Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 132031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 132031 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 660(@200wpm)___ 528(@250wpm)___ 440(@300wpm)
“Do you need your apartment back?” Keyes asked. He’d been staying at Dev’s old apartment when Dev started shacking up with Holly, months ago.
That was why he hadn’t told Keyes he had broken it off with Holly. Keyes would sleep in this truck before he ever burdened Dev. “Nah, I got another place.”
Keyes furrowed his brow. “When did you do that?”
“While back. No big deal. Old house with four apartments. Fixin’ ’em up. Rentin’ ’em out. Didn’t tell the club. Not that it’s a secret. I’m not jivin’ well here right now.” Dev shrugged, nodding toward the clubhouse. Sugarcoated, but hit the high notes.
They both looked in the direction and sound of his old man’s pipes, alerting them to his arrival. He was hardcore that way. He rode his Harley everywhere, no matter the weather conditions.
“He’s lookin’ aged,” Keyes said.
“He’s knockin’ on sixty.” Maybe he’d already had that birthday. Who knew for sure. “That’s a hundred and seven in normal people years.”
“He should get his ass to the doctor too.”
Dev chuckled. His old man hadn’t been to a real doctor ever in his life. He didn’t believe in modern medicine or the for-profit healthcare system. Yet his old man had been mighty proud of Shanna getting into nursing school. He was hard to figure out.
“There’s a divide comin’ between me and my old man. It’s growin’ pretty solid. I don’t like the way he disrespects my mom. Times are different. That shit doesn’t fly the way it used to.”
Keyes barked out a harsh, bitter sounding laugh. Dev wasn’t sure what it meant except Keyes had never engaged in the whoring ways of the club. To his core, he was gay, and always had been. Came that way. He never even pretended to indulge in the opposite sex just to fit in with everybody else.
“It’s messin’ with my mom’s head. She got her tits done again.” Dev saw the repeat plastic surgery sessions as a cry for attention. She spent most of her time alone these days.
“She’s still young,” Keyes said after a few long seconds of silence. Dev looked over at Keyes, their troubled gazes held. “Fifteen when you were born so forty-four now. Your dad’s gonna be sixty. They’re in different places.”
He and Keyes shared something meaningful in their exchange.
Who knew what.
Fuck his old man.
Dev let go of a breath as a giant raindrop slapped down on the windshield, drawing his wayward thoughts to the storm ramping up again outside. The crack of booming thunder with bolts of lightning streaking across the sky spoke of the fury warring both outside and inside his heart.
“Remember how we always wanted to start a custom bike company?” Dev asked, thinking about all the planning they’d done in their younger days.
“Think about it on the regular. I never wanted to do tires.”
“Not sure I ever wanted to do tattoos like this. I used to draw pages and pages of sled designs. I wanted to do custom art to help drive the price of our sales up…” The memories held Dev transfixed. “Now, I’d do custom bikes but make ’em affordable for guys like us.”
“Yeah. Let’s go.” Keyes pulled at the door handle to open the truck’s door. “The sooner we hear what they have to say, the sooner we can leave.”
“This Sunday for your ink?” Dev asked and reached for his handle.
Keyes nodded and ducked out of the truck. The door slammed before Dev grew a pair and followed. The few minutes of unguarded conversation had him bared raw.
He darted out. Even with a fast jog, the downpour had him soaked and chilled to the bone by the time he pushed past the prospect guarding the front door of the clubhouse.
Dev shoved his shoulders back, standing to his full height, and bowed his chest. He refused to take anymore shit from the old fuckers in this club.
~~~
Lost in thought, Cash let the screen of his laptop dim while staring off into the silent living room. He scanned the furnishings. If the cozy surroundings spoke to his tastes, he apparently liked earth tones and reds.
He’d never had to purchase his own sofa or kitchen table before. Between assignments, the government put him up in long term suites, waiting for his next gig.
Why did his life suddenly feel lonely?
He wasn’t certain except he’d never had an assignment start so slowly before.
When the computer went dark, it took away the only light in the room.
What was the deal with always having the lights turned off?
He reached across the end table for the designer lamp, extending his fingers as far as they would go and still couldn’t quite reach the small knob.
Cash lifted from his comfortable position on the sofa to better reach the lamp.
At the same time the light switched on, a large crack of lightning struck so close, the living room momentarily illuminated. A harsh boom of thunder followed, rattling the windows. The sparking of the transformer could be seen through the small slats of the closed blinds. The apartment as well as the entire neighborhood block went dark.