Chapter 21
We headed backto the bonfire, hand in hand.
“Well, she doesn’t look satisfied,” Raze announced.
“So clearly he didn’t have his way with her,” Kelp teased.
“They were only gone a few minutes,” Smoke added. “So that leads me to one of two conclusions. One, he got off in less than?—”
“Fuck you all,” Bones said. He pointed to Smoke. “Especially you.”
“Relax, it’s just pay back,” Smoke said with a grin. “For all the shit you gave me over Logan.”
“Without Bones, we might not have gotten together,” Logan said to Smoke.
“Hmm. Maybe you’re right. Maybe I should send him a fruit basket instead.”
“Tropical fruits only, please,” Bones said. “I’m dating a rich girl. Rich people eat tropical fruits.”
“Is that true?” Kelp asked.
“I’m allergic to tropical fruit,” I deadpanned.
Bones looked at me. “Really?”
I rolled my eyes. “No. Not really.”
Raze laughed. “I like her.”
“Where’s Willa?” I asked, looking around. “And Duke?”
“Waverly and Sailor were in a car accident. Not a big one. Someone rear-ended Sailor, so Duke, Willa, Savage and Acid left,” Logan explained.
“Who’s Sailor?” I asked.
“Sailor lives with Duke and Willa, but she’s not related. It’s a long story,” Logan said. “We’ll catch you up later.”
“Okay, there seem to be a lot of stories,” I said, taking a seat. “I’m glad they’re okay.”
“Still no Sutton and Viper,” Tavy remarked.
“I think it’s safe to say that they’ve hunkered down for the night,” Raze stated.
“How are you going to pull him away from Sutton for his bachelor party tomorrow night?” Tavy asked.
“The same way you’re going to pull Sutton away,” Kelp said. “By kidnapping her and taking her to her bachelorette party.”
“You’re coming, right?” Tavy asked me.
“Oh. I hadn’t?—”
“Of course she’s coming,” Logan said.
“I might have plans,” I said with a laugh.
“Cancel them,” Tavy said. “We’re fun. Even if most of the Old Ladies can’t drink at the moment. But then again, you don’t drink, so you’ll be in good company.”
“Way to put me on the spot,” I said. “Shouldn’t you clear this with Sutton? I mean, she’s never even met me.”
“The more the merrier,” Tavy said.
I looked at Bones and then the others. “A little help?”
“You could just say no,” Bones said.
“I don’t think they’ll let me.”
“Then I think you should go out with them and have fun,” Bones said wryly.
“If I do that, I’m going to ask a bunch of questions about you,” I warned. “I’m going to ply them for information.”
“They don’t know anything about me to use against me,” Bones said.
“Hmm. You sure about that?” Logan asked.
There was a moment of silence.
“Shit,” Bones muttered.
We burst into laughter. Even the guys.
“I’ll go to the bachelorette party,” I said as the laughter died down.
“Yay!” Tavy yelled. “It’s going to be so much fun.”
“What are we doing?”
“Sutton used to work at Spurs,” Logan said. “So we’re all dressing up and having dinner. And seeing who can stay on the mechanical bull the longest.”
“And there might be line dancing,” Tavy said.
“Okay, this I can definitely get on board with,” I said, looking at Bones. “What are you guys doing for the bachelor party?”
“Sorry, Duchess,” Bones said. “We can’t share that information with you.”
“They don’t have anything planned, do they?” I asked Logan.
“Hmm. It’s not looking like they do,” Logan said with a smirk.
“We’ve got it planned,” Smoke said.
“Oh yeah? What are you guys doing then?” Logan asked.
The two of them began to playfully tease each other.
Bones looked at me. “You wanna see my room?”
“Sure.”
“Great,” Kelp muttered. “My room shares a wall with yours. I can hear it already.”
My cheeks heated and I shot up from my chair. “Nice meeting all of you.”
“See you tomorrow for the bachelorette party,” Tavy said.
Bones placed his hand at the small of my back and urged me toward the clubhouse.
“Don’t listen to Kelp,” he said.
“Kind of hard not to,” I remarked.
He opened the screen door and let me through first. He stepped in behind me and we headed for the stairs. We got to the second floor and he opened a door, waving me inside. He flipped the light and closed the door behind us.
It was a sparse room with a full-sized bed, a three-drawer dresser and a single nightstand. I took off my jacket and hung it on the back of the door.
He reached into his leather cut and pulled out a red toothbrush still in its plastic packaging. “This is the one I was going to use at your place, but you can have it.”
I took it from him. “Thanks.”
“So?”
“So what?”
“What do you think? Of what I showed you tonight?”
“I think my head is crammed full and I’m tired of thinking. Can we just brush our teeth and go to bed?”
“Yeah, Duchess. We can do that. But before we do that, I have to tell you something.”
I groaned. “Not another bomb, please.”
“No bomb,” he promised. “I just thought you should know my name. My real name. It’s Royce. Royce Garrett Dalton.”
“Royce,” I whispered, and shook my head with a tiny laugh. “Of course that’s your name.”
It was unique.
Hewas unique.
As we stood next to each other, brushing our teeth in the small bathroom down the hall, I realized that sex and intimacy weren’t the same.
It was intimacy I was truly afraid of.