Page 12 of Bitten By Zombie

For some reason, her words made him smile. He turned to watch her. Crossing his prosthetic over his leg and folding his arms, he leaned against the counter. Grumpy was gone finally, and Flirty was in the building. Maybe he could get the info they needed.

Outlaw’s voice inside his head scoffed and said something to the effect ofyeah right,delusional much, but he mentally swatted it away.

“So, you snooped?”

“No, not snooped. I was increasing my SA, that’s situational awareness,” she stated as she gulped her soda and raided the pantry.

“I know what SA is.” He breathed as she emerged from the pantry with a tin of mixed nuts and a bag of Doritos.

“Doritos aren’t vegan.” He stated as he snatched the bag from her and popped a cheesy triangle into his mouth.

When she reached for the bag, he held it out of reach. Just barely because she wasn’t exactly short.

“See, you don’t listen. I’m not vegan.”

“Yeah, but you don’t eat cheese, and these are all about the cheesy goodness.” He popped another in his mouth.

“I never said I didn’t eat dairy. You did. I simply don’t like unmelted cheese and only certain kinds. And not that chemically formed square that is most certainly not cheese. I do, however, love cheesy flavored chips, so hand them over.”

She was right. He hadn’t listened to her at all. She had even used the term vegetarianesque not vegetarian. And when she said shedidn’t like that, she meant what he was using, not all those things in general. He felt kinda like an ass.

However, he was having a good time teasing her and didn’t want the exchange to end. When she wasn’t being herself, at least the self he’d dealt with so far, she was totally fun. It had been a long time since he’d been able to just be silly with anyone but his brothers.

He kept moving the bag, and before he realized what was happening, she’d hopped up on the counter and launched herself onto his back in an attempt to grab the bag.

He wasn’t prepared for it, and they went down. “Shit,” he cursed as he tossed the bag aside and halted their fall with his hands and knees.

Other than the twinge in his knees, they weren’t any worse for wear.

And he laughed.

Heidi joined him.

A second or two later, his brothers came into the kitchen ready for a fight, only to find Heidi astride their president like he was giving her a freaking horsey ride surrounded by Dorito rain. Both were laughing so hard they couldn’t breathe.

Santa, not missing a beat, had his cell phone out. “Club Christmas card picture, check.”

“Send me a copy of that, Santa. Talk about great content. I’m about to blow up the club’s social media.”

“Laugh it up, assholes, you’ve got to clean up the mess.” At his words, Heidi noticed their audience and scrambled off his back.

As she swiped at the orange dust coating her shirt, she made apologies. “Sorry, my fault. I’m a little enthusiastic about snacks.”

“You and me both, honey,” Squatch quipped in his deep baritone and grabbed a broom. “I just don’t usually consider my prez a snack.”

CHAPTERFOUR

HEIDI

The incident in the kitchen from that morning was well behind them, but Heidi couldn’t exactly shake it.

It had been so surreal.

While she didn’t know Zombie from Adam, he’d been so standoffish with her. While earlier in the kitchen, he was teasing and flirtatious. She remembered the way his topaz-brown eyes crinkled at the corners when he laughed.

His laugh lines were set in, suggesting the charming man-child who had made ham sandwiches was the real Zombie.

Those thoughts didn’t align with what biker gangs were supposed to be. Rough and crude outlaws. That’s what she’d always been taught.

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