Rome's Chance (Reapers MC #6.6)(34)

By midnight, I’d lost my shoes and my voice was hoarse from singing along while dancing. That’s when Peaches announced—loudly—that she needed to pee like a Russian race horse right as a song ended. The whole room fell silent and my stomach clenched for her. Then Peaches started giggling, and someone else joined her and suddenly the whole room was laughing.

She spun around, then gave a graceful curtsy. Grabbing my hand, she dragged me off to a tiny women’s bathroom tucked behind the stage. It only had one stall, and there were five of us waiting in line, including the one girl in our class that I’d truly disliked, Jenny Woelfel.

Jenny was a mean girl.

She’d sat behind me in third grade, and I’d never forget the day she cut off my ponytail because Brett Anderson had given me a scratch-and-sniff sticker. It’d paid off for the bitch, too. She and Brett were married now, with three kids.

“It’s nice to have someone serving me drinks for once,” Peaches declared, fluffing her hair. “Last night was a fucking nightmare.”

“I heard about that,” said Jenny, and I stilled. There was a hint of something nasty in her tone. I reached up to touch my hair, reassuring myself that it was all still there.

“Danica Caldwell works dispatch at the sheriff’s office, and she told me that a bunch of guys got arrested,” she continued. “Randi, you were there with all the Reapers, right? I never saw you as that type of girl…”

“Um, yeah,” I said, glancing toward the stall. Whoever was inside, I wished she would hurry up already. I’d forgotten how fast small town gossip could spread.

“I couldn’t help but notice your eye,” she added. “You know, Rome McGuire may be cute, but that whole family is trouble. You’d think he’d learned something when his brother died, but instead he took up with those bikers. You’d better be careful or you’ll end up like your mom. How many kids did she have? Five? But never a wedding ring…”

Wait, what?

Rome hadn’t said anything about his brother dying, only that they’d hauled stuff up to the loft together. Why hadn’t he told me? And what the actual fuck was she trying to say about my mother?

I turned slowly toward Jenny, and studied her with fresh eyes.

We were adults now, not third graders, yet for some reason she was still trying to cut off my ponytail. I noticed she’d put on some weight over the years, and her hair wasn’t as sleek as it used to be. Faint, unhappy lines were forming at the corner of her mouth. Her eyes held more than a hint of desperation.

When I’d seen Brett earlier, he’d given me a hug.

A tight hug.

And now she’d gone after me in the bathroom.

Jenny Woelfel was nothing more than a small-minded, petty, jealous little bitch. Why was I letting her bully me?

She crossed her arms defiantly, staring me down like she hadn’t done anything wrong. That’s when Peaches turned on her, offering the sweetest, scariest smile I’d ever seen.

“I’d think you of all people would know better than to listen to gossip, Jenny,” she said, her voice like honey. “Especially about the Starkwood Saloon. I saw Brett there just last week, and it seemed odd, because you weren’t with him. What—”

Jenny’s face turned pale.

“Shut your mouth, Peaches Taylor,” she snapped.

Peaches raised her hands innocently. “Hey, no need to get upset. We’re just a bunch of old friends talking, right? I mean, it’s so sweet of you to be looking out for Randi.”

Jenny took a step back, her mouth tightening. Peaches pretended not to notice, going in for the kill.

“Oh, and for the record, the fight didn’t have anything to do with the Reapers,” she continued. “Of course, we were lucky they were there. Rome probably saved a guy’s life, did you hear that part? He was like a super hero or something. He pushed through the fight and found a safe place for Randi, then he went back to rescue some innocent guy who’d gotten knocked out. It sucks that Randi got a black eye, but that was more of a fluke accident, later. She wanted some fresh air, and Rome was too busy literally preventing a man from bleeding to death on the floor to walk her out.”

Peaches turned to me, offering another sweet smile. “Brett sells fertilizer these days, did you know that? Didn’t I hear he’s up for assistant manager again this year, Jenny?”

Jenny swallowed, taking a step back.

“I’m not feeling very well,” she managed to say. “I think I should find Brett and go home.”

With that, she turned and marched out of the bathroom. Peaches burst out laughing, and so did everyone else. Not me, though. I was too busy thinking about Rome and his brother. Why hadn’t he told me?

“Oh my God, that was priceless,” said another girl. Tamara Deems. I remembered going on a campout with her during sixth grade. Something to do with a church youth group…

“You have to ignore Jenny—that had nothing to do with you,” she continued. “Brett’s been cheating on her their entire marriage, and for some reason she takes it out on everyone but him.”

“The man is a total douche,” Peaches agreed. “You wouldn’t believe how many times he’s grabbed my ass at work. I had to hit him over the head with my tray last week.”

Everyone laughed again. I waited for someone to say something about my black eye, or Rome, or even my mom. Jenny had blown all of them wide open, just to be a bitch. Instead, Tamara gave me a bright smile.