Hil’s jaw dropped. “Are you serious?” Hilary asked. Sh crossed her arms over her chest, and Joey cringed.
“Don’t be mad, Hil,” Joey said, pleading with her eyes. The last thing she wanted to do was alienate herself from one of her closest friends.
“I’m not mad. I’m shocked. I mean no offense, Joey, but I didn’t think he’d be your type.” Hil said.
“Why, because he’s a biker?” Joey asked.
“Among other things. Gruff, dangerous and emotionally unavailable…being the other three that pop out at me,” Hilary said.
“I know this sounds clichéd, but you don’t know him at all, Hil. I’m not looking for marriage, and neither is he. We have a good time together and we get each other. What more do you need?” Joey said. She locked gazes with Hil, refusing to back down or defend herself further. She’d done nothing wrong and Hil needed to learn boundaries.
“Love, commitment, trust,” Hilary said
“Not everyone wants that and I do trust him. We have an understanding that works for us. Traditional routes aren’t always successful or…for everyone.” Joey gentled her last sentence knowing it cut close to home for her shrewish friend. Hil’s parents had placed her in the middle of their bitter separation as they worked out the terms of the divorce. Seeing the picture-perfect marriage peeled back to reveal ugliness did a real number on her brain.
“Yeah, I hear you. I’m sorry I came off so highhanded. I just don’t want to see you get hurt.” Hil said. She reached across the table and gently squeezed Joey’s arm.
“I know. Everything in life is a risk. We have to weigh if it’s worth the chance of getting hurt. I think he is,” Joey said.
“I should’ve seen this co
ming. I suspected you guys had a thing for each another. But I never imagined it’d escalated so far,” Juliette said.
“Yeah well, Red had something to do with that,” Joey said. The memory of the trouble the redhead caused made her grind her teeth.
“Jesus, did she make a play for him, or something?” Juliette asked.
“Or something. Crazy broad tried to take advantage of him after he’d been drinking,” Joey said. She related the events softening the severity of Moose’s retaliation.
“Is that why she got sent to a different chapter?” Juliette asked.
“Yep,” Joey said popping the p.
“The sleazy bar chick with the red hair?” Hilary asked.
“That’s the one,” Joey said.
“Can’t say I’m surprised. She looked at men like she was starving and they were a buffet,” Juliet said. Disgust dripped from every word.
The wine arrived and their conversation paused as the bottle was opened and they enjoyed their first glass.
“So what are we going to do about Evonne?” Hil asked. “After everything that’s happened, not knowing anything about this guy makes me nervous.” Hil toyed with the stem of her glass, swirling the liquid around and around. “Am I the only one who hasn’t forgotten Peter’s threat? He said she’d regret defying him. That there were four of them running that sex club, Room 801, and they would make her pay. I can only imagine the money they make from it. They won’t leave that operation in jeopardy.”
“Trust me, I haven’t forgotten,” Juliette said. “I want to give her room to stretch her wings, but all I can think about is how Peter did the same thing to me, slowly weaning me away from you girls, so he could exert more and more control.”
Joey’s stomach tightened. “I don’t like this. Look, let’s meet up for lunch next week and lay it out on the table. I’m sure she’ll reassure us, arrange a time to meet this guy, and we’ll all feel better.”
“Sounds good,” Hil said.
“You know I’m in,” Juliette agreed.
“Good, now that we’ve solved that, we can actually relax.” Joey took a healthy sip of her wine and ignored the girls’ laughter.
“You haven’t said much tonight about what’s going on in your life, Hil. It’s not like you,” Joey said.
“There’s not much to tell. I’m in editing hell and you all know how that consumes me.” Hil shrugged.
“Do we ever,” Juliette said.