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I swallowed hard. “I won’t let you down, Uncle Jack.”
“I know you won’t. You’re your father’s son, Hawk. You could never disappoint me. But if you hurt my grandbaby, I’ll gut you like a pig.” He slapped me on the back harder this time, and I bit back a grunt when it stung. “Take care of her, boy.”
“Always.”
Gracie
From the moment I walked into Aggie’s, I’d been run off my feet. She wasn’t kidding when she told me that the dinner shift was faster paced. As tired as I was, however, I was glad for the busyness of it. If I was concentrating on keeping everyone’s glasses full and getting them their food I didn’t have time to wonder what I was going to do about Hawk.
From the moment he’d left the garage earlier that afternoon I’d wondered what to do about his cavalier attitude about hurting someone for doing nothing wrong, except talking to me. And while I didn’t fear him ever hurting me like my father had hurt my mom, it still left me wondering if it was basically the same thing. Worried that he would hurt someone over me was just as bad as worrying if he would hurt me… Right?
I don’t know.
What I did know was that even before that earth-shaking, life-altering kiss the night before; Hawk had been overly protective. For weeks he had gone to chemistry with me and sat beside me to make sure that Kevin Samson didn’t bother me. At home if one of his brothers, biological or club, said something that made me uncomfortable he would set them straight and make them apologize to me. I thought all of that was nice, adorable even.
Fudge. Okay, so I’d eaten that stuff up like it was chocolate. It had made falling for him so fast, that much harder.
So why was I getting all bent out of shape over him threatening Harley?
I filled a pitcher up with iced water, pausing to think that over for a moment. It was because of my damned father. Would I ever get over him beating my mother on an almost nightly basis? Or would I always consider the least little thing over the top and hold it against the people I cared about?
My head started to throb and I pushed all thoughts of Hawk and my parents to the back of my head as I made the rounds of my section to make sure everyone was happy and didn’t need anything.
I filled up the water glass at my last table, offering the older couple a small smile before turning back to the kitchen to see if I had any more food to deliver to my tables. Quinn and Chrissy and two other girls were standing there waiting on their own orders and I leaned back against the wall out of the way to take a small breather.
My back, legs, and feet were killing me. I had seriously thought I was in better shape than this. Sure, I’d gotten out of the habit of running every morning since I’d moved in with the Hannigans, but it wasn’t like I’d given it up altogether. Sometimes I would run with Willa, or if Hawk was at the bar I would take smaller runs just to clear my head. It was almost pathetic the way my entire body was now one big throb from having only worked the day before and tonight.
Quinn moved past the other three girls and leaned on the wall beside me. “Feet giving you some trouble?”
I shrugged and gave her a grim smile. “It feels like I’ve been on them for days instead of just a few hours.”
She laughed. “Yeah, I remember that. I started working here when I was sixteen and I went home and cried myself to sleep because my feet hurt so badly after that first day. But you’ll work it out in a few days, I promise.”
“So it’s not just because I’ve become a lazy slob?”
When Quinn laughed again, I realized that I liked the sound of it. I’d only spoken to her a few times the day before, but she always seemed nice and had offered to help me as much as I needed. I didn’t know much about her, except that I knew she was a friend of Colt’s, and only that much because I’d answered the phone a few times when she’d called him.
“No, girl. We’ve all had the torture walk. Take some ibuprofen and a hot bath every night with some epsom salt. You’ll be good as new in no time.” She pushed away from the wall when the cook put three plates of food up. “If you need anything, just let me know.” Her gaze went to the two other waitresses standing whispering to each other, and then to Chrissy, who I’d had the displeasure of meeting the day before. When her eyes met mine again they were serious. “I mean it. Anything.”
I nodded, touched that she would want to help me, and went back out to check on my
tables. As I passed the front door it opened and in walked Raven and Willa with Lexa between them. When Lexa spotted me she rushed forward and wrapped her arms around my leg.
I bent to hug her. “Hey, pretty girl.”
“Gracie, it’s my Auntie Willa’s birthday,” she informed me excitedly. “My daddy and Uncle Spider are gonna come eat with us.”
I grinned. “That sounds like fun.” I straightened and smiled at the two women behind her. “Happy birthday,” I told Willa, hugging her.
“Thanks.” She lifted Lexa into her arms. “Do you have a free table for us? I’d much rather have you touching my food than most of these other girls.”
I glanced over at my section to make sure no one had sat down in the last booth that I had available. “Yeah, sure. Come on before someone takes it.”
I lead them to the last booth in the back of the diner and took their drink orders. I was going to have to be extra careful with my new customers. Lexa had a severe nut allergy and unfortunately Aggie’s had nuts in several of her dishes. Since Lexa couldn’t even touch nuts without becoming affected I needed to make sure I washed my hands before I touched anything that came into contact with her food and drinks.
By the time I returned to their table Spider was already sitting with them. I couldn’t help but grin down at the sexy bald biker as I distributed glasses of water to the three girls. “Hey, it feels like forever since I last saw you.”
Spider lifted his head, exposing the terrifying spider tattoo on his neck a little more. “Hey Gracie. Yeah, I know. Willa’s been keeping me chained to the bed, and only lets me out of the apartment when she decides I need to go to work.”
