“Holy fuck. Hell of a time to call.”
I agreed, but I was just happy she had called me finally. I hadn’t heard my sister's voice in over a week.
“She doesn’t know where she is but—”
“But she said she messed up and got in deep with Chester. Mac took her.”
“Jester,” Playboy corrected me.
Whoops. “Jester. And she doesn’t know where she is but she saw a guy with a Double Rebels cut thing on.”
“Devil’s Rebels,” Playboy corrected me again.
“For Pete’s sake, woman. Try to get the details right,” Barracuda grunted.
I was just a tad bit excited.
“You’re doing great, Raelyn,” Leona called.
“Anything else?” Barracuda asked.
I shook my head.
Playboy smirked at me. “No,” he said out loud.
“This is a lot of shit to pile on me at two o’clock in the morning.” Barracuda sighed. “Get your ass here in the morning, and we’ll try to make heads and tails of all of this. We’re gonna have to see if we can find Jester and figure out who the hell Mac was. I’m assuming neither of them are going to be easy to find.”
“Oh,” I interrupted. “She said she was fine right now but she didn’t know for how long that would be.”
“We’ll find him. You and I both know that fucker can’t stay hidden forever.” Playboy reached out and laced his fingers through mine.
“True. Get some sleep, and we’ll get this shit sorted tomorrow.” The call ended, and Playboy tossed his phone on the coffee table.
“That’s it?” I asked. “We’re not doing anything?”
We needed to go now. Barracuda needed to get his butt out of bed and gather the troops. This is what we had been waiting for and nothing was going to happen until morning? Adrenaline coursed through my veins. Let’s go!
“It’s the middle of the night, Raelyn. We gotta at least wait until the sun rises.”
But what if something happened to Billie Jean before then? “It sounded like someone walked in on her when I was talking. She ended the call quickly.”
“She told you she was fine, right?”
I nodded.
“So if she’s fine now, we can at least wait until the sun rises,” Playboy reasoned.
“How am I supposed to wait?” I demanded.
“It’s the middle of the night, Raelyn. You need to get some sleep so you’re ready for tomorrow.”
“It’s tomorrow right now,” I countered.
Playboy ran his fingers through his hair. He looked tired. Really tired. “Raelyn,” he groaned.
I folded my arms over my chest. “Fine. You can sleep.”
“We’re both going to sleep.”
Fat chance of that. No way I was going to be able to sleep now. “You go to bed. I’ll just wait.”
“For what?”
“The sun to rise.”
Playboy shook his head. “You’re a nut.” He stood up, leaned over me, pushed me back into the couch, and then lifted me up into his arms. “You don’t have to sleep, but you’re gonna be next to me while I sleep.”
“That’s ridiculous,” I protested.
“So is staying awake all night,” he countered. He flipped off the lights on the way to the bedroom, and I crossed my arms over my chest. I was not happy having to go to bed after finding out Billie Jean was in trouble. He was right about us not being able to do much now, but going to sleep didn’t seem like the right thing either.
He laid me in the middle of the bed and pulled the covers over me. “Stay.” He walked into the bathroom, and I flopped back on the bed.
A minute later, the toilet flushed, the water in the sink ran, he flipped off the light, and then he was in bed with me.
“I’m not happy about this.” I needed to say it out loud. I was sure he could figure that out, but I wanted it to be perfectly clear.
“Got that, pretty girl.” He gathered me in his arms, and I laid my head on his chest. “Just try to keep still so I can get a couple hours of shuteye before you take off in the sunrise to rescue your sister.”
“You get two hours. That’s it.” No more.
Playboy lightly stroked my bare arm and hummed softly. “Stop talking.”
I scoffed. “How rude.”
“You want me to be rested to rescue your sister or dead on my feet? It was a long night at the club tonight, Raelyn. All I wanted to do was fall into bed with you and sleep until noon.” He grunted and pulled me close. “Now I’ll be lucky if you let me sleep past six.”
Well. I guess I could shut up and let him sleep. “Sorry,” I muttered.
“You’re fine, Raelyn. I know you’re excited. Just give me two hours, yeah?”
“Yeah,” I whispered. I settled into his arms and listened to the sound of his breathing.
I had thought I wouldn’t be able to sleep but with the dark room, Playboy pressed against me, and the soothing sound of his steady breaths, I drifted off within minutes.
Billie Jean may not be home yet, but just knowing that she was still alive and I had talked to her gave me a sense of relief. We were far from being past all of this, but I knew the end was in sight.
It had felt like ages since I had seen Billie Jean, but I knew she would be back soon.
I slept better than I had in over a week.
Billie Jean was coming home.
*
Chapter Fourteen
Playboy
A different world…
“What is this?”
Raelyn handed me a black thermos. “Coffee. We don’t have time to sit here and drink it.”
I grabbed the thermos. “Pretty girl, you’re starting to be crazy again.”
She rolled her eyes and grabbed her keys off the counter. “You know that it’s seven-thirty, right? I let you sleep way longer than I said I would.”
Five hours. Not exactly the desired amount I had in mind when I pulled into her driveway last night. And for the record, I had woken up before Raelyn.
Raelyn stood by the front door and tapped her foot.
I grabbed my sunglasses off the kitchen counter and pulled my keys out of my pocket. “We’re taking the bike.”
“Fine. But I need my keys to get back in the house.”
I grabbed her keys and shoved them in my pocket. “Once this shit is over, you’re giving me a copy of your key.”
She opened the door and motioned for me to move. “Fine by me.” She pulled the door shut behind us, locked it, and stalked over to my bike.
“I see you’re hopped up on adrenaline again.” I threw my leg over the bike, and she was on behind me before I set my ass down.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she muttered.
I handed her the thermos. “Hold that since you won’t let me enjoy my coffee.”
She grabbed the thermos and wedged it between us. “Drive, biker man.”
I rolled my eyes and pulled my sunglasses over them. “You know, you could be a little nicer to me this morning.”
She wrapped her arms around me and rested her chin on my shoulder. “Sorry,” she whispered. “Apparently adrenaline puts me on edge a touch.”