Page 41 of Through The Woods

He pursed his lips just as Gunner came through the door. “Good God, what happened here?”

“Neve here was just learnin’ us some sign language, Gunner.”

I nodded at Rooster and turned my smile on Gunner. As usual, he didn’t return it.

“Charm’s gonna have your ass over this one.”

I exhaled slowly and began walking toward the kitchen. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, Gunner. I can always count on your cheery disposition in my time of need.”

“Fuck off, Neve.” He clipped out before stomping up the stairs.

Well, there was the one biker who would not be getting a friendship bracelet from me in this lifetime.

I pulled the ingredients I needed for dinner from the fridge; cooking wasn’t an intimidating task anymore. I’d just make a menu ahead of time and one of the bikers would go get everything I needed. At some point, maybe they’d even consider letting me do the weekly shopping.

I’d been here six weeks and was slowly finding my groove. I’d wake up and watch the sunrise. Sometimes, Twitch was there and sometimes, it was just me. Charm hadn’t shown up since the morning I hit him with the flashlight. Then, I’d work my way through the lodge, cleaning and starting laundry. Either the rooms were starting to improve or the guys didn’t have enough time to destroy them. I didn’t care—it left me with more free time in the afternoons; time that I’d spent reading the journal.

Doc rounded the corner, clutching his face, and headed straight for the freezer. He grabbed an ice pack and held it up to an eye that was almost swollen shut.

“Doc? What the hell happened?” I tried to grab his arm, but he moved out of reach.

“Club business.”

I was quickly growing tired of those two words. As if that answered all my questions. Rooster raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say a word.

I’d just picked up a cutting board when the front door slammed shut and loud footsteps stomped up the stairs.

“Let me guess—club business?”

Rooster chuckled and pulled a beer from the fridge. “You know I’m not saying one way or another, Darlin’—but you might wanna stay down here for a bit.”

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