Page 68 of The Preacher's Daughter and the Bikers
Zeke chuckles as he shakes his head. I catch a glimpse of the metal stud of his tongue ring.
“It’s disposable and it can’t be traced,” Zeke replies. “It’s the kind of thing outlaws use.” He winks.
“Am I an outlaw now?”
Zeke grins at me and lowers his head to drop a kiss on my lips. “You’re about to have an outlaw inside of you,” He whispers and I smile back at him. He playfully slaps my behind and I squeal.
“You better go make your phone call before I drag you to bed,” Zeke threatens.
The guys give me some privacy, but I take a moment to collect myself. I feel a strange mixture of nerves and excitement.
After a few deep breaths, I force my fingers to press the buttons. I know Bianca’s number by heart, but my hands are shaking. I feel an overwhelming sense of trepidation. It feels like the hairs on the back of my neck are standing on end. But the feeling passes and I do my best to pretend that it never happened. I swipe the phone’s screen and push the buttons.
It rings once. Twice. Three times.
I remember that I’m calling from an unknown number and hope that Bianca will answer, regardless.
“Hello?” Bianca answers just a millisecond before I’m about to hang up.
“B?”
“Mary?” Bianca says, her tone incredulous. “Mary?!” Her voice changes to a squeal.
“It’s me,” I breathe. I’ll tell her I will go by Goldie later. “It’s really me.”
“Oh, my God! Are you all right?”
“Yes, I’m- “
“Are you really staying there?”
I freeze. My body suddenly feels cold. “You’ve heard?”
“Oh, Mary,” Bianca says. “Your dad told me. I can’t believe everything that has happened.”
“That makes two of us,” I reply, but my words are stiff.
“I’m sorry, you know,” Bianca says, suddenly sounding shy. “I hope you don’t think that I’m an awful friend.”
I feel a softness coming over me. We’ve been friends for a long time, but I can’t remember Biancaeverapologizing.
“You know the policy we have,” Bianca continues, her voice poutier. “I had to save myself. It’s theonlyreason that I told your dad you snuck out alone. It wasgirl code.”
I bite my lip. Kitty and Kiki seem to have established a different type of girl code between themselves. Maybe it’s something that Bianca and I could emulate.
“It’s all right, B,” I say. It’s really enough for me that Bianca apologized. She is my very oldest friend.
“Now, you’ve got to tell me everything,” Bianca demands breathlessly. “I need details!”
I giggle and feel absolutely giddy.
“Can you meet me? How about our spot for coffee?”
Bianca sounds slightly surprised when I agree.
“Really?” Bianca says, but then she squeals in excitement.
I can’t quite believe it myself. I feel like I have everything, plus I have some freedom, too. It seems like I am the luckiest girl in the world. I can’t believe this is the life of a preacher’s daughter.
