Page 69 of Tempted
He goes silent, and I can’t help butlaugh.
“Ha ha, very funny,” he says, his voicedripping with sarcasm. “Listen…I was thinking about this getawayidea. The more I think about it, the better it sounds.”
“Where you wanna go?”
“I don’t know yet, but we can leave onThursday. I just need to wrap up some business.”
“Cool. I need to talk to Millie. And I haveto meet with Mr. Santini, Daddy’s lawyer, to sign some papers, andthen we’re going to take care of my apartment. But we should bedone by noon.”
“How much you need for the apartment?”
“It’s all taken care of. Don’t worry aboutit.”
“You sure?”
“Positive. I have to get back to work, solater.”
“Okay, babe.”
By the end of the day, I’m jittery. Ron andChrissy went to pick up Toni at the airport and they’ll be here anyminute. I say my goodbyes to everyone and wait for them outside.I’m craning my neck to see down the street, chewing on my lowerlip, and bouncing on the balls of my feet. Toni’s more of a sisterto me than Lonnie will ever be. We’ve been inseparable since wewere kids, even though she’s a year older. She’s a lot like me, ormaybe I’m a lot like her. I’ve always looked up to her. Hell, she’sthe one who told me about periods and gave me thebirds-and-the-bees talk. By “talk”, I mean she showed me one of herdad’s pornos and told me to always use condoms. I was ten. Needlessto say, I was a little traumatized.
When I finally see the Charger, my heartbegins to race. Toni sticks her head through the window andscreams. Before the car even comes to a complete stop, her door isopen and she’s jumping out. She’s tall, athletic, milk-chocolategorgeous, and has the lightest brown eyes I’ve ever seen. Oh, myGod, she looks so different! She’s relaxed her hair and dyed itburgundy since the last time she sent me a picture.
“Rave!”
With an excited shriek, I jump into her arms.“Toni! Oh, my God, I missed you.”
“Jesus Christ, gal, what a way you getfat!”
“Whatever. I amnotfat!”
“Mmhmm. That ass looks fatter. What’s Gagebeen feeding you?”
“Just get back in the car. Let’s go.”
“After you, fatty.”
I climb in and find Chrissy in the back seat.Ron teases that they’ve been talking his ears off.Great! I waswondering if they’d get along.“Where we headed?” I askRon.
“Orders are to take you to theclubhouse.”
“Can you stop at the house first,please?”
“Got it.”
After Toni and I shower and change, we headover to the clubhouse. Even from outside, we hear the hip-hop musicblaring. Toni starts to dance before we walk through the doors. Ican smell Chopper’s burgers, so there’s definitely a party goingon. The music stops when Ron pushes the door open for us.
“Surprise!” Everyone yells.
What the fuck?All the guys are here,grinning from ear to ear. It’s obvious they started the partywithout me because they’ve all got drinks and Hounds hanging onthem.
“What’s going on?” I ask no one inparticular.
Gage moves toward me from the back of theroom, a big, beautiful smile on his lips.
“Bomboclawt,” Toni drawls. “Swag buck. He gotthat big dick walk.”
“Take your eyes off my man’s dick.”
