Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 58142 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 291(@200wpm)___ 233(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58142 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 291(@200wpm)___ 233(@250wpm)___ 194(@300wpm)
Dad steps forward, more impatient than me. “Jade, honey, which are the best ones?”
“Don’t rush me,” Mom snips, bending again to survey her options.
I risk a glance at the four men and am dismayed to see that their interest has been piqued. They’re looking speculatively between me and my parents, and the sinking feeling in my stomach makes me queasy.
“Excuse me,” Chase says, striding toward them. “Are you the Griffins? Jade’s parents?”
Mom straightens, looking surprised. “Yes, yes we are. And who are you?”
Chase holds out a hand to shake hers. “Chase Stanton, ma’am. And these are my brothers, Diesel, Maddox, and Dodge.” He gestures to each of his brothers in turn, and then reaches out to shake Dad’s hand. Handshakes are exchanged all around.
It’s like a car crash about to happen right in front of me, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. If I wasn’t afraid of damage the sprinklers might cause, I’d pull the fire alarm so everyone would have to evacuate, but for all I know, this meeting might just carry on in the parking lot while we wait for the fire department to come.
“Those are interesting names,” Mom says. Her tone isn’t as sharp as usual, and I get the impression she likes the look of them. All four men are smiling pleasantly at her and Dad.
“I thought you must be Jade’s mother,” Chase says. “It’s easy to see where she gets her good looks.”
Mom’s voice is almost unrecognizable, all soft and syrupy. “Oh, I guess we do have the same hair,” she says, smoothing a hand over hers.
I’d have never — never in a million years — thought their effect on women would extend to my mother.
Dad has lost interest in the conversation and wanders over to the coffee station, but Mom looks like she’s settling in for a nice, long chat. “So, how do you know my daughter?” she asks, glancing at me for the briefest of moments before returning her focus to the brothers.
“I delivered bakery to them,” I say quickly, speaking up before they can answer.
“I didn’t realize the bakery offered delivery service,” she says, her eyes still fixed on the men.
“We deliver to businesses,” I say.
“Oh, a business,” she says, sounding both impressed and intrigued. “What business is that?” she asks them.
“We own a club, ma’am,” Dodge says.
Whatever was sinking in my belly has crashed to the bottom, and the cars in front of me are now only inches away from the collision.
“What club is that?” Mom asks, her tone hardening once again.
“Club Red, ma’am,” Maddox says.
It’s the perfect conversation ender. Mom doesn’t bother to respond, and she turns away from them abruptly, so maybe they don’t see the icy look of disdain on her face.
I’m surprised I don’t turn to stone from the look she’s giving me. I haven’t seen it in a long time, but it’s familiar, the same glare she used when I got in trouble as a kid, or when she’d take me to Weight Watchers meetings and I didn’t lose anything at the weigh-ins.
“I’ve decided not to get any bakery,” she says before turning to my dad. “Let’s go,” she tells him. To me, she only says, “Jade, I’ll phone you later,” and then they’re gone, without another word to the four men.
“Did I say something wrong?” Maddox asks as soon as my parents are out the door.
“I’m sorry about that,” I say. “You didn’t say anything wrong, but my parents aren’t supporters of … things like male revue shows.”
“It’s okay. I get it,” Maddox says, though he still looks hurt.
“It’s not for everyone,” Chase says. “Some people have preconceived notions without ever coming to a show. If they came, they’d see we’re just providing harmless entertainment.”
The idea of my mom going to their club is beyond anything I can imagine. My brain shuts down when I even try to mentally place her within those walls, among all of the screaming fans.
“We heard about some people on the island trying to keep us from opening up here,” Diesel says, and I cringe inwardly at the fact that he’s just unknowingly met the head of those protest efforts. I can’t bear to tell them. “I know some folks don’t like it, but I don’t understand the problem,” he adds.
“People should have the freedom to have fun any way they want, as long as they’re not hurting anyone else,” Maddox says.
“Speaking of the club,” Chase says, “are you ready to come see another show?”
Maddox’s grin returns. “We won’t pull you on stage … unless you want us to.”
“I can’t tonight,” I say, still feeling incredibly uneasy from the encounter that just took place. What if the men had let on that we were hooking up? I can’t let myself imagine that either. “I told Rachel I’d watch a movie with her.”