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“You hear that, Kip?” I teased. God, this shit was fucking gold. I’d missed too much. “They miss their dog, Kip.”
“Time for you to go home, Kip,” Axel chimed in.
“Time for Kip to go get another fucking drink,” Sam muttered. “Next round is on me.”
“The drinks are free, asshole,” Maverick yelled after him.
“That’s why they’re on me!”
Chapter 15
Genevieve
Nemo,” Nolan said before I ever got to the gate for the clubhouse.
Crap. This was the last place we should’ve been doing this—mostly because I wasn’t alone. After ditching everyone else, Raven dragged me out of the clubhouse for a day of shopping, café food, and so much coffee. At one point, Cade joined us with the information that bikers were too much for him.
Spending the day with them—laughing and talking—was the distraction I needed. It kept me from focusing on how I’d missed breakfast with the Byrnes because my husband was there. Or how I missed out on the plans to go hiking because my husband was there.
Lines were being drawn in the proverbial sand. It made me nauseous. It felt like my family was slipping away, replacing me with him. However, I really didn’t have a place in their family if I wasn’t with him, did I? All of it made my heart ache if I thought too long about it.
“Nemo?” Cade frowned. “Like the little fucking clown fish thing? That is the clown fish thing, right? Or was that the blue fish thing?”
“No, that was the clown fish,” Raven agreed. “But the baby clown fish. The one that touched the butt.”
“You mean boat,” I cut in.
“Butt would be more fun,” Cade replied. “We’ll be inside. I need to get ready for the scavenger hunt tonight.”
“You know where to find me if you need me,” Raven reminded me—as she had several times. I offered a reassuring smile before they left, one that vanished when they were completely out of sight.
“Nemo, as in you need to get out of here or you’re just trying to get me to talk to you?” I asked. I crossed my arms and stared up at him. His cheeks glowed a faint pink in the setting sun.
“Whichever gets you to talk to me,” Nolan admitted. “I don’t like fighting with you.”
“I don’t like being blindsided,” I told him. “Especially not by… you know.”
“Not that it matters, but I voted to tell you.”
“The five of you voted?” My voice rose an octave. “Are you serious, Nolan?”
“No one told Killian anything either,” he rushed to say. “We’ve just done a good job of pretending nothing happened for the last three years—”
“But you know what happened, Nolan,” I reminded him. “You’re the only one who knows what happened.”
“I know… but we can’t fix this for you two, so we left it for you two to figure out. We left it alone like we have for three years. Like you asked us to.”
Damn it. He had a point. I’d been adamant about them not getting involved. The only reason Nolan knew was because I’d gotten stupidly drunk and confessed everything to him. It was our secret though. One I desperately wanted to keep.
If more people knew, I’d have to face the stuff I’d been hiding for three years. I wasn’t ready for that. I didn’t know that I’d ever be.
“Do you have time before the scavenger hunt?” I asked. “Just you and me?”
“For you? I have all the time,” Nolan said. He glanced at his watch. “In this case, fifty-four minutes is all the time.”
“Okay.” I chuckled and held out a hand to him. “Coffee?”
“I saw a bakery with scones and gourmet coffee I wanted to try,” he replied. He tucked my hand through the crook of his elbow and off we went. I couldn’t stay mad at Nolan, even if I tried. And really, Nolan wasn’t the Byrne that was the problem.
