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“Libby,” I say as gently as possible. “I’m kind of nervous about this. The club is…family to Dex.”
“But you’ve met a lot of them before.”
“This is different.” I aim my big sister stare at her. “You have a big weekend of set-building and chilling with your friends, don’t you?”
“Ugh, no one says ‘chillin’ anymore, Em.” She snorts in disgust and walks away.
“Well, I still say it,” I mutter, listening to her clomp down the stairs.
When I find her in the kitchen a few minutes later, she seems more cheerful. “I forgot to tell you I got an eighty-eight on my math quiz yesterday.”
“That’s great! So, the study sessions with Troy are helping.” I’d been wondering if they were working or flirting but couldn’t think of a way to ask that wouldn’t tick off Libby.
Her cheeks turn pink.
Must resist urge to tease her.
“Yeah, he’s really good at explaining stuff,” she says. “Better than our teacher, for sure.”
“I’m proud of you, puddin’. You’ve been putting in a lot of hours on the play and still improving in your other classes. That’s not easy.”
She ducks her head. “Knock it off. It’s not a big deal.”
I drop it but I’ll have to think of something to reward her. She chatters about classes and the play the whole drive to school. I pull into the drop-off area and put the car in park.
“Hang on,” I say.
“Em, I gotta go.” Her hand hovers over the car door handle.
“Call me if you need anything. I won’t be that far away that I can’t come get you. You have Dex’s number too, right?”
“Yup.”
Much to Libby’s mortification, I’d spoken to her friend’s mom earlier in the week, so I’m confident Libby will be fine. But I can’t help the worry settling in my stomach.
“You gotta let me fly out of the nest once in a while, sister bird.” Libby presses her thumbs together and wiggles her fingers like bird wings. “I’ll text you. Promise.”
I wait and watch her fly up the stairs to the front doors of the school. Someone honks behind me and I resist the urge to flip them off.
I don’t know how I’m going to slog through work today. I almost feel like calling in sick again and asking Dex to pick me up early.
* * *
The sun’srapidly setting as we ride to the clubhouse. With so many tall trees, darkness descends rapidly, but enough light remains to enjoy the twilight mountain views.
The ride seems both long and over too fast. Dex is right about riding helping the mind focus on what’s in front of you. With the pavement rushing below us, I spend more time worrying about my odds of dying than whether or not I’ll embarrass myself in front of Dex’s club tonight.
I wrap my arms around him even tighter as we pass through a high, metal gate. A big Buddha statue greets us as we pass. I wasn’t expectingthat. An impressive, wide, paved driveway leads up, up, up a hill.
A mammoth log cabin-type building appears to the right. “Wow.”
“Not what you expected, huh?” Dex shouts over his shoulder.
“Nope.” Even though Serena told me the clubhouse looked like a fancy log cabin, I’d pictured a run-down old warehouse with a cracked parking lot.
He follows the gentle curve in the driveway around to the front of the building. A wide parking area extends the length of the front of the clubhouse. Large garages and a building that looks like a smaller version of the clubhouse stand at the end of the parking lot. Several neat trails cut through the woods surrounding the place. Bright floodlights on the corners of every roof illuminate the area.
Dex backs the bike into a line of other Harleys across from the clubhouse. Once he shuts off the engine, the steady thump of music from inside the clubhouse makes its way to us.
