Page 17 of Grumpy

Sophia rolled her eyes. Walking past Kelly, she poked her head out of the door and told Colleen to watch the front door. Her station was the closest to the door anyway. Retaking her place at the counter, Sophia gave Kelly a look that clearly stated she thought that problem was solved.

Kelly let out a long sigh. “Not the point, but thank you.”

Tally scoffed from the sink area, “Sophia, let her speak. If we go off on one of your tangents, I’ll have the salads completely prepped before Kelly gets to her point.”

Sophia made a hand gesture for Kelly to continue while simultaneously flipping Tally the finger. Though her back was to them, Tally somehow still knew and raised a wet middle finger over her shoulder at Sophia.

Kelly wanted to laugh, but Tally had a point about tangents. “Okay, here it is. Grumpy and I were supposed to go on a date the night the bar exploded.”

“Trust me, everyone knows that by now,” Sophia butted in.

Kelly flushed. That was just great. “Anyway, I didn’t stay with him out of obligation for that date. I really do care for Grumpy. And,” she added, pointing a finger at Sophia when the woman opened her mouth to speak, “I didn’t leave because his mom chased me off. Yes, she said something to me that bothered me, but it was more than that. It was everything. He needed more care than I could give him. He needed to be with family, and that was his mom and the club at the time. Plus, my own mom was having problems, too. So did I take the excuse to leave? Yes, but I resent the statement that his mom ran me off. I truly felt it was better for both of us if we stayed as friends.”

Sophia stared at Kelly for several minutes. Long enough that Kelly started to shift uncomfortably and Tally turned around at the sink to face them.

“What did that woman say to you?” Sophia demanded, her eyes narrowing slightly.

“That’s…private.” Kelly didn’t want to start rumors or say anything that could get Grumpy into trouble with his club brothers. “Just answer me this, what do you know about Grumpy’s social life? Was he dating anyone around the timing of the bomb?”

Sophia looked to Tally, who tipped her head like she was listening for something. After a moment, Tally shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t know much. He’s very private.”

“Same.” Sophia’s expression turned suspicious. “Who’d have thought that I would ever know Scar better than another club brother?”

Tally laughed. “He’s come a long way,” she declared proudly.

To Kelly, Sophia said, “Honestly, Ghost and Ranger might know him best. They were the prospects immediately after him,” she added.

“I’m not asking around the entire club,” Kelly contended defensively. “I just wanted to know if he was involved with anyone prior to the explosion.”

“As in, was he seeing someone else when he asked you out?” Tally inquired.

Kelly winced, not liking how she hit the nail on the head with that question. Then again, Kelly wasn’t exactly a master spy when it came to getting answers without making the questions too obvious.

“Did his mom tell you he was?” Sophia asked before Kelly had a chance to respond. “Because the club would have known if he was. He might be private, but he’s not that private. And after certain events, Keys basically has all of us LoJacked, hijacked, and any other type of jacked he can think of.”

Kelly had no idea how to take that or what that even meant. “Um, look, maybe I shouldn’t have said anything⁠—”

“Or maybe you should have said something earlier,” Sophia claimed. “Then I wouldn’t have had to watch you mope around here the past six months.”

Kelly’s back stiffened. “I haven’t been moping!”

“Kelly, hun, I can’t see you and even I know you’ve been moping,” Tally interjected lightly. “I also know that you have a slight hitch in your step whenever that door chimes, like you’re hoping a certain grumpy biker will walk through and then your steps are disappointed when it’s not.”

Kelly scuffed her shoe. “I do not,” she mumbled.

“You totally do,” Sophia gasped, pointing a finger at Kelly’s chest. “I didn’t realize that’s what was happening, but that’s it, isn’t it!?”

Kelly tried to wave off her embarrassment. “That’s not what I came back here to ask!”

“All right, all right,” Tally laughed. “We’ll let you be. Honestly, my best advice is just to ask him. I don’t know Grumpy all that well, but I know he’s loyal to his core and he’s honest to a fault. He won’t lie to you, Kelly.”

“But his bitch of a mother would,” Sophia pointed out like a reminder. “Honestly, good riddance to that woman. I hope the proverbial door hits her in the ass on the way out of town. Probably the most action she’s seen in decades.”

Kelly shook her head, trying really hard not to laugh at the image. While she hadn’t gotten any answers specifically, she did feel better. Even if Grumpy and she remained just friends, she did want to get to the bottom of his mother’s accusations and who that woman was in the hallway of the hospital. Regardless of any feelings for Grumpy, that had to come first.

CHAPTER 4

The front door was barely open before Kelly blurted out, “The only man besides you that I have ever loved cheated on me.”