“Maybe. Maybe not. Could be nothing, could be significant.”
“What if that cop doesn’t find anything?”
“Too early to say, but maybe you’ll start remembering things.”
“And if I never do?”
“Then you start over. Clean slate. I can think of worse things.”
“Worse than not knowing who you are?”
“You could be dead, but you’re not.”
His words startle me, but he’s not wrong. Someone may have left me for dead. But that line of thinking gives me more questions, like who or why.
Kevlar opens the door, and I follow him out to the patio where some of the other club members are firing up the grill. “Do you like hamburgers or steak?”
“Either. Is there anything I can help with?”
“Yeah. You can relax and try to have a good time tonight.”
Easier said than done, I want to tell him.
“Have a beer.” He reaches down into a cooler and hands me a cold can.
I scrunch up my nose, thinking about the bitter taste.
“Not a beer girl?”
I shake my head. “Do you think anyone would mind if I mixed up some margaritas?”
“Knock yourself out.” he calls over to Ashley, Blood’s wife, to show me where everything is. On the other side of the grill is an outdoor bar, fully stocked and equipped.
Ashley turns me loose with the racks of liquor. The ice cubes clatter as I build the shaker. I don’t even have to think about the proportions. It’s just muscle memory.
I squeeze a lime, salt the rim, and pour the emerald liquid straight over it. The taste is exactly right. Sweet, tart, burning the back of my throat as it slides down. I have no idea what my name is, but I can make a perfect margarita—go figure.
I pour two glasses and hand one to Ashley. She takes a sip and nods, approving.
“Blood would love these,” she says, then leans in, voice low. “Don’t let him intimidate you. He’s more bark than bite.”
I look over to where he’s grilling Kevlar more than the meat, and I’m not so certain I believe her. He’s kind of intense, and that’s putting it mildly. I appreciate that he isn’t nice for the sake of being nice.
A few more sips of my drink has some of the tension leaving me. My shoulders slightly relax, and I find myself enjoying the food, music, and conversations around me.
As the night wears on, more people filter out to the patio. The scene grows wilder by the minute.
That guy from earlier that I met at the garage is reclining in one of the loungers while some chick hovers over top of his face with a beer can crushed between her ass cheeks. I can’t say I’ve ever witnessed someone drinking a beer quite like that before.
There’s other women around clad in the teeniest of bikinis that could pass as dental floss. One of them is dancing on a pole I hadn’t noticed earlier.
“It can get a bit crazy at night. I need a bathroom break.” Ashley loops an arm through mine, leading me away from the chaos outside and into another level of it inside. There’s a guy getting his dick sucked by the pool tables. Two other guys are in the middle of a shoving match by the bar.
The sound of glass breaking has me freezing in place.
Chill bumps fan up and down my arms.
“Are you okay?” Ashley questions, giving my hand a squeeze.
