Page 22 of Love Takes Home

“She’s not my girl.”

“Yeah, okay.”

We go through this every single time we talk. “She’s not.”

“If you say so.”

“I do. Can we move on now?”

“Sure, what’s the plan?”

“We need some guys to look into where she came from, what this name has under it, where she sprouted from.”

“Already on it. And this is where you come in.”

“Lay it on me,” I tell him, my interest piqued.

“The only thing we can find so far is that she’s got a place in Rockton.”

“Rockton? That close? Then why all the secrecy and dinners in Rock Hill?”

“Good question. I have a theory that she’s somehow connected to all the shit that went down that your friend Davis was a part of.”

“You think she’s somehow connected to the Pavlov family?”

“Or the bikers.”

And now it’s starting to make sense. “You want me to call Davis to find out how our friend Drago is doing?”

“Seems like a plan to me. See, this is why we keep you around. You’re good at this shit.”

“I’m good at everything, fucker. Is this all we have?”

“It’s more than we had yesterday, but yeah, it’s all we got.”

“What about the fucker?”

“You mean your girl’s ex?” I can hear his smile.

“Remind me to punch you next time I see you.”

He laughs, both of us knowing it’s our way of showing respect and love to each other. “Well, if he was cheating on her when they were together, we didn’t know. But he’s making his rounds now, that’s for sure.”

“I’ve seen. Ginny seems to have missed it all, but he’s not being discreet in front of the rest of us, and there isn’t enough fucking bleach to wash my brain of those images.”

“Summer’s going to end though, and she won’t be able to avoid him then, will she?”

“I’d say probably not. And I know she’s worried about that. She doesn’t want him to cause her to lose her job.”

“Joker, friend to friend here. When are you going to admit your feelings for this girl? It’s eating you up, man.”

“I’m her friend. That’s all I am, and all I can be right now.” It doesn’t matter what I want. And I’ll tell myself that as long as I have to until I believe it. “Look, I’ll call Davis and see if he’s up for a ride. Not sure how much info his friend will willingly give him. He was only there like a week.”

“Worth a shot. We have to start somewhere. Your gut hasn’t been wrong yet, and I also think there’s something here. Let me know what you find out.”

I hung up with Nate two hours ago. Davis, Ranger, and I sit outside the bar in Rockton that used to be ran by the biggest drug runner up and down the range. His son took it over, and as far as I know, there’re no more drugs running through those doors.

Davis looks at me, the tired look of a new dad dragging down his features. “So, while I appreciate the break, why do we need to be here?”

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