Page 33 of Griz's Edge

“Dad?” I murmur his name.

“We’ve got to talk about this, darlin’.”

“And we will. I just can’t right now. I’ll give you a call later when I’m not busy.”

I mentally put it on my to-do list right after going to the grocery store. Griz is coming back later, and we’re having dinner together. Tomorrow, he said we were going to eat at the diner together, and he’s already filled me in that Friday I would be on the back of his bike going to the clubhouse for a party. I wasn’t sure I wanted to do this or not.

“Right,” Dad grunts. “If you don’t call me back, Lee-Lee, you’ll force me to get your siblings involved, and you know how much you hate when they get involved.”

Now, that was just a whole other level of just plain ol’ wrong.

“Dad, there’s no reason to draw Marshall or Marla into this. There’s nothing for them to get involved in, as it were.”

I didn’t need or want the headache of those two. I love my big brother and little sister, but we’re all like oil and water most of the time. We fight and argue constantly when we’re put in the same room with each other. It didn’t matter where we were. We could be in the middle of a restaurant and start arguing. Marshall thought because he was the big brother he was right and that he had a say in just about everything in my life. Marla, being the baby, she figured she could get her way with just about anything.

Me, on the other hand, I refused to let either of them think they could pull their stunts with me. I wasn’t going to let it happen. One time, we all ended up in a food fight. If it weren’t for the fact the owner was sitting right there and was good friends with my parents, he’d probably have been far more pissed than he actually had been. It was just plain luck that the cops didn’t arrest us.

“You know I’ve got no shame in callin’ a family meeting, Marley. I’ll do it, and in doing so, I’ll bring them into it to have it resolved.”

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I let out a sigh. “I promise, Dad, I’ll call you back, and we’ll talk. Okay?”

“All right, darlin’. I’ll wait for your call. But be warned, you don’t call this evening, I’m callin’ the family meeting.”

“I’ll call.”

I finish the conversation and hang up, more than glad to have gotten off the phone. My dad wasn’t an old man in the least bit. He was fit and could take on anything or one, but the fact he didn’t take on the stalker my mom had, has me questioning what exactly happened back then. For them, I should drop it, but I’m not. I can’t. I need to know.

Right now, though, I need to not worry about any of that. I push the thoughts away, grab the envelope, turn my car off, and get out. It’s time to get on with the day and get it over with. I have better things to look forward to. All of which I couldn’t wait for.

I couldn’t be happier to finish the day out. All I wanted to do was get home, run a bath, and enjoy a nice and relaxing soak. Some days, I hate serving papers to people. They seem to go along with the ‘kill the messenger’ saying.

Unfortunately, my car starts acting weird. It stutters and starts to shake. It gets bad enough that I pull off to the side of the road. I’m not one to neglect my car. I always make sure to have the tires rotated every six months or after putting so many miles on them, whichever comes first. My oil gets changed every ten thousand miles only because I use an oil meant for that mileage. Tune-ups are done regularly.

My dad always drilled it into us to always take care of our cars, and I’ve made sure to do just that. Nothing should be wrong with my car now.

I put the car in park, pop the hood, and barely get out before my entire car goes up in a ball of fire. The force of the explosion throws me backward onto the road. My body collides with asphalt. By no means was it a pleasant collision. It hurts.

I’m lucky that no other cars were close enough, otherwise I’d be dead right about now, not just feeling a bad case of road rash.

Getting to my feet, all I can do is watch what used to be my car burn in front of me.

“Oh my God, are you okay?” a woman shouts from behind me.

Slowly, I turn to face the woman in question as more people stop. Sirens could be heard in the distance, but I couldn’t focus in on those. My ears were ringing, and my body hurt.

Regardless of all of that, one question pops into my head. How the hell did this happen? My car shouldn’t be a ball of smoke right now. I should be getting home for a bath.

“Marley.”

I hear my name being shouted as the sirens grow near.I twist to see not only Griz but several other men rushing in my direction.

“Griz,” I whisper, unable to move. I couldn’t if I wanted to. I felt cemented in place.

The instant he gets to me, I find myself drawn into his arms, one arm going around my waist, the other coming up for his fingers to curl into my hair.

“Fuck, Marley, you okay?” he murmurs, his lips brushing against my forehead.

“I’m okay.” I really wasn’t, but I was alive. “What are you doing here?”

---