Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 79338 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79338 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
“So you're the latest troublemaker. First girl in a while that had the sense to move in with her own clothes at least, I’ll give you that. Reaper, Mack and Scrapper are good men, and they seem to think you’re worth the danger, so I’ll be straight with you.” He's terrifying, but while his voice sounds like it's being churned through a stone quarry, the tone isn’t mean. “Give them your loyalty and we’ll have your back, but if you betray them or the club, you have twenty-four hours to clear town. And that’s being nice on account of them seeming fond of you.”
“Prez!” Scrapper says. “Was that necessary?”
Eagle-eye smiles. “I’ve gotten used to you fuckers shacking up with every girl with a sob story, and I even like most of ‘em, but my woman, my son, my daughter and my granddaughter are all inside these walls. Do you understand me?”
I swallow hard.
And I realize he's right. “I think I do. I'm very thankful that you've allowed me a space here. I'm doing my best not to cause trouble.”
He laughs, a sharp bark. “Well, that'd be a nice change. I’ve seen the reports on what you’ve been dealing with. Good luck with that. Try not to get my boys killed, will ya? I’ve barely got ‘em house trained.” I feel there's a lot going on here that I don't know much about yet, but what is obvious is that despite their harsh tone sometimes, this club is a family. I'm pretty sure any of these guys would do just about anything for another member if they had to.
Quick paw steps skitter over the linolium floor, signaling the rapid approach of a gangly boxer dog coming our way. If it didn't look so happy and its tail wasn't going like it was trying to lift off, I'd be terrified, but as soon as it gets close enough, Eagle-eye crouches down and pulls him into a rough wrestling hug. “Who the hell let you out, Jupiter? You were supposed to wait in the office.” Jupiter immediately shoves his head right into my lap, looking up at me with big brown eyes and drooling on my jeans.
Obviously, I scratch Jupiter behind the ears.
“Well, now you've gone and fucking done it. He’s your problem now,” growls Eagle-eye. “I've got shit to do.”
And with that he turns and stomps up the stairs. I glance over at Scrapper. “Are we dogsitting now?”
He shrugs. “Don't look at me. I didn't encourage him.” He gets a beer from Jewel, then pulls me gently by the arm. “C'mon. The couches are more comfortable, and you're not gonna get any work done with Jupiter around anyway. Snark's got your flash drive—he'll find exactly what you need.”
We drop onto one of the couches, and Jupiter's there immediately, burrowing his head under my hand so I'll get to the scratching, while his tail thwacks against the couch. I lean against Scrapper's chest, mirroring Jupiter until he sighs melodramatically and starts stroking my hair. I can’t blame the dog, it is kinda nice.
One of the other members comes over. He's massive, like he bench presses the whole weight machine while sucking down a protein shake between each lift. “Just gonna check the scores,” he says, grabbing the remote for the big screen TV in the couch area and turns it on.
“Go for it, Bull,” Scrapper says. He's still stroking my hair, and I'm still scratching behind Jupiter's ears. None of us is going anywhere.
“Could you turn it up a little?” I ask, noticing that the tail end of the news is still on.
Scrapper gives me a look. “I never pegged you for a news TV watcher. Just Bull not using the magic that is the internet.”
“Oh, fuck off, four eyes,” Bull replies good naturedly. “You sure you want to stick with that jackass? You know what they say about a man with a big screen…”
“No, we don’t. What do they say?” Scrapper asks.
Bull blinks. “They have a big dick? I don’t know, it was a rhetorical fucking question.”
I laugh. “I’m a journalism student, remember? That doesn’t just mean writing articles for the paper. I’ve studied TV, internet, paper, pretty much everything. I think traditional TV broadcasting is on the way out but it’s still useful. Besides, I know her from my internship at Channel 7.”
Ella Washington is a pretty woman with curly black hair and a great on-screen presence that makes you feel like she's talking directly to you. She was competent when I was there last year, and she sure hasn’t lost her touch.
“…We'll know more once the bodycams are made public.” She shifts the paper in front of her, but doesn't look at it, like it's just a prop and she's already got the news fully under control. “The riot at the State Prison this morning is now fully under control. Officers on the scene aren’t releasing information about injuries or fatalities until all families have been notified, but ambulances are on the premises. There is no risk of escape and those who live nearby have no reason to worry about it spreading beyond the prison walls.”