around the corner smiling like the cat that ate the canary. He was rocking some serious bed head and his clothes were disheveled like he’d been up to something.
“Hey there, doll. What are you doing out here all alone?” he asked. He looked like he might still be a little drunk from the night before as he swayed over to me.
“Couldn’t sleep,” I answered.
“You got something on your mind?” He sat down next to me and lit a cigarette as he waited for me to answer.
“Just worried. Clutch didn’t call last night,” I told him as I tried to hold back my tears.
“You’ve got nothing to worry about, sweetheart. Clutch is probably halfway home by now.”
“You really think so?”
“Yeah. He probably thought he was doing you a favor by not calling so late, like he thought he’d wake you or the kids or something. You know, us guys can be kinda stupid about stuff like that.”
“Hmmm … I’m not even going to comment on that one,” I laughed.
“See? You’re a smart ol’ lady. You know when not to say stuff or do stuff. Us guys … we’re always getting ourselves into trouble. Well, at least I am.” He grinned.
I pointed at his clothes and teased, “Looks like you might have gotten yourself into some trouble last night.”
“You have no idea.”
“A girlfriend?”
“Nah, haven’t found the one yet. I thought I had found her …” he started, but stopped and flicked his cigarette to the ground. He stood up and said, “But what the hell do I know? Clutch thought he’d found the one in Cass, but he was obviously wrong about that. He’s head over heels for you. She’s just a distant memory.”
“Cass? You mean Cassidy?”
His eyes widened as he realized what he’d just said. He quickly tried to fix it by adding, “It was nothing, doll. A lifetime ago.”
“Hold up … Clutch and Cass were together?”
“No. It wasn’t like that. He just … you know … had a thing for her or something,” Smokey stammered.
I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. I ran my hand through my hair as I tried to swallow my tears and said, “He had a thing for her? That’s even worse.” I really liked Cassidy, but the thought of Clutch having feelings for her made me second-guess everything.
“You’re getting me all wrong here, doll. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”
“I’m not so sure about that. Clutch never said anything to me about his feelings for her,” I told him with concern.
He placed his hand on my arm as he said, “No reason to. He loves you. I can hear it in his voice when he talks about you. He’s never been like this with a woman, Olivia. He’s nuts over you, and the past is just that: the past.”
“If you say so,” I mumbled.
“I do say so, and if you think about it, you’ll know I’m right.” He brushed his hair out of his eyes as he stood up and said, “Come on. Let’s go inside. We both could use a few hours of sleep before we have to face this crazy bunch.”
“Okay.” I followed him inside, and as he turned to leave, I said, “You’re a good one, Smokey. The right one will come along soon.”
“We’ll see about that.” He smiled. “Get some rest. He’ll be home before you know it.”
I headed back to my room and got back in bed, trying my best to get some sleep. Unfortunately, I just ended up staring at the ceiling hour after hour. I couldn’t stop thinking about what Smokey had said about Clutch’s feelings for Cassidy. It was crazy for me to think that he hadn’t been in love before, but I couldn’t help but wonder why he hadn’t even mentioned it. He’d told me so much about the club and his brothers, but her name never came up. I found myself worrying that there might be a reason that he kept it from me. She was beautiful and kind, and I could see why he might fall for her.
But maybe Smokey was right. Maybe there really wasn’t anything for me to worry about. I’d seen the way that she looked at Cotton with absolute love in her eyes. I couldn’t imagine her with anyone else. They seemed totally in love with each other. I went over it again and again in my head and tried to make myself believe the past didn’t matter. I was still