Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 75478 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75478 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“That’s fair,” I admitted. “You sure you want to bring me?”
“That’s a silly question,” he said. Then, knowing me too well, he added, “Of course I want you to come. I need to show you the playground. Of course, they insist on calling it an ‘aerial obstacle course,’ but I know a playground when I see one.”
“You can’t go on the playground,” I reminded him. “We’ve already taken too many risks with your shoulder.”
“It’s already scabbed,” he reminded me. “Well on my way to healing.”
“How long is it going to take?” I asked, knowing I wouldn’t stop worrying until then.
“Three weeks, give or take. Why? Have some super acrobatic sex planned for me then? ‘Cause I have some ideas.”
“I bet you do,” I agreed, loving that we were talking so casually about the future. True, it was only a few weeks. But still. I felt a lot more comfortable with our budding relationship now that I knew he planned to keep up with me for a while. There were no guarantees in life, of course. Something could happen at any point to end this. But I felt a lot more secure knowing that he was at least interested in the long run.
“What time are we leaving?” I asked.
“Figure an hour or so. Gives us time to shower after this. Round up a couple of the guys. Then head out.”
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t super nervous about leaving the clubhouse. But I also knew that staying holed up because I was afraid of something would only make it easier to stop leaving the house again in the future. Until, eventually, I wouldn’t be able to at all. I’d struggled with a bout of agoraphobia over the summer break once in high school. It had taken weeks to force myself back out of the house. And even then, I suffered ceaseless panic attacks for another few weeks until, slowly but surely, the exposure therapy worked and I could go out again.
Besides, if I was going to go out, a trip to a place as heavily guarded as Hailstorm seemed like the safest possible option.
Plus… dogs.
“Where is Zima?” I asked, looking at my last sausage link, wanting to give it to her.
“She snuck out after you,” he said. “Someone probably let her out to go chase that poor fat squirrel again.”
“He really is fat,” I agreed.
“He can’t fit through the fence anymore,” Sully said, smiling. “I think Perish is feeding him peanuts.”
“Really?” I asked, imagining the giant sneaking out to feed the squirrel when his club brothers couldn’t see him being all cute. “Why?”
“Because he did the shopping last. And there was a bag of peanuts in the shell, no salt. What kind of psychopath would eat unsalted, in-shell peanuts? It’s gotta be for the wildlife.”
I couldn’t fault his logic. And I had to admit that the idea of Perish not only bringing the peanuts to a squirrel, but remembering to buy them, was really adorable.
“What’s his issue with the grass?” I asked, getting up to scrounge up some cloths for the day.
“You noticed that, huh? You should fucking see him in the spring. The man launches a full-scale war against the dandelions. He goes out with a knife and digs them out.”
“Was he in lawn care or something before the club?”
“I think it’s more likely that he never had a yard in his life before. Can’t imagine what a bear he’ll be when he actually owns a house someday.”
We didn’t exactly have much talking to do after that, since clothes got peeled off, and we were in the shower running soapy hands all over each other until, well, the inevitable happened. Again. And he went ahead and made up for the lack of orgasms before, schedule be damned.
I was still feeling a little post-orgasm contented when we climbed in the back of the SUV. I was flanked on both sides—one, with Sully and the other side with Nave. In the front, Dezi and Valen were with us. Since Courtney insisted that the twins go to work with her. And Fallon had insisted Perish join them as well.
“Wow, it’s bigger than I realized,” I said as the car climbed the hill toward Hailstorm.
“They’ve done a lot of expanding over the years,” Nave said. “It used to be strictly made out of shipping containers. Which are pretty good against handguns, but rifles could pretty easily penetrate the steel. Chris has put a lot of time and money into either reinforcing the walls with sandbags for the containers she wanted to keep, but also building new buildings that are reinforced concrete with rebar. Can withstand most shit.”
“Nine-inch walls,” Dezi confirmed.
“That’s where the girls and the kids have been hanging out,” Valen added.
Oh, right.
I forgot that the other women had been hiding out too. Would they all be hanging out when we got there? I wouldn’t mind seeing Layna, Luna, and Gracie again. And meeting the others. Sully had nothing but nice things to say about them.