“Hate to tell you but he’s not helping you. You screwed the pooch on that one, bub,” Reilly had announced. Loudly.
“How about anal instead?” Rev asked hopefully, following her as she strode back toward the office.
Reilly had laughed. Not a funny, ha-ha laugh, but a get-bent one. “Yeah, no.”
“Fuck!” Rev had punched the air, spun on his heels and strode away.
Whip had not told Fallon any part of that conversation from almost two weeks ago. But Fallon’s answer to who told her about the party brought him back to theirs.
“Shay. I went into the office earlier to spend some time with her like I normally do when I’m bored. She asked if I was sticking around long enough to attend.” Her eyes went wide and she slapped a hand over her mouth. “Oh… shit… Was it supposed to be a surprise party? Did I blow it?” She squeezed her eyes shut. “I’m so sorry! Shay didn’t mention that it was a—”
“Ain’t a surprise party, babe. Didn’t mention it ‘cause it ain’t a big deal. Thought it was a joke at first since that ain’t somethin’ we normally do. It turns out they were just lookin’ for an excuse to party, that’s all.” Lies. Lies. And more fucking lies.
He ground his teeth together.
Fallon frowned. “She said specifically that the party was for your birthday. She was a little confused on why they were making such a big deal out of your twenty-ninth birthday and treating it like it’s some sort of milestone. Do they think you’re turning thirty by mistake?”
He shrugged. “No idea. Like I said, I don’t normally give a fuck about that kind of shit. Not sure why they decided to throw a party at Pete’s.”
Fallon shrugged and cupped his cheek the way she always did. “Because you’re family to them. No different than you are to your mother. My plan is to go to the party and then head out Sunday morning.”
Fuck. “We’re celebratin’ tonight with my mother and we can celebrate tomorrow by ourselves.”
She continued to stare at him.
It was not a good stare. It was one that made him want to end this conversation as quickly as possible. It also pretty much guaranteed he wouldn’t be getting head or anal, either.
Where the fuck was his mother? She could pull into the parking lot at any time now and distract Fallon from this whole thing.
Her voice was flat and he could hear the disappointment in it when Fallon said, “You don’t want me there.”
Goddamnit, not for the reason you think. “Ain’t that.”
“Then what? Why not tell me?”
He could say he forgot about the party Saturday night but if he did, she’d still want to go. He needed to come up with an excuse for why she shouldn’t be there. “It might get rowdy.”
“In a public bar? Worse than how it got at The Barn last weekend?”
He grimaced. Shit, that was true. Last Sunday she had come along on the club’s run and they’d taken her sled. But once the kids disappeared for the night, things got a little wild. Not over the top crazy, but crazier than what Fallon was probably used to.
The Barn was no damn classy martini bar.
“Fallon…”
She lifted her hand. “Listen, you don’t have to make excuses. If you don’t want me there, just say so.”
Christ. Just the way she said that told him he needed to come up with a damn good excuse or she’d get bent out of shape. They only had a couple more days together, if that, and he wanted that time to be good. Un-fucking-forgettable.
This whole birthday party shit was pissing him the fuck off. Trip could’ve used any other fucking reason to get them to gather at Pete’s.
Problem was, he didn’t have a damn good excuse to give her. Because, in truth, if it was only a stupid birthday party, he’d want her there. He also wanted her to extend her stay in Manning Grove as long as possible.
But he didn’t want her there due to the real reason they were having that party and why they were having it at Pete’s instead of The Barn.
He’d be gone for hours beforehand doing what he needed to do up on that mountain with the rest of his brothers. His disappearance would raise her suspicions. She’d want to know where he’d been and what he’d been doing during that time. Especially since every Saturday she’d been in town, they’d spent it all day in bed doing nothing but each other.
Even worse, he sucked at making up believable excuses. His pap had said his lies were always like Swiss cheese. Full of fucking holes big enough to see through.
Some people had the gift of lying. However, Santa never left that gift under the tree for Whip.
What made it more difficult was Fallon being too damn smart to pull one over on her. Way smarter than him.