Bad For You - Sherilee Gray Page 0,74

not wanting them to see just how right he was. Sad and pathetic may as well be tattooed on my forehead.

Cal huffed out a laugh on the other side of me.

I flipped him off. “I thought you whipped assholes would be founts of knowledge, or at least offer up some sage advice.”

“On getting dumped? Why would we. We have our women,” Cal said, tactful as always.

Ouch.

“Gee thanks, Cal. Why didn’t you just shoot me in the head instead and be done with it?” I muttered.

Dane shoved Cal. “You’re full of it. Cassy dumped you, and Quinn dumped you,” he said to them both. “And yeah, my Everly almost kicked me to the curb before we finally sorted shit out.”

“So? What do I do?” I felt like a dick asking, but I was desperate.

“Honestly?” Dane said.

I nodded.

“Grovel. Grovel like your life depends on it.”

Bull nodded.

Cal motioned Bull for another beer. “What did you do, we need the facts to work out the type of groveling necessary.”

That was the kicker. “I don’t know.”

“Bullshit,” Dane said.

“I didn’t fucking do anything.”

Dane stared me down. “Run over it in your head. There’ll be something.”

I took a sip of beer. “I mean, I gave her a property patch. She…” I rubbed my hand down my face. “She said she didn’t want it. Said she didn’t want the kind of life I was offering.” Jesus, that still cut, right to the quick.

“Does she know what it means? Being property?” Dane asked.

“Yeah, some of the other old ladies talked to her, I did as well.”

“So you all but got down on one knee and she dumped you?”

I swallowed, mouth dry. “Yeah.”

Cal thumped me on the back. “Sorry, man.”

“Fuck that, tell me how to fix it. She still wants me, I know that much.” She’d been crying. That had to mean something, right?

Bull rested his elbows on the bar. “Brother, even if she wants to be with you, you’re asking her to live her life in a way she’s not used to. Your world isn’t for everyone, but you don’t need me to tell you that.”

Bull knew all about club life, he’d been in prison with Dice. They’d formed a tight bond. He knew what the club was involved in, knew the club, and he also knew Lila.

“I’ve been fooling myself from the start, haven’t I? Thinking that sweet girl would want any part of what I have to offer her.”

They didn’t answer, but their silence said it all.

The door opened and Stones, Manic, and Spanner walked in.

“What’s going on?” I asked when they reached the bar.

“Had some business in town.”

They shook hands with Bull, Cal, and Dane, then grabbed their beers and I followed them to a table.

“What’s this really about?”

“Your old man’s back. Came with a few of the Albert chapter boys.”

I stiffened. “What does he want?”

Stones looked troubled. “You know we had our suspicions. Well, he’s been seen with a Jackal back in Albert. Then he shows up in Black Stone, pulled me aside. He talked you up to me, like I don’t fucking know you better than that fucker. He said you dumped your woman, that he wants me to start sending you out again, doing jobs for us. That you had a change of heart and want back in. The idiot doesn’t know you were never out.”

“What the fuck?” I’d told Stones I needed some time, that I wanted to hang here for a while. I never gave up my position. I’d been the club’s enforcer for years. We already had a sergeant at arms in Black Stone, but Caesar was one of our older members, and his wife was sick, so I did the heavy lifting.

And yeah, Lila was one of the reasons I wanted to stay home for a while, but I’d been gone for months. I’d been building something with her and hadn’t been in a hurry to leave again. Stones had agreed because I’d never asked for one damn thing, followed orders, had put the club first for as long as I’d been in it.

Stones’s words echoed through my head again. “Hang on, how would he know I’m not with Lila anymore?”

Manic shrugged. “Considering I’m just finding out now, I doubt it came from any of us.”

Stones frowned. “I found out from him.”

“Was he at the fight?”

“Yeah,” Spanner said. “Saw him later on, after you left with your girl.”

“Did anyone see him with her that night? Because the next morning was when it all went to hell.”

“Nah, she was with