Page 20 of Dirty Like Jude
Everywhere I looked, the single guys were dropping like flies. They’d all drank the relationship Kool-Aid.
Shady texted. He’d come to the clubhouse for lunch but left when the meeting got underway, was now with Zane for the night. Braiding each other’s beards orwhatever.
Bromance.
Delete.
Lex:V.Home.
It was Saturday evening. She was probably home for dinner, get ready for whatever she was doing tonight. Roni Webber wasn’t the kind of girl to sit at home on a Saturdaynight.
Unless, maybe, if Taze was comingover.
Delete.
7:06pm.
Brody sent a group text, with photos:Nick spit up in my truck. There’s baby milk barf between theseats.
The responses came in prettyquick.
Dylan:GOOD BOY. (Fist pumpemoji.)
Jesse:Dude. Get a newtruck.
Zane:Good thing it’sNovember.
Jesse:??
Zane:If it was summer the heat would bake in the barfsmell.
Brody:Fuckme.
The petty complaints of my wealthy friends. Brody had a healthy baby boy and the woman of his dreams—Jessa Mayes was a lingerie model, for fuck’s sake—and hecouldbuy a new truck, if it came down toit.
Plus, I knew a brilliant detailer who’d take care of it. If he could make DNA disappear, he could handle a little babybarf.
Me:Take it to my guy. Have Bishop swing back foryou.
I deleted theconversation.
7:18pm.
I looked around at my brothers in the bar. The harder lives lived. Men with larger complaints, but who weren’t necessarily any less well-off, in terms of family.Love.
I looked at their loved ones—the women, the kids. The people who didn’t want to know the half of what their men had just talked about in that room inback.
Not a life I’d want to bring a woman into, much lesschildren.
Too manysecrets.
Too muchdarkness.
Too muchrisk.
But this life, it wasn’t something I could ever give up. Piper was VP now. There was a target on hisback.
There always wouldbe.
