Page 25 of The Biker and the Gamer
Because thirty-three minutes is the amount of time it takes me to convince myself that Kendra Badass Tisdale hasnotfallen for me.
Believing that lie is the only way I can get myself to move.
Move on.
Kendra
I don’t goback to work. Well, I go back to The Metal house but nottowork. Instead of clocking in, I jump on my bike and gun straight to Tipsy Scoop, Toni’s wine-cream shop.
I burst through the doors of the urban chic hotspot and all eyes are drawn to me. No doubt wondering if I’m a terrorist about to open fire. Ignoring all the puzzled stares, I glance around, searching for Toni.
Leyana waves at me from behind her post at the cashier stand. She started two weeks ago and seems to be loving it.
I go over to her.
“You all right?” she asks me.
I swallow. “Yeah, yeah, I’m good. Where’s Toni?”
“She’s in her office. But I think she’s in a me—”
And I’m off. Beeline for the ‘Staff Only’ door, shove it open and navigate to Toni’s office.
I wrap my knuckles against the door.
“I’m in a meeting!” comes her muffled voice from the other side.
“It’s Kenny. Need to talk to you.”
The door opens a few seconds later, revealing Onyx, in all his freckle-faced glory. Onyx is Judge’s son and a member of the Den of Heathens MC. Big, muscled, and inked, with plaited red hair and a full ginger beard. His moss-green eyes are forever sparkling with mirth.
“Yo,” he greets with his easy grin, a blunt steaming from his fingers.
“Can I get a hit of that?” I ask of his blunt.
He hands it to me, and I take a long pull before passing it back to him.
I brush past him into the office. Toni is sitting behind her desk, and Cookie—Judge’s sister—is perched on it. Both are watching me. I’ve just interrupted a business meeting.
Onyx, who understands women more than women understand themselves, is great with managing women, so he’s in charge of the staff here at Tipsy Scoop, across the street at Cookie’s Treat, and at Cookie’s high-end strip club, Cookie’s Crème. Hence his presence here.
“Sorry to interrupt,” I say. “Just need to borrow Toni for a few minutes.”
“You good?” Cookie asks, sipping liquor from a highball glass, her long red curls spilling over her shoulders.
“Dunno,” I answer honestly. “That’s why I need Toni.”
“Cool.” She straightens up from the desk. “We’ll be across the street, Toni.”
Once they’re gone and the door is closed, I throw myself down into the armchair in front of her desk.
Toni’s eyebrows knit together. “What’s wrong?”
I shrug and scratch my neck. “I dunno. Think something’s happening to me.”
She straightens up in her seat. “What? What do you mean?”
“My heart’s been racing for the past twenty minutes. I feel delirious and shaky. I feel like I wanna piss and throw up at the same time. My stomach is in knots. I feel…sick. Like I’m going through some kind of withdrawal or something.”
