Page 30 of Break Out

I drove my fingers into my hair at the sides of my head. “What? It’s not like I had sex with Steel from the Devil Lancers. This man wasn’t even wearing a cut, and he didn’t have long hair or anything.”

Abby’s expression turned wary. “He’s always been clean-cut-ish. You’re right, though, it’s crazy to think he’d be there. The man hates Florida. Hell, he spent all of Biketoberfest looking like he was constipated.”

“You’re a nurse, you think everyone looks bound-up,” Aunt Mallory said.

Abby shook her head. “No, this was different. He frowned the whole time. There’s no call for that shit when you’re so close to the beach, easy access to great food and better music, plus all the hot bikes and even hotter women. That man can’t stand Florida and he lets everyone know it.”

Mallory gave a slight nod. “That’s true. Plus, what business would he possibly have in Gainesville? A trip to God’s country is always fun, but I trust Simone’s gut.”

“Not God’s country, that’s three hours away in Tally,” Abby muttered.

“Aren’t there any pictures of this Devil Lancer president?” Alexandra asked.

I gave her a look. “How many pictures are there of my dad floating around?”

“True, true.”

“Where is the Devil Lancer mother chapter?” Jasmine asked.

I scoffed. “Why? You think I should just drive there and ask Steel to step outside?”

Jasmine shrugged. “Why not? My mom would do something like that.”

Abby laughed. “You’re assuming she could get in the damned gate, and Trixie did shit like that years ago, Jazz. Things are different now.”

Jasmine stood up and dropped her beach towel from her waist. “Are they though?” she muttered that question and ran to the pool, executing a perfect cannonball into the water.

Just watching her made me yawn.

How could a group of cells the size of a lime suck so much of my energy?

Next to me, Aunt Abby asked, “You’re coming to Bike Week, aren’t you? It’s the first year you can do everything since you’re twenty-one.”

I gave her a lop-sided smile. “Except I can’t, not really.”

Alexandra rubbed sunscreen into her arms. “You gotta go. Who else is gonna hang out with me and Gabriella?”

Aunt Mallory swallowed a sip of white wine. “Just go Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.”

I shrugged. “I’ll think about it. Aunt Trixie isn’t wrestling this year – that’s what made it worthwhile.”

With her hands on the pool deck, Jasmine heaved herself out of the water as though doing a push up. She beamed at me. “I’m taking her place. That’s reason to go right there!”

Uncle Cal had come out to grill chicken and steaks. I snuck back inside because the scent of the raw chicken turned my stomach.

Abby stood at the counter chopping tomatoes for a salad, a huge wooden salad bowl sat next to the cutting board. “I’m glad you came inside.”

“You are?”

She dumped some tomatoes in the bowl and leveled her eyes on me. “I’ve been thinking about what I said.”

I grinned. “You say a lot of things—”

“Ha ha. I might have said it was unlikely to be Steel with the Devil Lancers in Gainesville, but I remembered something about him.”

I leaned against the counter with my forearms resting on top of it. “What about him?”

She stared at me for a beat. “He has a thing for younger women.”

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