Page 3 of Property of Big Daddy

“Why didn’t you ever say anything?”

“Because I love you and you loved him, and I was afraid you’d get mad and cut me off if I did.”

“I would never.You’re my best friend, Cee.”

“I know and I wish I had said something, but if I had, would it have changed anything?”

“Probably not,” I admit.Why didn’t I see it?See him for who he truly was.I thought he loved me.That he was going to propose soon, or at least ask me to move in with him.But the more I think back, the more I realize I ran through his red flags like I was cutting the lines at an amusement park.

He always wanted to stay over at my place.I thought it was so I wouldn’t have to keep stuff at two places.He said it was easier for him to keep a few suits and a toothbrush at mine than for me to lug all my girly junk to his.He didn’t want me there because he was fucking other people there.

“No more tears.We’re going to get cleaned up and hit the town and I know just the spot.Thad wouldn’t be caught dead going to Shooters.”

“The biker bar?”

“Exactly.”She smirks and snatches my bag of chips away.“No more of these.”She crinkles her nose up at my extra hot salsa as she takes my bowl to the kitchen.Cecilia can’t handle spicy foods.She has to have everything mild.

We take turns hogging her bathroom mirror.I cough as she leaves me in a haze of hairspray to find me a top to pair with my jeans I luckily had in my car, saving us from swinging by my apartment.

I’m afraid to go home.I don’t want to run into Thad.I should be thankful we didn’t live together, but he has a key to my place.When he worked late, he’d let himself in and slip into bed with me.Probably after he was out fucking some skank behind my back.

The thought makes my skin crawl.I’m buying new sheets as soon as I get paid.

All the signs were there, and I ignored them.I didn’t want to see them because it meant I was in another doomed relationship.

All those deliveries he insisted on overseeing forspecialcustomers.The hair tie I found on the passenger floorboard of his car that he swore belonged to his niece.The earring he gave me that wasn’t mine.He said he found it under his couch cushion.I made excuses for him.I did this to myself.

While I wait on Cecilia to rifle through her closet, I leave the management office of my apartment building a message that I need my locks changed as soon as possible.

“I’ve got it.”She dangles a black corset in my face that I’m fairly certain was part of her Halloween costume last year when she dressed up like a wench.

“My tits are going to fall out.”

“I’m sure the bikers won’t mind if they do.”

“Tell me again why we are going to a biker bar?”

“One, Thad won’t be there.Two, hot bikers.Three, if that prick shows up, there will be plenty of muscle around to kick his ass.And fourth and most importantly.The best way to get over a man is to get under a new one.”

I can’t argue with her logic.

I snatch the corset and decide that I must be losing my mind.I should go home and pack Thad’s shit up and drop it at his doorstep or, better yet, I should put it in front of the furniture store and light it on fire.Then again, I don’t want to catch any charges.He’s not worth the trouble, my tears, or the time I’ve wasted on him.

With renewed determination, I put on the corset and remind myself that I’m a badass bitch and Thad was lucky I ever looked his way.A mistake I won’t ever make again.

I’m going to find some scary ass hot as fuck biker to screw who will make me forget all about Thad.

Harley Davidson motorcycles line the front of Shooters.A thrill races up my spine as my heels clack across the parking lot.Cecilia struts ahead of me like a woman on a mission.

Shooters is exactly what you’d expect of a biker bar.Billiard tables, smoke, dart boards, beer, loud music and even louder men.Hot men at that.

Now I know why Cecilia insisted on this bar.I glance around while trying to keep up with her as she navigates the packed space, our destination the bar, to order a drink.

This isn’t the type of establishment that serves martinis or margaritas.These men like their liquor like they live their life, hard.I feel their eyes on me as I squeeze in next to Cecilia, near the end of the bar, next to a biker with tattooed biceps thick enough to deal some real damage.My gaze travels the length of his arm to his large hand curled around a beer bottle.

The heat of his gaze warms me, and I look up at him through my lashes, surprised by his handsome yet brutal face.His lips tease at a smile and electricity crackles between us.

He’s got dark, intense eyes I could drown in.

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