Page 51 of Wait For Me

I shrugged my shoulders. “Pretty much. If you want to know more, ask Tripp. He was there for the whole thing.”

Kip nodded then tipped his head toward my pants. “So, you think it was wise to try to fuck her and do business?”

“Fuck you, man.”

Kip grinned at me. “Gotta do what you gotta do to secure those funds, Gold digger!” He was fucking with me and I knew it, still it made me want to punch him in the face.

“Yeah, well, I might have finally gotten my hands on your sister tonight if you hadn’t run her off by having no faith in her.”

“Fuck man! What do you expect from me. Between the two of them, my sister and my wife, they literally just put me in a fuck of a position. Who am I supposed to believe?”

“I don’t know man, maybe the one person who has never lied to or betrayed you.” I stood and threw the condoms onto my dresser since it was obvious that I didn’t need them now. Then, I moved to the door. “I need to go get my business shit together and sent to Star.”

Kip left my room but didn’t say a word about his sister or what I’d just said to him. He needed to come to that conclusion on his own. It made me wonder what would happen when he finally got the answers though.

19

Bagger

I sent the email containing my business plan, cost analysis, initial budget for stock, staff pay, and other overhead expenses, plus the market analysis for the area to Star a few hours after she left Kip and I in my room at the clubhouse.

That was five days ago. I hadn’t heard from her since then. I was well past worrying over the bullshit too and sliding straight into panic mode. Part of me wished I could take the business email back and just look for another way to finance the restaurant, if that was what spooked her. I would rather have the woman than the fucking dream of owning my own place, even if I had to give in and let the club work with me. I’d never thought to make a deal with the Savage Vipers like Star proposed, where they remained a silent partner until the investment paid out with interest. Even when Missy’s father offered to invest, I figured I’d be stuck with the bastard forever, or have to buy out his interest eventually.

“What’s on your mind?” My mom asked while rubbing my shoulders. “Still worrying over how to finance your dream?”

“Yes and no,” I answered honestly.

“This about Star?”

I explained things to my mom, and she gave me a frail grin that both lifted me up and broke my heart. She was getting weaker. Years ago, when she was getting sick and I had to come from following Star, she was told that she had Fibromyalgia. They gave her things to do to make herself “better” and it seemed to work after a few months. As it turned out, she was just having a good run for a while, and she also didn’t have fibro. Instead, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Unfortunately, she was also one of the few whose symptoms came on a little more aggressively.

I reached out to steady her as she wobbled a bit. “Where is your cane?” I asked.

She waved me off. “The cane doesn’t really help if it’s shaking too.”

“Dammit, Mom! I told you we could get you a walker or one of those electric wheelchair things.” She blew out a quick breath.

“I don’t want that shit yet.”

“So, you’d rather fall, injure yourself, worry me and everyone else who cares about you instead of admitting you need a little more help getting around?” I was angry at her refusal to take the extra help even though I understood her pride too.

“Fine. We’ll talk about it, but I’m still not moving in with you. I don’t ever want to do that. When the time comes, you will hire me a nice nurse, come for visits, and then go back home to enjoy your life.”

“Mom, come on, you know I can’t enjoy life without you there riding my ass about it,” I teased. She swatted at me but missed. Something I played off by pretending she got me anyway.

“Maybe you should send Star a message and ask her out to dinner. Forget the business part, appeal to the woman since that’s what you find more important.”

“Why are you pushing for this so hard lately?”

“I want to see my grandchildren before this piece of shit body of mine gives out completely.”

“Fuck! Don’t say shit like that.”

“Well, it’s true. Life doesn’t change just because we want it too. Not this part of life, anyway. You have control over what’s happening between you and Star though.”

“Fine. I’ll message her after I leave here.”

“Good, then you should probably go, so that you can do that.” She winked at me, making me laugh.

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