AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I tipped my head to the side and frowned. “What?”
He stepped toward me and put his hand in his pocket. “Joined up with an MC and found a name that suits me better.”
Mace was a name that suited him better than Jonathon? “I like Jonathon,” I blurted. It was what I knew him as. It had been Jonathon who had befriended me when I was in third grade and he was in fourth grade.
Two boys had been picking on me one day at recess, and Jonathon became my hero when he just reared back and punched both boys right in their faces.
For the next six years, Jonathon stayed my hero.
He still was.
The day came when I finally stood up for myself, and he had been there for me when I needed him the most.
“Yeah, well, Jonathon doesn’t exist anymore, Imogen. Hasn’t for a few years. I guess you would have known that if we still talked.”
“I, uh,” I stammered. “when I left….”
“When you left, I wasn’t part of your future, Imogen. I get it.”
I wished Jonathon, or I guess Mace, could have been part of my life after I left, but it took a whole lot for me to be able even to function, let alone be the Imogen he knew before. “No,” I insisted. “I just needed to….” I needed to what? Figure out how to feel again? To trust again? To not think everyone was going to hurt me? That was a lot to lay out in front of Jonathon after fifteen years of not talking.
Mace moved closer. “I get it, Imogen.”
How did he get it when I didn’t even get it?
“What are you doing here?” I blurted. Of course, the first sentence I could get out was straight to the point and rude.
The main door swung open, and Dorothy called, “Hey! There’re two motorcycles in the parking lot and a hot guy on one. Did Crew’s upgrade their delivery vehicle?”
Mace turned and glanced at Dorothy.
Dorothy balanced two styrofoam containers and kicked the door shut. “And also get a new delivery boy?”
Mace chuckled low and shook his head. “Not the delivery boy, darlin’.”
“Oh.” Dorothy straightened, and her cheeks turned pink. “Are you here for services?”
I closed my eyes and sighed. Dorothy would think Mace was the delivery boy.
“Just an old friend of Imogen’s. Mace,” Mace replied. “And that’s my brother out there. He took the ride with me.”
I opened my eyes, and Dorothy’s jaw dropped. “I didn’t know Imogen had friends. And ones with hot brothers to boot.”
“We met in grade school,” Mace explained. “We haven’t talked lately, though.”
“Why don’t you take our lunch to our office, Dorothy, and I’ll wait for Brew’s to deliver.” I was already having an out-of-body moment with Mace standing in front of me. I didn’t need to have Dorothy be a spectator.
Mace shook his head and held up his hand. “I don’t want to interrupt your lunch, and I can’t leave Yule in the parking lot forever.”
“This is only half of it. The rest should be here any minute. Jackson’s was actually on the ball today, and I was out of there lickety-split.” She moved the containers up and down and tipped her head to the side. “I’m sure we have more than enough for the four of us. We could always order more, too.”
“Dorothy,” I scolded. I did not want to have lunch with Mace and his brother. Brother? Mace never had a brother when I knew him.
She shrugged and moved around Mace to the office. “I’m more than willing to share with the sexy bikers from your past you never told me about,” she called.
“Mace is from my past,” I corrected. “I’ve never met his brother before.”
“You’ve known the man for years, and you never met his brother?” Dorothy asked. “That seems odd.”
