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“Hey, asshole,” Jumper calls as he steps out of the clubhouse. “Heard you brought donuts for Raya and Joey but didn’t bother getting us any.”
I roll my eyes as I reach out to stop the bag from swinging. “Go get your own donuts, dick.”
“Fine,” he scoffs but the shit eating grin on his face gives him away. “I will. It’s been a while since I flirted with that yummy little brunette that works there.”
“Mila?” I ask, arching a brow and he nods.
“Yeah, her.”
I nod, my mind turning to Mila and by extension, Lennon. “Have fun with that.”
“You’re not coming?” he asks but I just shake my head. Now that she’s wormed her way back into my thoughts, I can’t help wondering what her story is. Why did she suddenly need a place to live in the middle of the night last night? Was she okay? Was she running from something… or someone? More questions about my mysterious little sunshine fill my mind and there is only one person that could give me the answers I want.
“Whatever,” Jumper mumbles, disappearing back into the clubhouse, as I pull my phone out of my pocket and pull up Calvin’s number, hitting the call button. It rings three times before he picks up.
“Dalton, my boy,” he answers, his voice warm and cheerful despite how long it’s been since I’ve reached out. “How have you been?”
I smile. “Good, Cal. How have you been?”
“Oh, you know,” he says with a laugh. “Life has been life-ing.”
“Yeah, that’s actually why I’m calling,” I say.
“Oh?”
I nod, turning to look out at the compound. “I realized it’d been a while since we caught up so I thought I’d reach out and see how life has been treating you.”
“Well, it just so happens I’m free for dinner tomorrow if you can fit me into your busy schedule, son,” he says and I laugh. Calvin is one of the kindest people I’ve ever met but I’ve also never seen the man turn down an opportunity to give someone shit.
“Yeah, I think I can manage that, old man.”
We solidify plans for where we’re going to meet before he says he has to go and as I hang up the phone, my mind turns back to Lennon. I don’t even know why I’m wasting so much time and energy on a woman I haven’t even spoken to but Storm was right about one thing. Raya is safe and there is nothing I can do for her in this moment. With Lennon, though…maybe if I can just figure out what her story is, if I can assure myself that she is okay then I can let whatever the fuck this is go.
Chapter Eight
Lennon
Warm morning sunlight spills in through the large picture windows in the front of the bakery and cheerful, calm pop music plays softly over the sound system. Nothing is drastically different from three days ago. The morning sunlight always comes flooding in through those windows and Calvin likes to keep upbeat but mellow tunes playing through the business to give it the right “vibe”, as he says.
But today, today I can feel it.
The sunlight seems brighter somehow, full of the cheer and possibility that I struggled to find recently. And the steady rhythm of the music settles into my bones, coaxing my hips into a gentle sway, instead of fading into the background like it always used to. The biggest thing, though, is that the flour caked under my fingernails right now from all my early morning baking feels a little bit like coming home.
Is my life magically all better?
No.
But I feel more like myself than I have in a long damn time and that’s a win I’m going to gratefully take today.
“Girl,” Mila calls, dragging the word out, from where she’s making a coffee for one of our customers. “Look at you. You’re a new woman.”
I laugh, shaking my head at her. She’s not wrong but I feel weird calling attention to it. It feels tentative, like if I name it or stare too long, it will run away.
“Don’t know what you mean, Hon.”
She scoffs. “Sure ya don’t.”
I glance over at her and press a single finger over my lips, flashing her a little wink. She shakes her head and rolls her eyes at me but she can’t keep the smile off her face.
