Page 1 of Caden

1

Caden Ross sat in the Kings of Destruction clubhouse and wished he knew more people in town. It wasn’t that he didn’t like his brothers. He did. But he’d been in Dickenson for eight months and the only people he knew were his club brothers, some of their families, and his co-workers. He needed to get out and about more, but for some reason, that never felt important, at least not when he had the time to do it. More and more of his brothers were not spending as much time around the clubhouse or if they did, they brought their women with them, which just wasn’t the same.

One more look around the room told him there were only a couple of old timers and the prospect here tonight. He stood and headed for the door. Time to go find something more entertaining for the evening. Maybe he’d hit the bar for a drink. Yeah, the alcohol would be more expensive than at the clubhouse, but at least there he’d have a chance to meet someone. Hopefully even a female someone.

An hour later Caden stood next to the bar in a club with Morgan Wallen blasting and enough people that it took five minutes to make it fifty feet across the room to the restroom. It wasn’t his favorite scene, but he had to admit there were more people here. Definitely more women.

He tipped his beer bottle back and took a pull as he scanned the crowd. From where he stood, women were either paired off, either with a man or another woman, or were clustered together in groups. He leaned back against the bar, propping one elbow on the polished wood and letting his head bob to the catchy tune as he took in the place.

One woman on the dance floor caught his eye. He watched her for a few moments, trying to figure out what about her had caught his attention, but he didn’t see anything remarkable. She wore jeans, but they weren’t painted on like some of the others. Maybe it was the way she moved? He watched her a moment more, trying to determine if she was with anyone or dancing with different partners, but decided he’d be better off somewhere he might be able to talk to a woman. This wasn’t a place to talk, but rather somewhere to enjoy the music and dance, or maybe find someone to hook up with.

Not that Caden had a problem with hookups, he’d had more than a few, but he was tired of never knowing more than a woman’s name, if the name they’d given was theirs. He had to admit, if only to himself, that he’d given a fake name a time or two, and more often than that, he hadn’t cared what theirs was. But that had been in his wild days. Before he’d come to Dickenson. Now he wanted more. Especially after seeing some of his brothers and how happy they seemed with the women they’d found.

Did that mean he was going to rush out and marry the first girl that stayed more than a couple hours? Of course not. But for the first time in longer than he could remember, maybe ever, he was open to more than a night or two.

He shook his head at the direction his thoughts had gone and took another pull from his drink. This had been a stupid idea. He finished his drink, put the bottle on the bar and headed for the door. He didn’t know where he needed to be, but this wasn’t it.

An hour later he found himself sitting at a table in an all-night diner, staring at the menu and trying to decide what sounded good.

“What can I get you, sugar?” An older woman who looked as exhausted as he felt stood beside the table. She wore the classic pink dress and white apron, and from her bored look and the way she held the order pad, he wondered how long she’d been waiting tables.

“Coffee to start. I’m not sure what else yet.”

“I’ll give you a minute and get your coffee.” She turned and left.

Caden stared at the menu for a couple minutes longer then closed it and set it aside.

He looked around the room, noticing for the first time that despite being nearly midnight the place was more crowded than he would have expected. Nearly a dozen tables had people, mostly in twos or threes, but there were a couple of larger groups. One booth in the corner had what looked like a half-dozen women, all laughing and giggling loudly. There were several he wouldn’t mind talking too, but they seemed more than a little intoxicated and he didn’t take home drunk women. Not since he’d stopped drinking to what he thought of as the point of no return. The point where you were open to whatever thing was suggested, no matter how stupid. He’d done some things once he’d had that much to drink that once he’d sobered up, he’d wondered what he was thinking.

It took until he was about twenty-five to realize that thinking was exactly the problem. Once he hit the point of no return, he wasn’t thinking and that was the problem. That was when he’d quit taking home women who’d had more than one or two drinks. If he knew he was open to suggestion at that point, they would be too. And he didn’t want to be that guy. Not to mention there was too much chance they wouldn’t remember saying yes. No. He’d rather wait until they were sober and could make choices with a clear mind.

The waitress returned with his coffee. Caden placed his order then continued to look around as he waited.

2

Olivia Duncan sat in the booth with her friends, wondering why she’d agreed to be the designated driver. It seemed like she was always asked to be the designated driver since she wasn’t much of a drinker. Yes, she did drink on occasion, but not to the point it impaired her judgement. She’d learned that lesson the hard way.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t having fun, but since everyone else had been drinking for several hours, they thought they were far funnier than they really were.

“Livy!” her best friend’s voice pulled her out of her own head.

“What?” Olivia turned to look at Nicole.

“Are you daydreaming of your new guy?” Lainey, Olivia’s sister asked her words slurring together. “She’s been talking to you for almost five minutes.”

Olivia couldn’t help but be glad she’d gotten them out of the bar when she had, or she’d end up carrying her sister into her apartment later.

“No, I was just thinking. What was it you were saying?”

“Did you see that guy that just came in?” Nicole said, tilting her head to one side, her voice way above a whisper. Olivia could only hope it didn’t carry.

She turned and looked out across the room. “Which one?”

“The one sitting alone. He’s like the only one!” Nicole sounded way more excited than she should be about some guy sitting alone at a table.

“I see him, what about him?” Olivia turned back to her best friend while the rest of the girls at the table giggled.

“Isn’t it too bad you’ve got a new boyfriend? Isn’t he just yummy?” Nicole turned to look at him again, then back to Olivia. “If I didn’t have Jay at home waiting for me, I’d go introduce myself.”

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