“I mean, she’s a trollop for leaving my son, but what do you mean, more in love with her job?”
We loved our mom, but sometimes she didn’t know when to leave things alone, and I could really tell Calvin didn’t want to talk about it. He’d go to Dad later. Alone. So I took one for the team.
“His name’s State. Well, that’s his club name. I don’t know his real name yet. I do know I like him, because when I met him at the compound, and after Isla left me to fend for myself, he spent the time talking to me. Then I ghosted him, letting myself sink into my doubts. However, he made an appointment at the salon to get his nails done just so he could talk to me and ask me out. He told me that when I walked into the compound, he knew that he wanted to get to know me because I took his whole attention like no one else has before.” I took a deep breath and then went on. “He also shut Margot down”—they all knew about her—“when she told him he could do better. He called her haggy and told her if she ever said anything about me again, they were going to have problems.” My hand shook when I took a sip of water.
Mom sniffed.
“Mom,” I whispered, amused.
She waved a hand around. “Hormones.”
I looked at Dad, worried about his opinion since I’d outed State as being in a motorcycle club. I didn’t care, and I hoped he wouldn’t.
He smiled warmly. “Good luck on your date, princess.”
Warmth spread through me. My family was amazing.
“Don’t mess this up, sis. I want an invite to the compound. I heard women fall at their feet.” Everyone stared at Casper. He shrugged. “What? It’s just what I heard.”
“There is no way I would take you there,” I told him.
“What about me?” Carter asked.
“I wouldn’t mind going either,” Calvin added.
I threw up a hand. “I haven’t even gone on a date with him yet.”
Mom shook her head. “Ignore them. I hope things go well, and we look forward to meeting him.”
Yeah, that wouldn’t be for a long time. I didn’t want to scare him off.
Later, when I was sitting on my couch in my one-bedroom apartment, my phone chimed, and my heart skipped a beat. I nearly fell off the couch with how quickly I moved to grab it off the coffee table in front of me.
State: How was your day, little mouse?
Thank God no one was around to see how my face nearly cracked with how big I was smiling.
Me: Good. Just got back from dinner with the family. What about yours?
State: Boring. How’d dinner go?
I bit my bottom lip.
Me: Well, my brothers now want an invite to the compound.
There was a pause, and worry seeped in. Did I say something wrong? Did I spell it wrong? I quickly read over my words. Then jumped when it chimed. I scrolled to his message.
State: You told them about me?
Sitting straighter, I pressed my fingers to my lips. Was I not supposed to?
Me: I did. I hope you don’t mind.
State: Nah, little mouse. Was it just your brothers around?
Me: No, my parents were there.
State: Good.
Was it?
State: Like you sharin’ about me, darlin’. Your brothers can come to the next party.
Me: Don’t say that!!!! You haven’t met them. They can be very embarrassing. For me.
State: I’ll make sure they won’t be. Got to go, baby. Lookin’ forward to seein’ you tomorrow. You know where the place is?
Me: I do. I’ll be there at 12.
State: Night, little mouse.
Me: Night. I added a smiley face and then regretted it. Do bikers like smiley faces? Was it too much?
Groaning, I slumped back on the couch, squishing my chin to my neck. Yeah, this would be a real pretty look for State to see me in with all my double-chin glory.
But… he liked me, or else he wouldn’t have come to find me.
He didn’t mind I was short.
He didn’t mind I was plus-size, or a nail technician, or that I have three brothers, or that I usually said what I was thinking.
He liked me.
When my phone rang, scaring the shit out of me, I let out a yell. Picking it up, I looked at the caller ID.
Isla.
Shit.
I wasn’t ready to deal with her even after a week, especially as she hadn’t reached out to explain why she had wanted to abandon me and was apparently high that night. Why would she get high before going out with me in the first place when she knew I wasn’t a fan of people on hard drugs? Marijuana was all right. Not that I’d tell my parents I thought that, or that I’d even had some on a few of my wilder nights out. Though, it turned out my “wild night” was me getting the giggles for absolutely no reason and then getting so tired I’d just wanted to sleep.
Did I ignore her call or deal with her?
Sighing, I scrubbed a hand over my face and then pressed the green button. “Hi, Isla.”
“Court, I didn’t think you would answer. I’m so sorry for how I acted at the compound. Country ripped me a new asshole about it. I should never have even suggested leaving you alone there. I promise I’ll never do it again.”
“What were you on?” I asked quietly.
She laughed. “That doesn’t matter. I know not to take it when I’m around you, Miss Goody Two-shoes.”
That stung. We used to be thick as thieves, but she didn’t need to be condescending just because I’d gone down a different path than her.
“Isla, why are you even—”
“I don’t want a lecture from you. I told Country I’d apologize, and I did. God, Court, I heard you had a good night with State anyway. You should be thanking me for introducing you. Not that I thought you’d have a chance with— Fuck, Court, I didn’t mean that. Look, I’m just going through a rough patch and can be a bitch without thinking. You’ll forgive me, right?”
Would I?
No. Not anymore.
But she didn’t need to know that. “Sure, Isla. Look, I have to go. We’ll talk soon.”
“We won’t, will we? One mistake and you’re ready to drop our friendship.”
Closing my eyes, I dropped my head back. An ache started at my temples. I hated confrontation or hurting anyone’s feelings, but maybe it was time I stuck to honesty.
“We’ve been drifting apart for a while, Isla. I want to settle down soon and start a family. You want to stay partying. It’s okay. This happens when we’re into different things.”
“I suppose you’re right. You were always a bore.” With that, she hung up.
I wouldn’t let her words get to me, because she was right about one thing. I wouldn’t have met State if it wasn’t for her, and I was grateful for that.
CHAPTER SIX
State
* * *
I stood out in front of the steakhouse with my hands in my jeans, leaning against the wall. Hell, I couldn’t wait to see my little mouse, but I also had other shit on my mind that I needed to push back before she arrived. Lisa had carried out the plan with the cop, but I was still getting visits. Weirdest thing was, he didn’t do anything, and the one time, when I went to approach him, he just drove off. Lisa was going to step up the game tomorrow night when he was at Polished and tell him we’d broken up.