Page 38 of Love is Blind

“Well, aren’t you going to open it?”

Taking a sip of the coffee, I shake my head. I asked Holly to take Birdie back to Emmy’s because I couldn’t bring myself to face her. When a man gives his word to a woman and tells her she is in good hands, then leaves her like I did, with no resources to take care of herself, he’s a cunt.

Holly didn’t see it like that, though, and instead of helping Birdie slip out the back door with her pride intact, she dressed her in my tee and paraded her out the front door, making sure I got a clear view at what I was letting go.

“She’s probably just texting to tell me Birdie got home safely,” I say, setting the mug back onto the table. Without looking at the text, I shove my phone back into my pocket. I can feel Leftie’s gaze drilling a hole into my head, so I lift my chin. “What’s that look about?”

“You hit it off with that girl last night,” he replies. It isn’t a question, so I don’t say anything. But he’s right, Birdie and I did hit it off and since the realization in the cemetery, I’ve been trying to push her out of my head. I wanted an escape and I got one. Didn’t feel a lick of pain while she was in my arms. I was right when I told myself there wasn’t a drug like her, but last night when that thought came to me, I was simply itching for a taste of her. I got my taste and if I wasn’t so turned around by this morning’s event, I’d have taken more.

Leftie must read my mind because he asks, “If Bianca hadn’t shown up like she did, your morning would’ve ended differently, no?”

I definitely would’ve finished what Birdie started, and I would’ve remained a man of my word and got her back to her cousin’s safely. I don’t know that I would’ve got her number, though. I think I would’ve eventually thought of Abigail and that pain would’ve caused me to come to my senses before it got that far.

I bring my gaze to Leftie and shrug a shoulder.

“Maybe so, but what’s done is done.”

And it’s best it stays that way.

“It’s not too late to correct it,” Leftie says as he leans back and stretches his arms wide across the vinyl booth. The man is on his second Danish and I’ve barely made a dent in the grilled cheese. “Does she know who Bianca is?”

Until Bianca stormed into my room, Birdie didn’t even know my name.

“Nah, I just met her last night,” I reply. “Not exactly prime conversation for a one-night stand.”

“No, I don’t reckon it is, but a one-night stand doesn’t usually end with all that baby mama drama in the morning either. It might be a good idea for you to explain the situation to her seeing as I don’t think this Birdie girl is going anywhere.”

I narrow my eyes trying to figure out what he knows that I don’t.

“What are you talking about?”

“Last night, before you showed up with her, Ink got a call from the bartender over at Sally’s,” he reveals, cocking his head to the side.

“Emmy called Ink?”

“You don’t pay attention to anything, do you?” He sighs and breaks off another piece of Danish. “Ink’s been hanging around the bartender ever since Maverick banned Cherry and the pussy posse from the clubhouse. I don’t know if he’s screwing her, but he sure as fuck is trying to.”

The fact Emmy didn’t trust me after I gave her my word should shock me or at least make me feel like a complete dick, but I’m too stuck on the whole pussy posse comment. I’ve clearly been underestimating the old man if he came up with that one all on his own.

He takes another sip of coffee and signals for the waitress to bring us the check.

“Anyway, she called him to see if you had taken the girl back to the clubhouse and made him promise to keep an eye out. Ink said Emmy told him she showed up on her doorstep without much of an explanation.”

“Yeah, she told me the same thing.” I pause, recalling the death glare she gave me last night. “She’s very protective over her.”

“There’s probably a story there,” Leftie says. “But the point I’m trying to make is that your girl ain’t going anywhere. Emmy’s a staple at Sally’s and if Ink makes any leeway with getting in her pants, you’re gonna be around Birdie more than you think, especially if Birdie winds up moving in with the girl.”

“I don’t know what Birdie’s past looks like…hell, I don’t know what her future looks like either, but I know she’s staying with Emmy for the time being.”

“Right, so it might be good of you to pay the girl a visit. Clear the air.”

I shake my head. That’s a horrible idea.

“It’d be good of me to leave her be. I had no business involving myself with someone like her to begin with.”

“Someone like her?”

I can’t believe I have to point it out for the man.

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