Hustling past them, I pushed the door open for Coop and followed them out, heading to Mama Hen’s.
But when I got there and opened the door, there was no sign of Sparrow.
“Kristie!” I shouted.
A door opened and light footsteps came toward the top of the stairs. “Hey, she’s not here. Just me,” Penny called from the top.
“Sorry, Penny. Hope I didn’t scare you. Do you know when she left?”
“Sorry, I took a shower, but I just went down for some water and she was gone. You okay?” she asked as she came down a few steps.
Nodding, I said, “Yeah. I’m good. You okay?”
“Don’t ask questions you don’t want to know, Rooster. Haven’t heard a peep out of you for a long time. She must be special.” She took a seat on the stairs.
“Yeah. She is. You see Red around?” I was closer to Red than the other guys. Maybe because we did bitch work together for so long. But he had a thing for her. I didn’t think they’d ever hooked up, but I accidentally witnessed a few heated conversations between them in the last few years.
Red’s a decent guy. Penny was off limits as the prez’s daughter, and she was several years younger than us, so none of us even thought about fucking with her. Honestly, we hardly even saw her because she stayed busy with school and other normal activities. A couple of their cousins who were members escorted her around until college.
But something must’ve happened a few years back, because that’s when I started noticing the tension. Hawk’s cousins ended up going to other chapters when they were growing ranks, and Red and I had taken a few assignmentsto follow her around and be sure nothing happened to her. It was after that I started noticing him watching her a few times, and caught glimpses of texts from someone saved as Linc. I finally put together it was her. But I still didn’t understand the nickname.
“Fair. You know I got your back, right?” I asked. “If something’s wrong, you can tell me.”
She smiled, gently nodding. “I know. I appreciate it. I have studying to get to. But good luck finding your woman,” she said, standing and turning to leave.
When she headed back upstairs, I went back outside, looking around. Sparrow wasn’t out there. Pulling my phone out, I started to text her. But instead, I tucked it back away and decided to check one more place.
Heading inside, I went up to my room. Opening the door, the tightness in my chest dissolved and I rushed to her, wrapping her up in my arms.
“Well, hey. I didn’t realize you’d miss me so much after an hour,” Sparrow joked as she squeezed me.
“I miss you when you’re with me,” I whispered into her thick hair.
She pulled back a little, her hazel eyes sparkling as she looked up at me. “That’s…”
“Too much?” I asked.
“No. It’s kind of amazing. How was Church?”
“Hold on,” I said, then grabbed a handful of her hair and tilted her head back even further. Pressing my lips to hers, ourtongues met and some of my anxiety melted away as I tasted her. She’d been drinking something tart. Maybe vodka and cran. “It was fine. But I gotta make a run.”
“You did that on purpose to distract me.”
“Did it work?” I asked, brushing my nose against hers before giving it a peck.
“How long will you be gone?”
“Only a few days. You’ll hardly miss me.”
She smacked at my chest. “Rude. You can’t tell me you miss me when I’m with you then assume I wouldn’t miss you for a few days.” She bit her lip, then said, “Plus, it’ll be the first time you’ve left since I got here. What do I do?”
“Hang with the ladies. They have all sorts of fun when the guys are gone.”
“When are you leaving?” she asked as she rubbed the short scruff I’d accumulated after a few days.
“Two days.”
“Ugh. I guess I can call a ride share for my interview,” she said, pulling away and going back to her bags.
