Page 111 of Sugar and Skulls

“Give the phone to Dirk.”

I hand the phone to him. Dirk doesn’t say anything he just listens. He hangs up, handing my phone back to me.

“Well?”

“Well what?”

“Dirk, I’m going to kill you myself.”

He gives me a wicked grin before hosting me off my feet and tossing me over his shoulder. A puff of air leaves me as my stomach connects with his shoulder. I beat on his back as he carries me out, locking the door behind us. He drops me on the back of his bike, shoves a helmet on my head before hopping on in front of me. I barely have a moment notice to grab on for dear life before he is pulling away from the curb.

He doesn’t drive us to Vegas like he threatened but we do end up at the cabin. I hop off and glare at him. “Anyone ever tell you how much of an asshole you are?” I stomp my foot, sending a poof of dust into the fading light of day.

“Every mother fucking day,” he says seriously, hanging his helmet on the handlebars.

“What are we doing here? What did my dad say?”

“He said I couldn’t marry you in Vegas.”

“And?” I flop my arms out, encouraging him to go on. Good god this is like pulling teeth.

“I don’t know. I just wanted to be alone with you. Okay?”

My heart drops. My dad said no. Is he ever going to be okay with Dirk and I being together? The answer to that is probably no.

Dirk wraps me up in his arms. “Hey, it’s all going to work out. Don’t worry your pretty little head. I’m not going anywhere.”

“I’m going to call Raffe and let him know we are staying here tonight,” I mumble into his shirt.

He pulls back, taking my face in his hands. “I’ve waited a lifetime for you. I’ll wait a little longer.”

Dirk unlocks the door for me. “I’ll fire up the grill,” he says, tugging on the back of my hair.

“Sounds good,” I say sadly. I didn’t realize how disappointed I would be that my father wouldn’t give Dirk his blessing to marry me. I mean I know it was last minute but…

“Hey, girly,” Raffe says cheerfully when he answers.

“Hey,” I pull the blanket off the bed and wrap myself up in it. “Dirk and I are staying at the cabin tonight.”

“Okay. You sound bummed about it. What’s going on?”

“Dirk asked Bill if he could marry me.”

“And he said no?” Raffe sounds surprised.

“Yeah, I think Dirk brought me up here to cheer me up.”

“I think you should enjoy the evening, get a good night’s sleep and I’m positive you will feel better in the morning.”

“If you say so. How are things between you and Rachel?”

“Good.”

“Just good?”

He laughs. “Okay, more than good. Maybe even better than great.” He sighs dreamily before continuing. “Thanks to you.”

“What did I do?”

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