“Why did we come this way?” I ask a couple hours later when we stop to fuel up.
Lynch shrugs as he places the nozzle in his fuel tank. “I wanted to ride on the south side of the lake.”
Darkness wraps itself around us. We lost the daylight about an hour ago, and technically the wider lanes on the interstate are safer than the highway, but I know safety wasn’t on his mind when we left Detroit.
His eyes burn a hole in me as I pump my own gas.
“Where are you going?”
My leg hangs over my bike as I look back at him.
“Let’s grab something to eat.” Looking past him, I see the flickering lights inside of the small café beside the truck stop.
My lips are in a flat line when I lower myself on my bike and crank it only to move it thirty yards away to the gravel lot in front of the diner.
By the time we get on the road over an hour and a half later, my skin is itchy.
When we pull up to the clubhouse, the sun is already lighting the horizon with pinks, oranges, and yellows, but I can’t enjoy the beauty of it. A twelve-hour trip has turned into over fifteen. My back is killing me because Lynch decided he needed to stop in every single town on the way back that had a population over two hundred.
I knew he was just doing it to fuck with me when we stopped in Springfield, an hour from home to get a pack of fucking chewing gum. We’d both still had a half of a tank of gas.
“Wanna grab a beer?”
I don’t even look at him before walking up the front steps of the clubhouse. “Fuck you.”
He laughs at me all the way inside. When he’d first mentioned driving home, I had all sorts of devious thoughts. Waking Molly with my head between her thighs was winning out over all of them. Now, all I can think about is going to sleep. Which is exactly what I do. At least I manage to get my boots and jeans off before falling into bed and passing the fuck out.Chapter 27Molly
Unable to sleep, I’m in the kitchen making a pot of coffee when Lynch and TJ walk in from outside.
“Hey,” my oldest brother says as he kisses my temple.
“Want a cup?” I offer, hoping he can’t see the excited shake in my hands. They weren’t supposed to be back for a few more days according to TJ. Knowing Briar is in the clubhouse makes my body thrum with anticipation.
“No, thanks. We rode all night. I’m just gonna crash.”
“Like that’ll happen when you get upstairs,” TJ taunts as he grabs a cup from the cabinet and holds it out to me.
I fill his cup and wait for Lynch to leave the room. He eyes me and the coffee pot several times before deciding something he doesn’t voice and heads toward the stairs.
“You look well rested after a night of heavy drinking.”
“I haven’t been to sleep yet.” TJ winks at me as he blows on his coffee.
“Really?” We stayed at the bar until nearly three in the morning before finally heading back to the clubhouse. I’d still be drunk right now if I hadn’t vomited twice before we even left. “You know Dad used to stay up for days at a time, too.”
“What are you trying to say?” He knows exactly what I’m implying, so I don’t bother answering him.
“I don’t touch that shit,” he says with more anger than I’d expect from my fun-loving brother. “You should know better than to even think something like that. Besides, you’re up, too. Is there something I need to worry about with you? I know a couple of the girls were passing around party favors last night.”
He’s right. Vixen was passing around tiny bags of coke last night. Drug use in the club has never really been hidden, but it shocks me how much I didn’t pay attention before. Since coming home from school, I’ve seen more than I ever had before. Maybe they’re just not hiding it from me as much.
“I’m not on drugs,” I mutter.
“You seem strung out on something.” Humor plays in his ice-blue eyes, but I refuse to engage.
“I’m not on drugs,” I repeat.
“Virus told me you ran into the vet at the mall.”
“Virus has a big fucking mouth.” He frowns at the cuss word but doesn’t chastise me like I’m a child. See? Some things have changed. “His name is Owen.”
“He also told me you didn’t go to work last week. Did you take some time off? Are you heading in this morning?”
“What’s with the million questions?”
“I’m just trying to play catch up.”
“How did your run go? Did you get everything to New York safely?”
His eyes narrow as he lowers his coffee cup to the breakfast bar with a snap. We don’t talk business. Hell, I’m not even supposed to know anything about business, but there are members with flappy jaws and club whores with even looser lips.