“You do what we tell you to do, right, prospect?” I ask as I give him a light punch in his arm since I don’t want him to wreck.
“Fine. Whatever.”
“Make a left here,” I say when I begin to give him the directions to the Perrys’ house. RJ doesn’t even notice until we pull up in front of the home.
“Uh, are we lost, man?” Jordan asks.
“This isn’t the fairgrounds,” RJ remarks from the back seat. “It’s…oh shit. Bear, bro, what are we doing at Perry’s house?”
“Stay here. It won’t take me but a minute.”
“Sure, because a minute is how long it’ll take Perry to put a bullet through your head,” my brother responds.
“I’m going to try to make amends,” I tell them as I open the passenger door. “Stay in the car no matter what,” I order them before shutting the door.
I make my way up to the front porch. The garage is closed, so I can’t see if his bike is home or not. Either way, he’ll know I’m here thanks to the camera on the front door.
I push the doorbell, and a second later, it opens.
“Do you have a death wish?” Isaac demands.
“I just want to talk.”
“Talk? You want to talk to me?”
“Yes.”
He snorts. “I’m not paying for the damage to those bikes.”
“I know. I’ll pay for them. That’s not why I’m here.”
Shaking his head, he says, “You’ve got balls, I’ll give you that, Fulton.” He leans his shoulder against the doorframe, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’ve got sixty seconds.”
“Two things,” I begin. “First of all, I want to see Lyla again if she agrees, but I don’t want to do it behind your back unless absolutely necessary. Is she here?”
“No, she’s not here.”
“Oh, well, that’s fine. I’m not asking that she decide this second.”
Glaring at me, Isaac says, “My baby daughter told me she was moving out last night.”
“Ah, okay. I’m sorry?”
“Are you? Because it is your fucking fault.”
“Wait. How exactly is her moving out my fault?”
“Because I told her she couldn’t see you again.”
Lyla moved out because she wants to see me again? I know better than to ask her father that question.
And her actions in the past twenty-four hours aren’t going to endear her father to me.
“What can I do to make shit right between us?” I come right out and ask. “I was never anything but kind and loyal to Laurel. She’s the one who cheated on me. She’s the one who ended things. And yes, I’ve been bitter about that for a long time. But if she wasn’t happy, then I’m glad she didn’t string me along.”
“Nice try, but anyone with a brain knows why you did what you did last night with Lyla,” Isaac grumbles.
“Because she’s a beautiful girl?”
“Because she looks like Laurel!”
“So, maybe they bear some resemblance. They are sisters, after all, but I can promise you that didn’t have anything to do with what happened with Lyla.”
“It’s not like you can prove that, though, can you?”
“You’re right. If there was a way to prove it, I would.”
“And next, I guess you’re going to tell me that you didn’t use Lyla to try and make Laurel jealous.”
“Absolutely not. It’s fine with me if Laurel never finds out.” Saying and hearing her name isn’t nearly as hard as it was yesterday. Guess Greer was right about getting over her by being with someone else.
“Oh, I’m sure Lyla will tell her sister if she hasn’t already.”
“That-that’s between them,” I reply. “It’s not like I posted about it on social media and tagged her, right?”
The man growls at me, so I move on to the second part.
“The other reason I came by was to tell you about what happened in the parking lot.”
Now he straightens a little, his tight face more concerned than angry.
“I guess you know that I was there last night when Lyla tripped and fell. Well, I think she was running from someone and didn’t mention it…”
“And why the fuck were you in the parking lot in the first place?”
“Ah, closure. That’s why I was there. To see Laurel happy so I could try to move on. I know that probably sounds stupid to you, but I haven’t even looked at another woman since the divorce. Well, before Lyla.”
“You expect me to believe this shit that you’re selling?” He glares at me like he thinks I’m lying about it all. “If you’re waiting for me to give you my approval, you’re wasting your time, Fulton. I think I made myself clear last night in this yard and on the wall of that bar in spray paint when I ran over those Harleys. Stay away from Lyla. That’s my final warning.”
Sighing, I turn around and head back to the car, knowing he isn’t going to budge. But that doesn’t mean I won’t call Lyla. She’s a grown woman, and if she was willing to move out because of me, then she doesn’t care what her father thinks. If she doesn’t, then why should I? Isaac won’t actually kill me.
At least, I don’t think he will…
I’m relieved to see my bike and RJ’s are still in one piece in the parking lot, along with a few other stray vehicles that must have been left behind last night.
And it’s just my luck that after Jordan pulls off, my bike refuses to crank.
Guess it’s just one of those days.
Getting off the hunk of junk, I kick the front tire with the toe of my boot. “Piece of shit!”
RJ kills his engine and asks, “Won’t crank?”
“Nope.”
“Let me take a look at it,” he says as he climbs off his own bike and removes his helmet.
“Do you think they fucked with it?” I ask him as I glance around the large, open space. It looks completely different in the light of day.
“Why would they fuck with your bike but not mine?” RJ asks as he begins to tinker with it.
“Eh, that’s true, I guess.” My brother makes a good point for once in his life.
While I’m waiting, watching RJ’s back in case one of the Devil Hounds rolls by, a red, flashy car pulls into the far entrance, stopping behind a parked silver sedan.
When a woman gets out in a short dress, her long, wavy crimson hair blowing along with her skirt in the breeze, I think I must be seeing shit.
There’s no way I would luck up and be in the same place at the same time as Lyla again, right?
Guess I’m about to find out! My feet are moving in her direction without waiting for my command well before the passenger door closes and the red car drives away. The woman glances around nervously when she’s alone. She freezes in place when she sees me approaching.
“Barrett? W-what are you doing here?” she calls out, her voice unsure, like she’s wary of me. I hope I don’t look that much different in the light of day. Last night, she trusted me enough to give me her virginity.
Since she sounds nervous, I stop about ten feet away. Pointing over my shoulder, I tell her, “My brother and I just came by to get our bikes.”