“I didn’t say that,” I muttered under my breath – even if deep down I absolutelyyearnedto bolt.
Ryan leaned toward me.“You didn’t have to,” he whispered.
Gamble tucked his phone away.“There’s a Krispy Kreme off 103rd Street.Let’s go there.”
“Donuts?”Ricochet asked, his tone laced with judgment.
“Yeah, because we don’t have the restaurant back in Biloxi.”
Twenty minutes later, we were crowded into a small plastic booth and Gamble had put away his third donut.
He tipped his coffee cup at me.“How did you meet Nickel?”
My eyes darted to Killian, not that he could help me, and I turned to Nickel.“Doesn’t he know?”
He gave me a half-frown, and looked to his dad.“You knew I had a concussion.Didn’t Cynic mention how I got it?”
Gamble swallowed a sip of coffee and put his cup down.“Abby probably didn’t pass that along to Fiona, so one of you needs to fill me in.”
I shared about the first time I went looking for Lark, and meeting the triplets.Ryan took over to tell him about our abduction, and getting hit in the head.
Gamble shook his head as a smile spread across his face.“Never a dull moment with you three.Good to know some shit never changes.”
I turned to Ryan.“You didn’t tell me the bastard came to the bar last night.And that he followed you.”
Ryan twisted his head to the side, as though he hadn’t meant to mention it with me around.
Ricochet chuckled.“Don’t worry.We left the bar together, and split up halfway to the interstate.Really, Rusty followed me, not him.”
My eyes widened.“That’s one time.What are you going to do the next time?”
“Calm down,” Ryan muttered.
Suddenly, I didn’t care that his dad was sitting across from us and I slowly turned to give him some side-eye.
“When are you gonna learn that phrase never works with women?”Gamble asked.
“Yeah,” Ricochet chimed in, laughing.
“It’s fine,” Ryan said.
“Sure,” I muttered, grabbed my coffee, and took a sip.
“Your mother’s gonna love her,” Gamble said.
I swallowed and put the cup down.These people were acting like we were a sure thing.
Then again, as long as Ryan didn’t cast me aside, we probably were.
After donuts, Ryan and I rode back to the clubhouse.Ricochet followed his dad to Mickayla’s place.
As I stood, waiting for Ryan to dismount, I said, “I’m sorry if I kept you from being with your sister and your dad.”
He turned to me.“Don’t sweat it.I’m around Mick and Kill all the time.Love seeing Dad and I’m glad you got to meet him, but I’m not missing anything.”
He grabbed my hand and we went up to his room.
Once he shut his door, I asked, “Any chance I’m going to the office today?”
