Page 2 of Ride the Wind (Devil's Knights 2nd Generation 8)

“Yeah, yeah,” Kerry mumbled. “I’ll have you home by midnight, Cinderella. I work tomorrow, too.” She strutted through the swinging doors, and I was finally alone to finish this cake in peace.

I loved Kerry, but man, she could talk my ear off. And she was always trying to get me to go out with some random guy she met at the bar. This was new, however.

She usually went to some party without me and threw random guys she met but didn’t want for herself. Kerry was five years younger than me and still living her party days.

I was well past those days.

Hell, I never had those days.

Straight out of high school, I went to the local tech school, where I learned cake decorating. I worked wherever possible but always knew I wanted to own my bakery. For nine years, I worked two jobs at a time bouncing between grocery store bakeries and small bakeries until I had enough money for a down payment on my bakery. I didn’t have time to party and go out all the time.

Even now, I don’t have the time to do that.

I finished decorating the cake and called Kerry.

She pushed through the swinging doors with a donut and iced coffee in one hand. “I’m on break,” she called defensively.

As if I would say anything. Kerry talked nonstop, but she also worked her butt off. “Come look at this and tell me if you still think I need something in the corner?”

Kerry moved in front of the cake and took a huge bite of her donut. “Have I told you that Ben’s deep-fried croissant donuts are amazing?” she muttered.

I rolled my eyes and squirted my leftover icing into the large bowl. “Are you buttering me up before you tell me the cake isn’t good?”

She finished chewing and took a sip of her coffee.

“Kerry,” I whined. “Just tell me if it sucks or not.” I was confident in what I did, but I was still human. I knew that not everyone would like what I did and that I wasn’t always right. Maybe I did need something more in the corner besides just the border.

She tilted her head to the side and nibbled on the donut. “I mean...”

I was going to kick her in the shin if she didn’t spit it out. “You mean what?” I demanded.

“I mean, it’s gorgeous.”

I let out the breath I had been holding, and my shoulders sagged. “Thank god.”

Kerry moved to the side and leaned against the table. “As if you were actually worried. I’m just waiting for the day when I can find just one flaw in the amazing cakes you do.”

I emptied the rest of my bags and popped out the tips. “There are fifty flaws in that cake. I just covered them all with more buttercream.”

Kerry chuckled. “And I think that is what makes you a pro at this. You know how to make your mistakes into tiny little birds.”

I furrowed my brow. “There are no birds on the cake, Kerry.”

“That’s just Bob Ross coming out of me.”

“No idea what or who you are talking about.” I scrapped my spatula on the bowl and gathered all of my dirty tools.

“Drop those in the sink. Rue is on dish duty tonight,” Kerry advised.

I dumped all the dirty dishes in the sink and wiped down the table.

Kerry grabbed a pale yellow and lilac-colored Layers Bakery cake box and slid the cake into the box. “I’m gonna split right away at six. I’ll be at your place by seven.”

I grimaced and plugged the sink. “I was hoping you would forget.”

Kerry blew out a raspberry. “As if I was going to forget about going to a party at SOS.”

I squirted some soap into the sink. “SOS?” I asked. I had no idea what that was other than a distress call. God knows I was in distress since Kerry was making me go to a party.

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