“They think he may be the one offing the old people at your grandma’s place.”
“Fuck. I got a bad feeling about all this. I have to figure out how to protect my grandma when I’m not there.”
“Why don’t you move her out?” Chains asked as he sat on one of the barstools.
“Cherry Vale’s the nicest private place in the area. The state-run ones are shitholes, and I don’t want to send her to Durango. Besides, moving her now would totally screw her up. I just have to figure it out.” Goldie scrubbed his face.
“You know the badges are usually wrong. I can’t believe a guy raping women is also offing old people. It doesn’t make sense,” Paco said.
“If he’s trying to avoid detection and throw the badges off, it does,” Chains replied.
For a few seconds, silence descended on the group. Then Paco clasped Goldie on the shoulder. “When are you gonna tell your friend about fucking his sister?” The others guffawed.
“I don’t know,” he grumbled. After he finished his beer, he begged off a game of pool and headed to his room. Paco’s question needled him, and he knew it was something he had to do. Since he and Hailey had come together, they’d both acted as though Ryan didn’t exist, but he was always in the back of Goldie’s mind. Sometimes he’d chastise himself for being so weak or a disloyal, shitty friend, but then the memory of Hailey’s kisses and the sunlight in her hair washed the guilt away. How could he give up the way she snuggled close to him when they slept, the way her lower lip jutted out when he annoyed her, or the way her face contorted when she climaxed? He couldn’t. It was that simple, yet somehow it wasn’t.
Kicking his desk chair, he cursed under his breath. Of all the women he’d ever hooked up with, why the fuck did it have to be Hailey who’d found a way into his heart?Fuck. I need to tell Ryan. He’ll get it. He knows I’d never hurt Hailey. We’ve been buds since we were five.And what was Hailey to him? His feelings for her were all scrambled inside him, and the fact that he evenhadfeelings for her surprised him. In all his years, he’d never felt anything more for a woman than pleasure. Some of the women had been more fun than others, and he’d liked hanging out with them more, but if they started pressuring him, he’d walk away without a backward glance. And on the rare occasion when a woman decided she wasn’t into his no-commitment mentality and left him, he’d usually be with another one within twenty-four hours. That was the way he lived his life, and it had suited him just fine until Hailey came into his shop.
Being with Hailey touched something deep inside him, and it thrilled and angered him at the same time. He loved his easy life in the brotherhood: all the booze and pussy he could ask for, camaraderie, killer parties, and doing whatever the fuck he wanted. He didn’t need a woman complicating his life, and he wasn’t willing to give it up, but when he wasn’t with Hailey, he was thinking about her. He’d skipped the last several club parties, and the only pussy he’d been in for a while was Hailey’s. It was the only one he craved.
Fuck, this shit’s complicated.
A knock on his door was a welcomed distraction from his dizzying thoughts.
“It’s open.”
Brutus walked in. “Some of us are going out drinking. You wanna come?”
“Where’re you going?”
“Rear End.”
“I haven’t been there in a long time. Count me in.”It’ll be good to just go out with the brothers.
“We’re gonna leave in an hour,” Brutus said as he walked out.
Yanking off his T-shirt, Goldie headed to the shower. A night out with his buds was just what he needed. Freshly showered and shaved, Goldie slipped on a clean pair of jeans and a black muscle shirt that molded over his chest. He reached for his phone on the desk and noticed several unopened texts.
Hailey:Whatcha doing?
Hailey:R u busy?
Hailey:U must b tatting someone.
Hailey:Forgot to ask. U wanna hang tonite? I feel like a drink.
Hailey:Text me when u’re done.
Goldie reread the texts, looked out the window, and then replied.
Goldie:Sorry. Was in the shower. I’m hanging with my buds tonite.
Hailey:Where u guys going?
Goldie:A biker bar.
Hailey:Have I been there?
Goldie:Doubt it. It’s raunchy & a hottie like u wouldn’t survive ten secs before the wolves started circling.
