Page 10 of Trick
“I’ll bring the rest of the food out, then,” she said. I followed her inside to help, and between the two of us, we soon had the table filled with enough food to feed a dozen people. Lucky handed out drinks for everyone – all non-alcoholic. Romewas living sober now, so he and Abby didn’t keep any booze in the house.
It didn’t take us long to fill our plates and start shoveling in the food. Abby made some killer potato salad, and I always ate more of it than I should. Today was no different.
“Everything was delicious as usual, darlin’.”
“I cooked, too, jackass,” Rome groused, and I grinned as I blew him a kiss.
Abby laughed and kissed his cheek, then whispered something in his ear which made him stop complaining and start grinning like a fool instead. She carried the almost empty bowl of potato salad inside, leaving Rome staring after her as if he couldn’t tear his gaze away. I’d noticed him doing that a lot since they’d reconciled.
Lucky and I took charge of cleaning up, with Lucky telling Abby to go back outside to relax. She protested, but Rome pulled her down to sit next to him as he held Everly on his lap, and that was the end of that.
It didn’t take us long to have the kitchen cleaned, then Lucky headed out for the night. Rome, Abby, and I set on the patio for a while, watching Ethan playing on his swing set. Rome got all butthurt when Everly reached for me, reluctantly handing her over. I settled her on my lap, and she relaxed into the crook of my arm as she stared drowsily at her big brother.
“Sorry, man. What can I say? The ladies love me,” I joked. Abby giggled, and Rome got a shit-eating grin on his face.
“That’s not the way I heard it,” he snickered. “I understand that you stopped by to see Lauren after Church today?”
I glared at him, not appreciating the reminder.
“What the hell do you know about it?” I grumbled.
Abby darted a glance between the two of us before volunteering, “I talked to Lauren earlier to see if she was free to join us tonight. She wasn’t, but she mentioned what happened.”
I shrugged, trying to play it off. “I shot my shot, and she shot me down. It happens.”
Rome laughed as he shook his head, shooting me a pitying look as if he couldn’t believe I was so stupid.
“She saw you in action with a club bunny two nights ago, dumbass. What the hell did you expect, man?”
Abby leaned back and rested against his side as she nodded in agreement. She looked vaguely disappointed in me, which stung. Abby had been like a little sister to me for years now, and I didn’t like that she had such a shitty opinion of me at the moment. It bothered me more than I cared to admit that her shitty opinion of me was probably well-deserved.
Ethan provided a welcome interruption as he jumped off his swing and ran over to ask for another brownie. While Rome got up to help him, I carefully handed Everly off to Abby, kissing both of them on the cheek as I made my excuses and got ready to leave.
I gave Ethan a high-five on my way out and glared at Rome as he smirked and told me to have fun with the bunnies tonight. I took the long way back to the clubhouse, hoping the ride would clear my head. It didn’t, and I grabbed a beer and headed straight up to my room once I got back, ignoring Melina and the other women who tried to catch my attention. For once, I wasn’t in the mood to fuck, and I didn’t even want to try to figure out why. I had a feeling in my gut that I wouldn’t like the answer.
Chapter 4
Lauren
I removed my headphones and laid them on the workstation, then stood up and stretched, groaning softly as my blood started flowing and the tension in my body released. I’d been sitting in one spot for far too long, trying not to move so that the microphone didn’t pick up the sound of my clothes rustling or the chair creaking, and now my back was stiff as hell.
I reached for my water, taking a long drink to ease my parched throat. It had been a grueling session today, but I felt good about the work I’d accomplished. I had just started working on a new audiobook. It was a romance novel – only the third one I’d ever done. I was excited about this particular book, as it was written by Calliope St. John, a rising star in the book world. Her first two books had gone viral, and this one, the third in the series, was already a highly anticipated release. I’d been immensely flattered to find that she’d selected me after I’d submitted a sample for my audition.
I picked up my purse from the floor next to me, feeling around in it for the bag of throat lozenges I kept there. I unwrapped one and tossed it in my mouth, then turned off the lights and opened the door of the soundproofed recording booth. The buzz of activity elsewhere in the building came rushing in, which was always a bit disorienting to me after hearing nothing but the sound of my own voice for hours.
“Are you leaving for the day?”
I whirled around, startled at the voice coming from right behind me.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” JD said, reaching for my arm to steady me as I bumped into his cart full of cleaning supplies.
I gave a small laugh as my heart rate settled back down to normal. “That’s OK. I was in my own little world, I guess. And yeah, I’m heading out while I still have a voice left.”
The older man smiled at me and patted my hand, reminding me to look after myself. JD was the building custodian – a shy, quiet, hard-working man who kept things running smoothly around here, and apparently had for years now.
“I will,” I replied, then remembered to ask him how his weekend had been. Last week, I’d overheard him telling the building’s receptionist that he had recently reconnected with his high school sweetheart. I’d asked him about her later, and from his stammering reply, I suspected that he was hoping to rekindle their old flame and was quite nervous about it.
“It was OK. I painted my kitchen and worked in the yard a little bit.”
