Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 156945 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 785(@200wpm)___ 628(@250wpm)___ 523(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 156945 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 785(@200wpm)___ 628(@250wpm)___ 523(@300wpm)
Knight snapped his finger right in front of Gray’s eyes. “Earth to Gray. Do you need me to show you the ropes?”
The carefree attitude was so typical of their VP Gray almost smiled despite the worry eating at him. Here was Knight, not at all bothered that he was feeding blood to some infernal seeds that he’d planted on the outskirts of town. “Yeah, that. I think I need to do something else.”
“Maybe it’ll take you out of your comfort zone. Might be therapeutic,” Knight said.
“Do you see the ghosts now too?” Elliot asked, hugging Knight tightly, as if he’d been away for years, not hours.
Jake froze. “Are they here now?”
“Just Maureen. Always freaking lurking.”
Gray looked around, feeling icy breath on the back of his neck, but it must have been his imagination, because he could see no one unexpected. To be on the safe side, he asked Knight to point out where ‘Maureen’ was.
Elliot and Knight both pointed at Spike, a young hangaround on the way to becoming a prospect. Shirtless despite the slight chill, he was walking back from between the trees with arms full of wood.
“See that woman in old-fashioned clothes? She just rubbed his arm.”
Gray saw nothing of that sort.
Thank fuck. He didn’t even know where to begin about how uncomfortable he was when Knight suggested that maybe Maureen thought Spike would be a better catch than the man who’d betrayed her. Or that maybe she just wanted ‘another baby’—whatever that meant. Exactly what they needed right now. Ghost babies.
“Beef,” he eventually told Joker and even forced himself to smile. He wouldn’t have anyone thinking he was feeling sorry for himself.
Fox put a beer in Gray’s hand, and they all gathered around the barbecue. He was still wearing a cast after the jump from the burning building, but Gray was glad to see him doing well despite that.
“We’ve got some builders sleeping in the gym, so don’t be surprised,” Rev said. “We’ll think of somewhere else we can put them, but it was the best place for now, since it can be locked out from the main clubhouse area. We don’t want strangers roaming around the property too much.”
Gray swallowed, nodding even though it felt as if his feet started sinking into the ground. The gym was right beneath his small apartment. It was for communal use of all club members and their friends, but the truth was that it remained empty outside of people’s regular workout times, to the point where he thought of it as private. Having people live there was unsettling, no matter how tasty the meat smelled on the barbeque or how happy his friends were to see him.
Beast came over next, welcoming Gray home with a firm pat on the back. The president’s face—heavily tattooed and scarred from the burns he’d suffered years ago—was twisted into a broad smile. “Good to see you, brother. We’re on our way to finish the repairs. I know you, so I’m telling you now that you should stop worrying and just focus on recovering fast. That’s the most important service you can offer to the club now. Can’t have you fucking up your body again before it completely heals.”
Gray bit the inside of his cheek. Was he that easy to decipher? He should have been here all along, done his part of the work instead of resting in a hospital bed for weeks. Then there was the issue of the demon requiring his shadow tonight, but how was he to give it away or for what purpose?—he still didn’t know and didn’t dare to reveal his secret to the prez.
Beast wouldn’t let the pact topic go. “What is that you’re doing tonight? Knight is all set up. What do you need? Do we need to drive you somewhere?”
Gray squeezed and opened his hands… hand, and in the face of being forced against an invisible wall, he looked up and spoke. “I’m not sure. I’ll have to ask him… somehow.”
Despite the low tone he used, it seemed that everyone heard him, even Joker, who flipped something on the barbecue before letting out a cackle. “That’s what Baal gets for getting consent out of a bleeding guy. It won’t be your fault if you fail because he didn’t give you instructions.”
Beast exhaled, his stern face falling with worry. “Ah… yeah, best if you ask him then.”
Joker wouldn’t stop laughing. “Yeah, ask him if he wants beef or chicken. Though he can probably grill it himself.”
Laurent shook his head as Joker passed him a burger. “That is no laughing matter.”
What was a laughing matter though was Laurent daintily eating his burger and desperately trying to avoid getting any sauces on himself. Beast had offered him a plate, but Laurent insisted that it wasn’t ‘how one eats a burger’.
Despite cockroaches marching through his stomach, Gray stayed with his friends, smiled, listened about the work that still needed to be done in the clubhouse, and ate two burgers before finally excusing himself with tiredness.