Page 11 of Give Me Redemption

I think about the woman who gave birth to me. Mary.

Yeah, fuck her.

“Jace, come back over here,” Lips says. I lift my brow, blinking away old thoughts. I bring my beer to my lips and turn back to them.

“Y’all ain’t ready to leave, are ya?” I ask with a smile on my face. It’s fake, but isn’t it always?

“No, but we’re lonely.”

I walk over to the radio and turn the music up. “Let’s dance then,” I say, grabbing the almost empty bottle of bourbon. I take a mouthful as they walk over. We’re all three fucked off our asses, but the night is only halfway over and we’re younger today than we will be tomorrow.

No regrets.

Chapter Six

Jace

I blink my eyes open and peel my face from the couch I finally fell asleep on last night. I’m shirtless and my pants are undone. One of the girls is lying on the floor with my shirt on top of her and the other is sleeping on the pool table.

I widen my eyes and yawn so hard I pop my jaw.

I stretch upward, spreading my fingers before reaching over and grabbing my pack of smokes. Lighting one, I stand up, feeling a little light-headed and a lot like shit.

“Jesus, I’d say that was a good homecoming,” I say to myself as I step over… I look down at the girl sleeping, Lips. I inhale my smoke as I walk over to the bar and grab a water bottle. I chug the thing, place my smoke between my lips, and button and zip up my jeans.

I look over when the door opens to Bryce’s loft.

He’s in a sweaty gray shirt and black basketball shorts.

“What’s up?” I lift my chin at him.

He looks around at the situation and shakes his head. “I didn’t think you’d be here,” he says.

Walking over, I grab my shirt off of Lips and remove my smoke before I slide it over my head. She stirs, naked, her nipples growing hard from the cold.

“Yeah, I’m used to getting up early.”

“You look like shit,” he says, holding on to the door.

“And you smell like shit,” I reply with a grin.

He chuckles. “You can’t smell me from over there. What are your plans for today?”

“Thought I’d go out to Grant Ranch, see the family for a bit.”

My brother nods. “All right. I’ve got some work to do here. Maybe we can do dinner when you get back?”

“Don’t you have men who take care of this shit here?” I ask him.

“I still like to know what the fuck is going on. Especially in the basement.”

I shrug. “Makes sense.”

“Call me when you get back,” he says, hitting the door lightly.

My brother owns an illegal gambling operation under this club. He started it up a little while after Red became successful. Anything you want to gamble on, you can right here. It’s pretty badass and a whole lot of fun. Last night, I lost a couple hundred, but then won it back before the girls and I decided to come up and play some private strip poker.

“Yeah,” I reply, looking for my phone and then remembering I put it in my pocket.

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