The Scars That Define Us (The Devil's Dust #2)(47)

“Man, I would have loved to have seen that,” I agree, laughing.

Cherry pulls up to some little store on the main strip.

“I love this place.” She climbs out of the car, staring at the storefront. “I think famous people shop here.”

I quickly jump out and look at the classy little brick store.

“Come on,” she calls, pulling the front door open.

Cherry eyes me from bust to waist and starts grabbing dresses off racks as we walk through the store.

“What about that one?” I ask, pointing to a flowing pink dress with flowers printed all over it.

“You’re not going to church. You got to dress in something a little flirty,” she scoffs, looking at the dress I just pointed at with disgust.

After her arms are completely full of dresses, we head to the dressing rooms.

I start looking through the dresses she picked out: a very short black one, lots of low-cut ones. Cherry has big boobs and would look killer in these, but I’m not so sure I would.

“I don’t think any of these would look right on me,” I protest, looking through the pile one last time.

“Here, try this one.” She slaps a dress over the top of the door.

It’s champagne-colored and has little lace flowers all over the front with see-through lace on the side. It is strapless and goes past my feet with a small train behind it.

“I love this one,” I exclaim, looking for the price tag.

Its cost is a little high, but I have saved up some checks from work so who cares.

I grab some matching shoes and check out.

“Let’s get some food. I’m starving,” Cherry says, dashing across the street to a burger joint, heading to the sectioned-off patio.

I grab the menu, looking for something to order, when it’s snapped from my hands.

“You have to get the Trucker Fries. It’s delicious.” She rolls her tongue across her lips for effect.

“Sounds good,” I laugh.

My phone chimes, catching my attention.

Find a sexy dress? - Shadow

Very sexy. - Dani

Not too sexy, though. - Shadow

Earth-shattering. - Dani

You can’t go then. - Shadow

I laugh.

Nice try. - Dani

“Man, I miss Phillip,” Cherry confides, stirring the straw in her cup, her sad face reminding me Phillip went to jail and here I am smiling like an idiot at my phone, clearly giving away I was talking to Shadow. I shove my phone in my pocket, feeling like a bitch.

“Why did he go to jail?” I ask.

“I don’t entirely know,” she admits, arranging packets of sugar. “The club got into some shit on a run, he took the fall for Bull is all I know.”

“Wow, that seems shitty,” I reply.

“Phillip did what he had to. He protected his president and for that, Bull will forever have his back,” she states, moving her hands for the waiter to put our food on the table.

“This life is rough, but it’s a hell of a ride,” she tells me with a Cheshire grin.

“How did you and Phillip meet?” I ask, taking a bite of my fries.

She laughs while looking out over the crowd.

“I used to be a wild child before I met Phillip. You and Shadow aren’t the only ones who grew up with troubled childhoods.” She stirs her salad with her fork as she speaks.

“I left my home when I was fourteen. My dad was an abusive drunk and my mother left when I was just a baby.” She looks down at her fries as she continues. “I had to provide my own way of living, and let’s just say, it wasn’t honest.” She looks up and smiles at me wolfishly. “One of the ways I would score money was pick-pocketing; I would wear next to nothing and pretend my car broke down on the highway. One day, Phillip showed up to help me with my car, and I snagged his wallet.” She grins as she tosses her strawberry hair over her shoulder.

“You weren’t afraid of him?” I ask, shocked. There would be no way in Hell I would think about stealing from a biker.

“Where I grew up, men like Phillip were your neighbor,” she responds, her face not giving anything away that she might be joking.

“Anyway, he didn’t get too far before he noticed I swiped it. Hell, I hadn’t even pulled onto the highway before he came back asking for it. I tried to pretend like I didn’t have it, but he bent me over the hood of my car and pulled it from my back pocket. Before he got on his bike and drove off, he asked me for my number.” Her face lights up into a big happily-ever-after grin as she finishes her story, making me smile for her.

“Not your everyday story to tell your kids how you met, but it’s ours,” she finishes, taking a bite of her fries. She throws her hair over her shoulder and looks at me, waiting for my reply.

“I love it. It’s not any of that pretend bullshit that happens in the movies or in fairytales you read as a kid. It’s real and it’s raw, exactly how love is supposed to be: unexpected and unpronounced.”

She nods. “Exactly. We were two damaged souls who found each other.”





THE REST OF THE week goes by at a crawl. Shadow texts when he can, but it’s still lonely as hell.

What are you wearing? - Shadow.

A ripped Budweiser shirt and white panties. Sexy, right? - Dani