gonna forget about that.”
“You disappeared, Kam.”
“Believe me, honey, you needed me gone.” His eyes softened as he stared at me. “And you needed me gone to achieve everything you’ve achieved. I’m so fuckin’ proud of you, I can’t even put it into words, but if I’d been here, I’d have fucked that up for you. Physician’s assistant, that’s huge.”
“Yeah, I know. It wasn’t easy.”
“I’m aware.”
“You wouldn’t know hard work beyond the effort it takes to shove a butt plug up your own ass.”
“Hey, we don’t judge around here.”
“You’re not from around here anymore, soyou can feel free to go back to Colorado as soon as possible.”
He shook his head. “If I did that, I’d be disobeying two club presidents, and even I’m not that stupid.”
