Not that Shade would entirely approve—he liked it when I looked good, but he wasn’t so into the idea of me flirting for money.
Pretty uppity for a one-night stand, in my opinion.
Of course, that one-night stand had been going for a month straight, so there was that. At some point he’d leave town—I knew it was coming. That didn’t mean I couldn’t enjoy him while he was here.
Me hooking up with Shade wasn’t the only thing that’d happened in the last month.
Sara and I had officially moved in together, for one. Hannah didn’t need me living with her anymore. Heath’s family had swarmed around her like a plague of very respectable locusts, and now his mom was helping her with the kids most days. I thought the way they’d gotten together so fast was a little freaky, but then again, it wasn’t like the circumstances had been normal.
Considering that I was in a long-term one-night stand with a biker who’d made it clear he wasn’t a keeper, I didn’t have much room to judge.
I opened the bathroom door to find Sara already outside. Grabbing my bag, I followed her to the car, wondering what’d crawled up Bone’s ass. The man was impossible to read.
“We need to stop and get gas on the way in,” I said as I slid into the seat. “You told me to remind you.”
“Shit,” she muttered, turning on the car. “We’re coasting on fumes but we’re late, too. I think we can make it.”
“If we don’t, you can call Bone and tell him to come rescue us,” I said. “It’s his fault we had to rush out so fast.”
Sara nodded, turning her head to watch as she backed out of her duplex’s driveway. The bar was less than two miles away, so we’d probably be just fine. Worst case, we could walk. Wouldn’t be the first time.
By the time we pulled up to the Pit, there were only a couple cars out front. Not busy at all. I wondered if Bone would let one of us off early. Shade had messaged me saying that he had stuff to do tonight and wouldn’t be around until later, but maybe if I let him know…
Sara parked the car right in front, startling me.
“Bone will shit bricks if he sees this,” I said. “He wants you in the back, remember?”
Sara gave me a sweet smile. “Bone can get his back door action from someone else.”
I giggled, shaking my head. “Seriously—you aren’t supposed to park here. You’ll get in trouble.”
“If he wanted us parking around back, he shouldn’t have called us in ahead of schedule.”
“Fair enough,” I said. “It’s your grave.”
We climbed out of the car and started up the steps.
“Can you get the door?” she asked, pulling out her phone.
“Sure,” I replied, pushing ahead of her.“Surprise!” a loud chorus of people shouted, and I froze, stunned. There were Hannah and Heath and the girls. A whole bunch of the Reapers and their women… Mrs. Collins, our old neighbor and even one of the church ladies who’d stopped by with the clothing after the fire. Karen something. I couldn’t remember her last name, but she was laughing and smiling at me just like everyone else.
“Congratulations on finishing probation!” Hannah shouted gleefully, hugging me so violently I nearly fell over. My little nieces joined her, squeezing me around the legs.
The wicked bitch had thrown me a surprise party. Heath came up, catching my eye behind Hannah’s shoulder.
“Sorry,” he mouthed at me. I flipped him off, but I smiled while I did it because he really was a disgustingly great guy. Hannah let me go and then Sara was next.
“Gotcha!” she said, laughing. “This is what you get for using up all the hot water. Next time, you better save some for me if you don’t want to get set up.”
“I can’t believe you guys did this,” I said, looking around. There were so many faces, but one was missing. Shade. Disappointment hit, but I pushed it away. Just because we were sleeping together didn’t mean he had time for a surprise party.
At least some of his club brothers had shown up. I’d gotten to know them and their old ladies better over the past few weeks, and I liked them. They were decent people, for the most part. Some of them were a little rough around the edges, but considering my own crimes, it wasn’t really my place to judge.
“Congrats, Mandy,” Bone said, handing me a beer. “You’re off tonight—no work. Just enjoy yourself, okay?”
“All right,” I said, still startled. “You sure you don’t mind?”
“Nope, Sara and Suz have got it covered,” he told me. “Get drunk, make the most of it. Just remember that tomorrow we have to do inventory. I’ll make you drag your ass in here even if you’re hung over.”
“You’re a ray of sunshine, Bone.”
“I do my best.”
Two hours later, I was definitely enjoying myself. Heath’s mom had taken the kids home, giving me and my sister a rare girls’ night out. Now I had a nice buzz going, and when Hannah suggested putting some change in the jukebox and dancing, I was all over it.
We spent the next ten minutes studying every song, even though I knew all of them by heart. She liked country, which was just ludicrous. Fortunately, Bone loved classic rock, so there were some alternatives.
I argued with her just for fun, but eventually we managed to agree on a playlist. Well, most of a playlist. Hannah had insisted on “Wicked Game” so she and Heath could slow dance. Stupid slow dances, reminding me that ultimately I was alone. I’ll just go to the bathroom when it comes on, I decided as the first song started to play.
It’d been a long time since Hannah and I had gone dancing, and I’d forgotten how much it kicked ass. We laughed and drank and probably made total dorks of ourselves. I didn’t care. It felt good to let go, and I was having so much fun that when Wicked Game started, I wasn’t even annoyed with her anymore.
I could use some fresh air, anyway.
“You’re a slut,” I told Hannah, bumping her shoulder with mine as Heath caught her up in his arms. Then I grabbed my beer, chugging it as I watched them, the sexy music washing through me. Standing there alone, I admitted the truth.
I missed Shade.
“Hey,” said a low voice in my ear. I turned to find him behind me. He’d obviously just come in from a long ride, with his cheeks all windburned and that fierce look in his eyes that I’d come to love.