Page 20 of Joyride
“Where at?” He moves away, and I miss his closeness immediately.
“I haven’t decided.” It’s then I realize Elena, Aria, and the guys have moved on without us. I glance around and find them a few tables ahead of us. With one last glance at Sketch, I make my way to Elena.
13
Sketch
I stand there,watching as Wren walks toward Elena and Diesel. I don’t know what possessed me to get so close to Wren. I felt a pull toward her and had to be right there by her. When I breathed in her intoxicating scent, jasmine mixed with orange, I about lost it. I wanted to spin her around and kiss her. I had to tear myself away from her before I did. I’m still beating myself up for kissing her before and not remembering it. That’ll fucking teach me not to get shit faced anymore. I’m about to follow Wren when Luke stops me.
“It is her, isn’t it?” He’s watching me carefully.
“Yeah, it is. She’s been through hell and back though,” I tell him.
“I don’t have to tell you, but I’m going to anyway. Don’t push anything, let it be on her terms. Watching the way she looks at you, it’ll happen in due time,” he says. Luke is like some kind of love guru when it comes to the people around him. When it comes to himself, he’s shit at relationships.
Luke and I had the same foster mom, Mama Maggie. She took us in within months of each other when we were thirteen. No one wanted us. We were rotten. Hell, we both had horrible childhoods. Bounced around from foster home to foster home, until we somehow landed in hers. She’s an older woman, more like a grandma than a mom. She loved us as if we were her own blood, still does. She lives in Baton Rouge and I visit her as much as I can.
“You’re right, you don’t need to tell me.” My eyes move back to Wren. “I need you to do something for me.”
“Name it, bro,” he replies.
“Watch out for her while I’m in Texas? I leave to go back tomorrow,” I tell him.
“Of course. Does she need a job while she’s here,” he asks. “We need a new front desk person.”
“I’ll talk to her about it and let you know. Thanks, man.” I give him a quick half-hug and walk over to Wren.
After we finished at the convention, we all went to grab some food. Now, we’re hanging out at the girls’ house for the night. Most everyone is drinking, and the girls have a wide variety of music playing. It seems like Aria and Harper are trying to hint at some shit with the songs they’re playing. Wren isn’t picking up on any of it, yet. If she has, she hasn’t let on. Right now,The Way I Areby Bebe Rexha and Lil Wayne is playing.
Wren has a Seagrams Bahama Mama in her hand, a smile on her face and is singing along while moving her body with the beat. I’ve never seen her tipsy before. I also have never seen her dance like this before. She makes it look so simple and sexy. I need to talk to her before she gets too drunk.
“Little Bird.” I call out to her. “Come here, please.”
She struts over to me, eyes locked on mine the entire time. She sits on the couch next to me, swinging her legs over mine. Her touch sends a zap through my body.
“What’s up?”
“I’m going back to Texas tomorrow,” I tell her.
Her face falls and she avoids making eye contact with me. “Already?”
“Yeah, this wasn’t meant to be a long trip.”
“You can’t stay a couple more days,” she asks.
“I would if I could, Little Bird, but we’re taking some guys back to meet with Bull,” I explain. She takes a sip of her drink. “You know, you could come back with us.”
“I’m not ready to go back,” she tells me.
I gently nudge her chin so her eyes are on me. “It’s okay. None of the guys will say anything to Shade.”
“Will you be coming back?” Her voice is soft, sad even.
“As far as I know, yes,” I say. “Until I do, do you remember me telling you about Luke?”
She nods.
“He owns the Mad Tatter tattoo shop. They’re looking for someone to work the front desk and take care of the paperwork,” I inform her.
