14
14
Micah
Sitting on my bike, I listened to the phone ring as I held it pressed to my ear.
“Hello?” Dolly replied in a clipped tone, making me smile.
“Good morning to you too, Tink. You sound chipper.”
I could almost see her frowning.
“What can I do for you, Micah?”
Suck my cock , but I wasn’t about to suggest that. She’d tell Pepper, and then I’d have my sister to deal with.
“Just checking on you. Seeing if you’re feeling better this morning.”
“What, after you pulled a gun on a man at my door last night? Yes. I am peachy keen. Thanks for asking.”
Damn, I liked it when she was a smart-ass.
“About that, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done it. I scared you, and I feel real bad about it.” That shit wasn’t a lie. It had kept me up last night, but I wasn’t about to admit that.
She sighed. “Okay.”
“That’s all I’m getting?”
“What would you have me say?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I forgive you might be nice.”
She let out a small laugh. “I forgive you. Better?”
Grinning, I crossed one arm over my chest and settled in. I wasn’t in a real rush to get off the phone, I decided. I was enjoying this. “Maybe. What about you offer to let me come sleep in your bed and keep you nice and warm tonight? That might make it all better.”
“I’mma say, hard pass, Micah Abe.”
“Ouch. Come on, Tink. You won’t even give my cuddling offer a chance?”
Another laugh. “No, I won’t. I wasn’t born yesterday. Now, I need to get to work. If that is all you called for, I gotta go.”
I didn’t want to let her go, but I had no other excuse to keep her on the phone. “Have a good day, Tink.”
“You too, Micah.”
Two days later, I walked into church, pissed off about so many things that I wasn’t sure where to start. Liam sat at the head of the table, and Jars, Brick, Butch, and Grinder sat on the right side while Country and Tex sat on the left. I was the last one here.
“Glad you could join us,” Tex drawled sarcastically, leaning back in his chair with a cigarette clenched between his teeth.
“Fuck off,” I snapped before pulling out my chair to Liam’s direct left and sat down.
“Someone has his panties in a wad,” Grinder replied with a smirk.
“Dylan giving you hell over Dolly?” Country asked me, grinning.
“I don’t give a fuck what Dylan says or does,” I snarled, annoyed with the entire conversation.
“And I don’t give a fuck about Micah’s lineup of females,” Liam said. “What I do give a fuck about is Canyon Acree and the one hundred grand he owes us.”
“It’s been four days. I gave him ten,” I told him.
“Why exactly did you decide on ten?” Liam scowled.
“Told you, Pres, Acree had Pepper’s best friend with him,” Brick said. “Micah was a little thrown off by it.”
Which Liam would know if he spent less time in Ocala with his grandkid and more time here. I didn’t say that though. Wasn’t my place.
“That’s the girl we have Ringer guarding?”
“And me,” Brick added. “But, yeah, Ringer is there right now.”
“Why ain’t Micah over there, babysitting, seeing as it’s Pep’s best friend?” Jars asked, leaning his beefy arms on the table.
“’Cause she’s pretty as a peach and Micah wants to fuck her,” Tex said, grinning.
“I don’t want to fuck her,” I corrected him, although that wasn’t completely true.
I’d about decided I might be wrong about her being slow. She wasn’t like I remembered when she had been younger. She had a quick wit I hadn’t expected. She didn’t stare at me silently anymore either.
“I say we shorten the ten days. Might as well make it seven for shits and giggles. I want to hurt the son of a bitch,” Grinder suggested.
“You seen the fucking news? Another hurricane formed, and we’re in the cone. Be a few days yet though before it lands,” Brick told him. “Probably don’t want to start any wars when we might need to be boarding up and prepping for a full house here soon.”
“When are we not in the cone?” Tex asked. “Tis the fucking season. No need to get worked up over it. Let’s go find the bastard and end this bullshit. If Dolly wants to mess around with him when we’re done, that’s on her.”
“This hurricane is promising to be a big one,” Brick said.
“We will wait and see what the hurricane is gonna do, and then we hunt him down and get our money, or we send in the family. He’s been warned,” Liam said. “Now, what’s the update on Toxic Throttle’s refurb? And has the case been settled with that bitch who was claiming sexual assault when she was caught taking from the register?”
I watched Tex take in another long pull from the cigarette and fought the urge to reach over and snatch it from his hand and inhale. I was ready for church to be over. I had my own list of shit to handle. Starting with one of the dancers claiming she had gotten knocked up by a prospect and demanding the club pay for her abortion.
I knew the first thing I was going to do when I walked out of here was call Dolly. I was finding myself needing to hear her voice, and I wanted to believe it was just because she was important to Pepper and nothing more. If I was honest with myself, I liked the sound of her voice, and listening to her talk soothed me. I was keeping my distance, but I found myself calling her more often than I should.
Last night, I’d talked to her on the phone for far longer than necessary. Just listening to her go on about her job, Mrs. Mildred, and her attempt to get Harold to sleep on her sofa had distracted me from everything else.
She made me laugh. That was all this could be about. I just had to make sure I stayed away.