Page 73 of Raze

“I wish it was that simple. It’s easier to be the asshole out there, it's what people expect of me.”

“Well, how about this? You come over to the clubhouse and hang out with me now. We can–”

“I ain’t shooting pool or playing no cards,” he interrupts me before I even get started.

“I was gonna say, we can have a drink to give you some Dutch courage, then when everyone gets back from the fundraiser, you can take Alicia for a walk on the beach and tell her how you feel about her. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Oh shit…” I suddenly jump back on my feet when I remember the reason I came out here in the first place. How could I have let myself get distracted from something so important?

“What?” Griller suddenly looks worried.

“Trinity and two of her buddies left here dressed like…you know.” I put off giving him my opinion, it's not nice. “They were heading for the fundraiser. I tried to call Raze but he was riding and Alicia’s phone went straight to voicemail. I figured you’d have the other brothers’ contacts so we could try to get a warning to them.”

“I’ll try Ruckus.”

He picks up his cell and scrolls through his numbers and I breathe a sigh of relief when I hear him pick up over the speakerphone.

“Ruck, you got some trouble headin’ your way in the form of–”

“Trinity, yeah, we dealt with it,” he tells him.

“Thank God,” I whisper.

“So they’re on their way back?” Griller checks.

“No, Raze roped them into doing the kissing booth, and old man Lister is getting his money’s worth.”

“Old man Lister? I thought he was dead.” Griller laughs.

“Oh, he’s still alive and kickin’, or should I say kissin’?” We hear someone interrupt in the background, asking if their son can sit on his bike and Griller hangs up and leaves him to it.

“Mr Lister.” He shakes his head and laughs some more. “He used to run the scrap yard, that man ain’t gotta tooth in his head.”

I cover my mouth and try my best not to let him see how amused that makes me.

“Come on.” Griller eventually stands up and walks toward the door, holding it open for me like he suddenly became a gentleman.

“Where we goin’?” I ask.

“Back to the clubhouse to get me some of that Dutch courage,” he tells me.

“That’s the spirit, what changed your mind?” I giggle as we step out onto the landing.

“Mr Lister. I don’t want to get to the age of a hundred and have to pay for damn kisses.”

I have to admit the few hours I spend with Griller alone in the clubhouse turn out to be fun. He tells me when his feelings for Alicia started, which was pretty much the second he first saw her, and he doesn’t seem to care about the fact that Saul is her brother. Apparently ‘that fucker will get over it.’

I learn a little about him and how he came to be at the club. He's originally from Kansas and spent most of his teenage years in juvie. His brother and him ended up at the club after Greaser met Rex in prison. Griller still keeps in touch with their mother but Greaser doesn’t. In fact, he’s heading home in a few days to paint his mom’s house for her.

He stops drinking after his third whiskey, so he can remember everything he wants to tell Alicia and I can’t help hoping that she might feel the same way once she sees this different side to him.

Griller looks different when he smiles, he’s much handsomer and I can’t imagine Alicia would have slept with him if she didn’t find him attractive.

I give him some ideas on where he could take Alicia on their first date, which is ironic considering I’ve never been on one myself, and when my cell starts to ring I wave it in front of him to let him see that it’s her calling me.

“Talk of the devil,” I tell him excitedly

“Hello,” I answer, rolling my eyes when he nervously reaches over the bar to pour himself another whiskey.

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