laugh bubbled from my lips. “Courteous of you.”
“Can’t say that will happen all the time, though.”
“Noted.”
Sledge looked at the stain on the pavement. “You find what you were looking for here?”
I nodded to the stain. “I should have died right there. I shouldn’t be sitting here right now.”
“But you are. You’re still needed here, Queenie.”
I sighed and closed my eyes. “For Gunner.”
We sat their quietly—my thoughts bobbing around in my head and Sledge just letting me be.
It felt like he got me.
I didn’t understand why I had come here in the first place, but it started to make some sense. I needed to be reminded that although shit was a fucking wreck right now; I was still here for a reason. I was still standing upright and I wasn’t going to take advantage of that.
I opened my eyes and tipped my gaze to Sledge. “Think I can bum a ride back to my place with you?” I asked softly.
“Whatever you need, sugar.”
*
Chapter Six
Ate the whole damn box…
Queenie
“So how was your little field trip?”
I grabbed a piece of pizza and set it on the plate in front of me. “Fine.”
Kimber laughed. “How long were you gone before Sledge showed up?”
“Hour?” I picked off the gross black olives from the pizza and set them on Petra’s plate.
When Sledge and I walked into my apartment, there was a gathering of the Kings of Vengeance in my living room and kitchen. Besides Kimber and Quinn, who had been there when Sledge discovered I was gone, Petra and Fancy were present with their guys. There were also two other guys hanging out by the front door. I had no idea what their names were, but they were both wearing cuts.
My apartment felt tiny when just Gunner and I were here. Now, it was downright claustrophobic.
“Hey,” Petra protested, “I don’t want those nasty things either.”
I covered my plate with my hand. “No, givebacks.”
Petra plopped them onto Kimber’s plate. “I didn’t freakin’ ask for them in the first place.”
Fancy reached across the table and grabbed the black olives. “You can direct all of your future black olives to me. I’ll eat these scrummy little things.”
“Scrummy?” Kimber scrunched up her nose. “More like scummy.”
“What the hell are you four doing?” Quinn called. “Playing pass the fucking olives?”
We all looked at each other. “Basically,” we called in unison.
Sledge walked over and set a glass of water in front of me. “Time for your pain pill.” He opened his hand.
I grabbed the pill and popped it in my mouth. He watched me take a drink and swallow it. I stuck my tongue out as proof I wasn’t hiding it in my cheek. “Down the hatch, stalker.”
Sledge smirked and shook his head. “Just helping you stay ahead of the pain.”
I shifted in my chair. He might have been a little too late with that pill. My shoulder was killing me and my back was throbbing. “Can I have two?”
“Girl,” Fancy laughed, “you looking to dance on this table while eating your pizza?”
“More like faceplant in your pizza,” Petra countered.
I rolled my eyes and shoved a bite into my mouth.
Sledge read the bottle of pills. “One is what you get. These things are fucking powerful and addictive.”
“Thank you, Dr. Sledge.” I huffed and leaned back in my chair. I knew I could only have one. I was just being a smartass, but I guess that went over Sledge’s head. I knew all too well about pills and addiction. Duchess put me through hell trying to get her clean. It had taken five years in and out of rehab before it finally stuck. I got it. Or I thought I had.
“They also seem to make you more of a smartass,” Sledge drawled.
I flipped him off. “That just comes naturally.”
Quinn walked over to the table and leaned against Kimber’s chair. “We gotta talk.”
Well, that killed the tone of the room. Everyone sobered and I lost my appetite.
Kimber tipped her head back and looked up at Quinn. “Is it badass biker talk time?”
“I don’t think they call themselves badasses,” Fancy pointed out. She pulled a piece of sausage off her pizza and popped it into her mouth. “Makes them not badass if they say it.”
Petra leaned forward and rested her elbows on the table. “We can say it though.”
“This is why you guys aren’t allowed in church.” Quinn pressed a finger to Kimber’s lips.
Kimber’s eyes crossed when she looked down at his finger. “You have five seconds to move your finger before I bite it