Rome's Chance (Reapers MC #6.6)(24)
“Okay,” she said, still not looking happy about the whole thing. Gage walked to the door. Joy followed, then darted back to steal a pancake.
“Reaper likes pancakes,” she told us breathlessly. She ran after her dad.
Tinker watched them go, slowly pushing her plate toward the center of the table.
“I really, really don’t like rats.”
“Yeah, I picked up on that,” I told her, trying not to laugh. “They’re actually kind of smart and friendly, though.”
“Do you hear the words coming out of your mouth?” she asked, studying me like I’d grown a second head.
“Used to have one as a kid. Great pets.” I took another bite of my pancake, enjoying the horrified look on her face.
“That’s just nasty.”
I shrugged.
“Thanks for the food,” I said, changing the subject. “Hey, could you give me Randi’s number? I need to drop something off for her, but I don’t want to show up without texting first. She’ll think I’m a stalker.”
“Are you?” Tinker asked, raising a brow. “I like Randi. She’s a good kid.”
“I like her, too,” I said. “And I like the black bra she left on my living room floor this morning, but I think it’d be sort of creepy to keep it as a souvenir.”
“I thought she wanted to go home after the fight.”
“She needed to clean up first. Didn’t want to bring her back covered in blood and dirt.”
She caught and held my eyes. “Are you going to do anything weird if I give you her number?”
“Yeah, I’m going to make it the centerpiece of my shrine to her bra. Once I have a lock of her hair, my life will be complete.”
Tinker threw her napkin at me, but I could see her fighting off a smile. Then she pulled out her phone, tapping at it. My phone buzzed—Randi’s contact info.
Mission accomplished.
I don’t usually warn people that I’m about to ambush them. Sort of defeats the purpose of the whole thing… except today was all about showing Randi that she didn’t need to be afraid of me—and I was convinced it was nerves that’d scared her off, because despite her tough talk, she wasn’t a one-night-stand kind of girl.
No, this was about the fight. Randi wasn’t used to stuff like that, and she wasn’t some kind of motorcycle club groupie who got off on my bad boy image. She’d been genuinely terrified, and then she’d gotten her face smashed in. Taking her to the Starkwood had been a serious fuck-up on my part, but she had no clue how stubborn I could be.
This wasn’t over, not even close.
I decided to give her ten minutes—fair warning, but not enough time to overthink things. And it wasn’t like the town was big—if she tried to dodge me, I’d find her eventually. I typed the message while Gage dug through an old box in the garage, looking for the part. They’d found an aquarium for the rat, who was now eating little chunks of pancake while Joy watched in delight.
I finished my message and hit send.
Me: You left something at my apartment. I’ll swing by and drop it off in ten
Nothing for a minute, then she answered.
Randi: You can throw it away
Me: Do you even know what it is?
Randi: I have my phone and purse. Nothing else is important
Me: This is an expensive bra. Replacing it won’t be cheap.
Randi: I don’t even like the bra. And I’m busy. Not at home
Me: Thats okay. Ill give it to whoever is there. Or I can hang it on the door. 10 minutes
My phone started buzzing. Randi was trying to call. I slid it back into my pocket, ignoring her. If she wasn’t home already, she’d be there soon.
Randi
I found Lexi sitting at the table, sorting through baggies, prescription bottles, and rolling papers.
“How’s Mom?” she asked.
“She seems to be okay now,” I said, sitting down next to her. “You send Kayden outside?”
“Yeah, he’s headed for the park. I gave him my phone so he can play Pokémon Go. He loves that shit.”
“All by himself?” I asked, surprised. She looked up at me.
“How do you think he gets home from school?” she asked. “He’s nine, you know, not six. He walks to school all the time. If he can do that, he can walk to the park.”
She made a good point, although she sounded a little defensive. I picked up one of the baggies, turning it over in my hands. There was a lot of weed there. A lot.
“We need to tell Aiden and Isaac,” I said, although I wasn’t sure what our brothers could do to help. Aiden was twenty-four, and he lived in Calispell with his girlfriend and their baby. Isaac was only twenty. He’d stayed in Missoula with me when Mom and the kids moved back to Hallies Falls. Neither of them had the time or money to do anything about this.
I was the oldest, which meant this was my problem to solve.
“What’s the point?” she asked.
“They need to know,” I said, putting her off. Either I needed to move back to Hallies Falls or Mom and the kids needed to move to Missoula. But Mom hated Missoula—I wasn’t sure I could convince her. Could I petition for custody?