Page 55 of Dizzy

We file out. I notice that Heavy and Grinder wave Jed ahead. They’re only saving him time. We’re gonna have it out. I don’t know why he has a hate-boner for my woman, but he’s gonna learn he doesn’t speak her name.

My woman.

Shit. I can’t think that way. She’s over a decade younger than I am. She’s pretty and bright and happy. If I claim her, what’s stoppin’ shit from going down the same way it did with Sharon?

Maybe it’ll be good for a while. Maybe we make it official. Have a baby or two. And then she grows up. She wants more. A class at the community college. A promotion. A dude who cuts his hair and wears a suit.

And then I’m a weekend dad again, alone in a house full of shit I didn’t buy. But it’d be worse. ‘Cause I’ve known Fay-Lee only a few days, and I can’t stand it when I don’t know where she is. What’s that feel like in a few months? Years?

It’s a fuckin’ mistake even thinkin’ down that road. She’s more girl than woman. As evidenced by the fact that she did not stay where I put her. When I come back to the commons, she’s coming down the stairs from the bunks.

That—coupled with my bleak thoughts—riles me up.

“What were you doin’ up there?”

She blinks, surprised. “I was looking for something I lost.”

“What?”

People are staring. I ain’t bothering to keep my voice down. My temper’s rising. Jed talked all that shit, and I was frosty. But this girl makes me worry for a second, and my blood’s hot.

“You’re not the boss of me.” She raises her chin.

Wrong. “Oh, I am.”

She gets an ornery look, and her gaze darts left and right. She’s gonna bolt. I grit my teeth so I don’t grin, my grumpiness evaporating.

I hope she does. My dick perks to life. I’m gonna give her a head start, and then I’m gonna catch her, throw her over my shoulder, and—

“What’s for dinner?” Carson comes racing down the hall and skids to a stop, slamming into my thigh. Oof. This kid’s getting meat on him.

Fay-Lee breaks into a wide, lop-sided smile.

She’s gonna regret that tonight.

“I don’t know. What’s for dinner, house mouse?”

That dims her smile. My stomach sinks. I want it back.

“There’s mac and cheese in the cabinet. You could make that,” she sasses. “I like it made with milk, not water.”

“Who makes it with water?” Carson turns up his nose.

Fay-Lee bristles. “You’ve never been out of milk?”

But you can just tell it wasn’t a matter of being out of milk. How hard was it where she came from? I assumed she was naturally thin, but I’m curious to see what happens when I feed her.

“Let’s go get Parker. I’ll make dinner.”

I want my woman nice and full. I’m gonna wear her out tonight. She’s gonna need her strength. She’s gonna tell me why she was wandering around the clubhouse all by herself. And I’m gonna love makin’ her tell me.

7

FAY-LEE

Isearched the clubhouse top to bottom for my phone. It’s definitely gone. No one has seen it. The only places I didn’t check were the occupied rooms upstairs, and it’s probably not there. The longer I’m here, the more I realize that Steel Bones is sitting pretty. None of the brothers would be interested in a crappy prepaid phone.

As we drive to pick up Parker, nerves start swirling in my stomach. If my phone’s well and truly gone, I don’t have a Plan B. I don’t know anyone’s number by heart except my Gram’s, and she passed three years ago.

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