AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Where did she think you’d be?”
Before he can answer, his phone goes off, and I’m left hanging, wondering if he was even going to tell me where he was. I want to ask him about the guns, but there’s no way I can do that without revealing I’d snooped through his bedroom, and I have a feeling that would be unforgivable.
He steps away moving to the railing on the other side of the deck, and speaks in a low voice. I can’t make out his words.
When he’s through, he slips his phone in his pocket and returns, but doesn’t sit.
“How about I go pick us up some burgers?” He jerks his head toward the place down the hill.
“I’m not really hungry.”
“Come on, it’s after one. Have you eaten?”
“No.”
He stares at me, but I refuse to meet his eyes. “Okay, look. I’m gonna grab us a couple cheeseburgers and some onion rings. Eat it or don’t.” With that, he descends the steps and heads down the hill.
I watch him, then Rosie rests her head on my thigh. I scratch her ears. “Hey, girl.”
Melancholy washes over me. After everything with Elliott, I think I’ve been putting Dylan up on a pedestal like he’s some perfect guy, but I don’t know him at all.
“Maybe I should give up on men, Rosie. Maybe I could adopt a baby. I don’t need a man for that.”
CHAPTER NINE
Elaina—
The rumble of several motorcycles sounds in the distance, drawing my attention. Three bikes turn into the burger joint, and I stare intently, but I can’t make out their cuts. I remember seeing an old pair of binoculars on a bookcase in the living room next to a photo of Dylan’s mother standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon. I hurry in and grab them, then return to the deck and stand in the shadows under the covered portion.
Focusing in, I see the patches on their backs. It’s those Royal Bastards again. The club whose flag Dylan has tacked up in his closet. They move to the side of the building where there’s a covered awning, and they become dark shadows. They sit at a table where a lone man waits. I can’t be sure, but everything in me says it’s Dylan. Is he doing business with them? Are they dealing drugs?
I try to fight it, but I have to know, and I don’t have much time. Hurrying inside, I return to his room and open his closet. I shove things around on the top shelf, but it’s mostly folded shirts.
I search through the dresser drawers but find nothing. No stash of drugs, which is mainly what I expect.
Giving up, I close the drawers and closet doors and return outside.
Dylan is heading up the hill with a white bag of food.
I sit in my chair, and wait.
When he opens the top gate, Rosie meets him, tail wagging and nose sniffing the white bag.
He strokes her head. “Hey, girl.”
I watch him closely. He doesn’t look like a bad guy. His smile is open and seemingly honest when he meets my gaze. But I remind myself—I’m apparently lousy at judging men’s character. Maybe, like Elliott, he hides it well.
He lifts his chin to the glass dining table under the covered portion of the deck. “Let’s sit at the table.”
I follow and take a seat.
He unpacks the bag, and my stomach growls when the aroma hits my nose. I am hungry, whether I want to admit it or not.
I’m battling the childish temptation inside me to be a bitch just to see what he does. But he’s really done nothing to deserve it, except not tell me every detail of his life. He really owes me nothing, and I’m only here temporarily. In my head, I’ve already started making plans to pack up tomorrow and return to Denver, though I don’t want to go back to Elliott, either.
He passes me a Styrofoam container.
I pop it open and see a huge burger and an equally large serving of onion rings. Those things are my downfall, and I pick one up and take a bite. Oh, my God. They’re delicious.
