Chapter 20
Chapter Twenty
Jude
The party was already rolling by the time I made it outside with a beer in my hand.
People were everywhere.
Club members. Ol’ ladies. Kids. Friends from town. A few faces I knew, a few I didn’t, and enough noise to make it feel like the whole damn county had decided Eden’s graduation was the place to be.
Alice had outdone herself.
Which meant all of us had suffered for it.
Inside, the clubhouse looked like someone had taken every graduation decoration within a hundred-mile radius and thrown it at the walls until it stuck.
Blue, green, and purple balloons were tied to chairs, tables, railings, and anything else that didn’t move.
Paper chains stretched across the ceiling.
A big banner for Eden hung near the bar, slightly crooked, which I knew was going to drive Alice insane once she noticed.
The food was laid out across long tables inside, and Carnie had turned the kitchen into a damn restaurant, with Wendy helping her keep things moving.
Trays of pulled pork sliders, baked mac and cheese, pasta salad, deviled eggs, fried chicken, meatballs in barbecue sauce, potato skins, taco dip, fruit trays, veggie trays, chips, dips, brownies, cupcakes, and a sheet cake big enough to feed an army covered nearly every available inch.
And people were eating like they were afraid it would disappear.
Tables had been set up inside and out, so anyone who wanted to sit had somewhere to land. Not that many people were sitting. Most were drifting around with plates in their hands, talking too loudly and laughing harder than they needed to.
Outside, it was worse. Three bounce houses sat in the grass, one of them shaped like a cow because, of course, it was.
The massive twenty-four-foot pool was set up off to the side, already full of kids splashing and screaming like they had never seen water before.
The stage had been built near the back, complete with amps, guitars, and a microphone stand waiting for the singer Eden liked.
Somebody had dragged the giant beer pong setup from the Social Club out here, and a group had already gathered around the red-painted garbage cans, arguing over rules like any of it mattered.
Alice was everywhere.
One minute she was near the food. The next she was outside yelling at someone to move a chair three inches to the left. Then she was checking the cake. Then she was telling kids not to climb the outside of the cow bounce house.
Wrecker wasn’t far behind her, looking like a man who had accepted his fate but still intended to keep the woman he loved from setting the place on fire.
Even with Alice running herself in circles, everyone seemed to be having a damn good time.
It was supposed to be a graduation party for Eden.
And it was, but it was also more than that.
For the first time in a while, the club felt like the club again.
We were still watching, careful and aware of every car that came down the road and every stranger who stepped onto the property. That wasn’t going away, but the weight that had been hanging around us had eased.
The cameras for Tread were still rolling, but it was nice not having the camera crew walking around. Thank God for Mac figuring out a way to give the show they wanted without making it hard on us. Half of the time, we all forgot about the cameras.
People were laughing without looking over their shoulders every five seconds.
Kids were running around.
The ol’ ladies were drinking and talking like it had been growing up.
It felt good. Like we were taking something back.
I stood near one of the outside tables with Oliver and Kingston, beer bottle loose in my hand, watching the whole thing move around us.
“It’s amazing the shit the club can get done,” Kingston said.
Oliver nodded toward the clubhouse. “It’s your mom. She’s a one-man army.”
“Pretty sure she wasn’t the one blowing up five hundred balloons,” I gruffed.
“Or getting all that booze and beer,” Kingston added.
Oliver laughed. “As if shopping for booze was some great sacrifice.”
“Cases on cases,” Kingston said, pointing his beer bottle at him. “We got freaking pallets of beer, which meant we had to carry fifty million cases from the truck and into the clubhouse. Give me balloons any day.”
I took a drink and didn’t argue. He wasn’t wrong.
My fingers had hated me after balloon duty, but at least I hadn’t been hauling beer.
“Now we just sit back and enjoy the fruits of our labor,” Oliver said.
Kingston snorted. “You say that like Alice isn’t going to find something else for us to do in five minutes.”
“She probably already has a list,” I said.
“She definitely has a list,” Kingston muttered.
A kid ran past us with a cupcake in one hand and no shoes on his feet.
Oliver watched him go. “That kid belong to anyone?”
Kingston shrugged. “At this point? Club property.”
I laughed and lifted my beer again.
Then I heard the motorcycle.
Not unusual.
Half the people here had shown up on bikes, but something about this one caught my attention before it even pulled into view.
I turned toward the lot.
The bike came in slow, rolling past a line of trucks and Harleys before parking near the edge.
Jesse.
Ever was on the back.
My hand tightened around the beer bottle.
She climbed off carefully, one hand brushing over her hair and the other steadying herself against the seat for a second before she stepped away. Jesse got off after her, said something to make her look at him, and then reached for her hand.
She let him take it.
That pissed me off more than it should have.
I forced my jaw loose, but not fast enough.
Oliver followed my line of sight, then looked back at me and took a drink. “Something tells me things are about to get interesting.”
Kingston looked toward the driveway. “Devil’s Knights here?”
Oliver didn’t answer him, just looked at me. The urge to tell him he was full of shit was right there, but I didn’t. Not anymore.
Oliver tipped his head slightly. “You’re not going to deny it?”
I shook my head and finished my beer. “Ask me at the end of the night.”
His mouth twitched.
My eyes went right back to Ever.
She looked good. Too good.
Jeans. A fitted top. Hair down around her shoulders. Not dressed up like she was trying too hard, but enough to make me notice every inch of her. Hell. She just had to breathe and I would be on my knees in front of her.
And Jesse was still holding her hand.
“Either of you want to clue me in on why Jude looks like he’s about to shit his pants?” Kingston asked.
Oliver choked on his beer.
I unclenched my jaw and shot Kingston a look. “Do I look like I’m about to shit my pants?”
“Yes,” Kingston said without hesitation.
Oliver coughed once more, then clapped Kingston on the shoulder. “You and Jude must be alike because he didn’t see it until recently either.”
I cut him a look. “Like you fucking saw it.”
“I saw it. Lark saw it…” He trailed off like he’d just realized he’d said too much.
I turned my head. “Lark?”
Oliver shrugged. “We’ve talked.”
Kingston looked between us. “Am I the only one who just wants to drink?”
“Probably,” Oliver said. He clapped Kingston on the shoulder again, and the two of them started moving toward the beer pong setup, leaving me where I stood.
Fine by me.
I wasn’t in the mood to explain anything, especially when I couldn’t fully explain it to myself.
I watched Ever and Jesse make their way toward the clubhouse. Alice spotted them immediately, because, of course, she did, and swooped in like she had been waiting specifically for them to arrive.
Ever smiled.
Jesse smiled too.
He played the part well.
There was something about him that scratched at the back of my neck. The way he looked around. Not wide-eyed like someone seeing the clubhouse for the first time and not impressed.
It was measured. Like he was taking inventory.
Maybe I was seeing shit because he had his hand wrapped around Ever’s and I didn’t fucking like that.
Maybe I wanted a reason to hate the guy.
Maybe it was simple jealousy dressed up as instinct.
He leaned down, said something near Ever’s ear, and she laughed.
It wasn’t the kind of laugh that took over her face. Not the kind I’d heard at the Social Club when she played giant beer pong with the girls.
That one had been real.
This one was… polite.
I took another drink, but it was empty.
I looked down at the bottle, annoyed, then set it on the table beside me without looking away from them.
Ever’s gaze swept across the yard.
For a second, I thought she might not see me, but then she did. Her eyes caught mine across the space between us. Everything around us kept moving, but for that one second, none of it touched me. Ever’s hand was still in Jesse’s, but she was looking at me.
Jesse said something, and her attention snapped back to him. The moment broke, but it had been there.
I knew it.
She knew it.
Jesse turned his head and glanced in my direction. He gave me a nod that was casual, and friendly enough so I returned it.
I pushed away from the table and folded my arms, watching as Ever and Jesse disappeared inside.
I kept my eyes on the clubhouse door, waiting for her to come back out.
Waiting for my next chance.
Because Jesse might have walked in holding her hand.
But that didn’t mean a damn thing was settled.
Not yet.