Crossroads (Beautiful Biker MC Romance Series) - DD Prince Page 0,38

wasn’t about to leave me sleeping unattended in one of the many hangout spaces with couches. This was our club and our extended family, but there were new prospects around and just no way would a female family member be left sleeping in an open area alone.

Christian muttered, “I’ll crash here, too.”

“And me,” Edge threw in while he took his cut off and dropped it on the sofa. Delia found this acceptable, so she wandered off to hers and Rudy’s room after making sure we all had blankets and pillows. The room had two big couches, one a sectional.

Besides doing it for me, I’m sure the guys were saving her the hassle, too. She didn’t need to be making up beds and organizing rooms in the middle of the night after seeing her house on fire, that was for damn sure.

Despite the twice jerking awake with panic, I managed to get a few hours and then opened my eyes and glanced at my wrist. 9:45. I sat up and stretched arms over my head, arching my back.

Edge was still crashed on the sofa twenty feet away from me. But, on my left, I saw Christian sitting up, leaned forward with his forearms across his thighs, one hand rubbing his eyes. I’d slept on the same couch as him. It was a huge L-shaped one and we were each on a different part of the L.

His eyes moved to me. My top had ridden above my belly button. I fixed it.

There was very little damage outside that guest room (which had been badly damaged, pretty well demolished) thanks to his quick thinking of shutting the door behind us, but whatever was in it was ruined. At least my purse and wallet were with Rider.

Fuck. My phone was in that room and would’ve been melted to nothing. What about the stuff I had on there? Pictures were sync’d to the cloud, but what about my text messages?

My text string with Luke…

My heart plummeted. I buried my face in my hands as it sank in.

“Got a text from your father. Wants you to call him. Here.” Christian lifted his phone from beside his leather cut on the coffee table.

“Let me run and go to the bathroom real quick first,” I requested.

He gave me a chin jerk and I made my way to the nearest bathroom.

When I got back, Delia was coming into the space with a tray. It had coffees and donuts.

“Oh bless you,” I greeted.

I wasn’t sure but could’ve sworn I saw a twinkle in his eyes as I bit into a jelly donut.

I smiled with my mouth closed as I dusted powdered sugar off my chin with my fingers. He looked away. Nope. No twinkle. My mistake.

He handed me his phone and then reached for a coffee. The screen was open to my dad’s contact info. I touched the screen to dial.

“Joelle,” my father breathed out with relief.

“Hey, Dad.” I suddenly felt a little emotional.

I’d been fine, mostly, other than not wanting to sleep in a claustrophobic clubhouse guest room after that, but maybe it hadn’t fully sunk in yet. It was sinking in now, though.

The room I was sound asleep in was set ablaze seconds after Christian Forker got me out of it. My chin trembled. My eyes moved to him and I saw he was watching me.

“Fuckin’ good to hear your voice. You okay?” Dad asked.

“I’m good. Totally fine.” My voice cracked. Shit.

And why was Christian Forker still watching me? I pulled my shit together so I wouldn’t burst into tears.

“Quite a fuckin’ day you had yesterday, puddin’.”

“Yeah. Understatement. What was that all about, anyway? Any idea?”

“Club meeting there today to figure that shit out. I’m headin’ there. You wanna wait, I’ll drive on four wheels so I can drive you home.”

“I’m gonna catch a ride back with Brady this afternoon, actually.”

“He’ll be stayin’ up there waitin’ on church. So, you can either come back this morning with Edge or Fork or you can wait for us tonight and either me or one of the brothers can run you back.”

“I’ll catch a ride back this morning. I need to cover Ella at the dealership. Her gramma has that neurologist appointment today. Thanks, Dad.”

“You got it, sweetheart. I’ll see you tonight or tomorrow then.”

“Okay, love you Daddy.”

“Joelle?”

“Yeah?”

“We’ll be havin’ a talk, you ‘n me, about that business with that bitch and her kid and how you handled that.”

I blew out a sigh. “Oh yeah. Kinda forgot about all that given