Chapter 24
Chapter
Twenty-Four
SUTTON
I thought I felt like death the morning I woke up in Ink’s bed, but I was wrong. So, so very wrong.
Groaning, I roll over and face plant into my pillow. If I can’t see anything, maybe the room will stop spinning. The bed feels like I’m on a boat, rocking against the waves. The combination of rocking and spinning is making me nauseous.
I’m not sure how much we drank last night. I just know Evan never let my glass stay empty for more than a minute. That girl was on it.
And even though I feel like complete crap, I would do it again because that was one of the best nights I’ve had in my life.
We moved to the living room where we vegged out and just talked.
She told me about her situation she had and how Cain and the guys saved her life.
Hearing that combined with a little liquid courage, I opened up about the minor detail I didn’t tell Ink, which was Zach wanting me back and in his house in a week.
Evan was pissed for me, which caught me off guard. Then she was pissed I didn’t tell Ink that part. In all honesty, I didn’t want him to take on any more of my crap because knowing him, he would shoulder it all without a second thought.
I’ve never met someone who feels so strongly about another person they just met days before. Something makes me feel like if Zach showed up on his own, she would try to take him out herself.
A loud ringing sounds off in the distance, making my head throb like a steady drum. It’s not until it stops and starts right back up again that I recognize the sound as my phone ringing.
I reach my arm out toward the bedside table but stop short.
What if it’s Zach checking to see if I’m on my way back?
I didn’t give him my number, but him finding me at the motel when I thought I had made sure I left no trail proves he has more resources than even I knew about. I wouldn’t be surprised if his late-night meetings were with the same people he thought of as trash.
I miss the second round of rings by the time I finally work up the courage to open my eyes and brave the wave of nausea that’s threatening to take over to look at the screen to see the missed calls.
2 missed calls from Boss Daddy
Boss Daddy?
What in the world?
I jump and let out a small scream, dropping the phone onto the bed like it’s on fire as it rings again.
Boss Daddy Calling
Unfreezing from my state of shock of trying to figure out what in the world is going on, I slide the bar over just before it goes to voicemail again. “Hello?”
“It’s about god damn time,” Ink’s rough voice sounds through the phone. “What the fuck have you been doin’? I know you’re not at the shop yet because Gage said he would be there at 10:30 to pick you up.”
My eyes glance over at the alarm clock on the bedside table.
9:10 a.m.
“I just woke up…” I say, clearing my throat because my voice sounds about as bad as I feel. “Why are you calling me? ”
Not that I’m complaining because hearing Ink’s voice all rough and grumpy first thing in the morning stirs something inside of me. I hate to admit that I’m growing attached to this prickly bear.
“I’m callin’ because you didn’t respond to my text givin’ me confirmation that you knew Gage was pickin’ you up. Cain couldn’t get ahold of Evan either, so I was worried somethin’ happened. You sound like shit.”
I can’t stop the eye roll because really?
“Thanks, Ink,” I reply sarcastically. “I can always count on you to make me feel like a million bucks in the morning.”
A low grunt comes through the speaker. “Would you rather I lie to you or always keep it straight, so when you do sound like the queen you are, you’ll know I mean that shit?”
The queen I am?
The whip lash from him is going to make my head fall off. I need to tell Evan I’m not cut out for this kind of man.
“Tell the truth,” I softly admit as a moment.
“Good, bunny,” he praises, his voice still rough. “Now, tell me what you two did last night that has neither of you answerin’ your fuckin’ phone.”
“Evan made drinks, so we drank, ate and talked.” My reply is instant.
“That explains it.”
“Explains what?”
“Why neither of you could answer your fuckin’ phone. You feelin’ it?”
“If by feelin’ it you mean do I want to crawl in a hole and never come out, then yes, I’m feelin’ it. I’ll be perfectly okay with it if this is my first and last hangover.”
I seriously don’t know how people function like this. I can’t imagine doing this all of the time.
Ink’s rich laughter sounds through the phone.
“Love that you’re learnin’ how to live, bunny. Wish I was there to see it. I bet you look real cute all tucked in bed. ”
My heart twinges.
“Did you hear anything I just said?”
“I hear everything you say, bunny. Get up, take some pain meds, and get ready. Gage will be there soon.”
The line goes dead.
I look at my phone in shock.
Who hangs up without even so much as saying bye?
Freaking men.
“You look exactly how I feel.” Evan groans as I enter the kitchen.
“If this is what happens every time you drink, I want no part in it ever again. Done. Consider this my notice for immediate termination.”
“That’s what we all say.” Evan snickers. “Want something for your headache?”
I shake my head. “No, thanks. I already took some. I’m hoping it will take the edge off before I get to the shop.” I don’t know how well I can customer service when I feel like I’m dying inside and any small movement could make me throw up without warning.
Evan’s look is sympathetic as she shoves an ice-cold diet coke into my hands. “Drink this. It will make you feel a million times better, I promise. Do you need a ride to the shop? The guys must still be held up because Cain didn’t sneak into bed last night.”
I shake my head again. “Ink called this morning and told me he asked Gage to pick me up.”
Evan’s eyebrows raise. “He’s cute. I’m surprised Ink’s letting him pick you up.”
“Why wouldn’t he?” I asked, genuinely confused.
“The type of men we’re with don’t exactly like… how do I put this without it sounding totally barbaric? You know what? Fuck it. It is completely barbaric. They don’t like anything with a dick to so much as look in our direction.” Evan rolls her eyes .
“I’m not with him in that way, though,” I remind her.
I still don’t understand what he wants from me. I know what he said before he left, but he doesn’t seem like the type to want commitment in the sense of a woman. Part of me wonders if he just likes the chase and he’ll drop me like a hat once he gets the prize.
“That’s what they want you to think. Then the next thing you know you’re in so deep that you don’t remember how you got there,” Evan says just as a horn honks outside, making Hades let out a loud bark.
“Quiet,” she scolds. “That’s probably Gage.
I left a key in your purse so Ink doesn’t fuck up my locks and you don’t feel like you have to wait on me.
Have fun at work and don’t do anything that I wouldn’t do. ”
“Something’s telling me that isn’t much,” I call over my shoulder as I head out the door. I hear Evan laughing wildly as I shut the door.
Gage lets out a low whistle as I open up the car door and slide in. “Looking good, babe.”
I had to do a double take because for one—I was expecting him to pick me up on his bike, and two—I wasn’t expecting a man covered in tattoos who also tattoos people that probably have felonies to drive a Honda Civic that looks older than my Grand Am.
I sink into the cloth seat, the springs long gone, making me feel like I’m sitting on the floor of the car.
Gage throws the car into reverse as he wags his eyebrows at me. “Buckle up, babe. She’s a speed racer.”
Oh, sweet baby Jesus.
A speed racer?
“What happened to your floorboard?” I ask, looking down at my feet that are currently resting on a metal stop sign that was most likely stolen.
Gage shrugs. “A giant chunk fell out one day when I hit a pothole doing donuts in a parking lot. I think it adds character. ”
Adding character is one way to put it.
I can’t talk though because my old car won’t even start.
“What happened to your bike?”
“Still got it. Ink would have my ass if I picked you up on it, though. I don’t have a lot of junk in the trunk, but I need to keep what little I do have intact for the ladies to have something to grab onto.”
I can feel my face heating at his response as I turn my head and look out the window, avoiding eye contact. I shouldn’t have asked.
“You all good?” he asks. I can feel him looking me over out of the corner of his eye.
The bruises around my neck are still raging and sore if I turn my head just right.
I used the last bits of what was left in my tube of concealer to cover them the best I could, but if you look closely enough, you can tell I’m covering something up.
My plan is to keep my hair over my shoulder, just in case.
“Yeah.” I place my hands under my thighs as I squirm in my seat, feeling awkward from the subject change that I knew was bound to happen. “I’m sorry for not showing up and making you worry.”
“Babe, don’t apologize for that. We all have shit happen from time to time. I’m just glad Ink was able to help. He was more worried than the rest of us.”
I side eye him.
“He was?”
“Yup. As soon as you didn’t answer when he called you from the shop phone, he was on his way to look for you. Dude wasn’t wasting any time.”
There’s that heart twinge again. This time, it’s deeper and more pronounced.
It’s… unexpected. And sweet. Really, really sweet.
“Do you have a full schedule today?” I ask, changing the subject because even though I love how easy it is to talk to Gage, he’s not the one I want to be having this conversation with .
“I have one piece booked, but it’s not that big. I’ll be able to take walk-ins since Ink is out.”
I slam back in my seat as he roughly shifts; the gears grinding as he skips one. I watch him wince at the noise that sounds like nails on a chalkboard.
I’m starting to think he might not know how to drive this thing.