“Okay. I’m gonna need the address to the school.”
“I’ll text it to you now.” Feeling overwhelmingly relieved, I told him, “Thank you so much, Thatch.”
“No problem.”
The second I ended the call, I texted him the address and then called the school, letting them know that Thatch would be picking up Cat. As soon as I got off the phone with them, I started home.
My mind was racing a mile a minute as I exited the prison gates and out onto the interstate. One minute I was thinking about Trevor and our conversation over Cat, and then the next, my thoughts traveled to Thatch, the oh-so-sexy biker who could make me forget all my fears and woes with one subtle touch.
I might have missed out on him altogether if I hadn’t listened to the advice of my eccentric, mouthy, lesbian neighbor and best friend, Celeste.
I had a day from hell, and since Cat was with my folks, I’d decided to go over to her place for a couple of drinks.
I had just finished telling her all about the crazy week I’d had when she reached over, poured me a third glass of wine, and said, “I’ve got the answer, but you aren’t gonna like it.”
“Oh, this should be good.”
Celeste had never been one to beat around the bush, so I was surprised when she blurted out, “You need to get laid, and you need to get laid often.”
“Yeah, like I have time for a relationship right now.”
“Who said anything about a relationship?” She cocked her eyebrow and smiled. “I’m talking about just sex, girl. You know. A good ol’ fuckin’ without any strings attached.”
“You really should’ve been a guy. You know that, right?”
“Yep, that’s why I look so damn good in plaid.” She gave me a playful smirk, then continued on with her cockamamie idea about me getting laid. “Stop trying to change the subject. I’m right here. You need to find yourself a hot guy and bang the hell out of him.”
“You’re crazy.”
“You’ve been divorced for what, three and a half years? And you haven’t been on a single date, much less gotten any action.”
“I’ve been on a date.”
“The douchebag from work doesn’t count,” she argued. “You spend all this time busting your ass at work, taking care of your patients’ needs, and then you come home and bust your ass taking care of Cat. When are you going to start taking care of you?”
“Since when is getting laid considered taking care of myself?”
“Since always! It’s a great stress reliever, and you definitely need that.” She winked at me, then added, “So, consider it an incentive for your mental health.”
“You’re crazy.”
“You already said that. I’m being serious, Bec. You’re a beautiful, vibrant young woman. There is no reason why you can’t get out there and find yourself a little action. You deserve it.”
“Okay, whatever you say, boss.”
“Heed my words of advice. You won’t regret it.”
I didn’t give much thought to my conversation with Celeste. We were just talking over a few drinks, but when Thatcher showed up in McClanahan’s room two days later, it was impossible not to reconsider. Thatcher was unbelievably hot, and Mr. McClanahan had nothing but good things to say about him, so I didn’t see the harm.
I thought it would just be a little fling, something to take my mind off my crazy life, but even with our ground rules in play, I feared it was starting to grow into something more. And that couldn’t happen.
5
VIPER
I pulled up to the car rider line and approached the lady with the walkie-talkie, then rolled down the window to give her my name and that I was to pick up Cat. I was expecting her to question me further, but instead, she simply radioed in to the others, and seconds later, Cat came barreling through a crowd of kids. When she spotted me in line, she immediately stopped and gave me a questioning look. I motioned her forward, then leaned over and opened the passenger door. She finally walked over and tossed her backpack onto the floorboard of my pickup. “Hey, what are you doing here?”
“Came to get you.”
“But why?” Without giving me a chance to answer, she climbed inside, closed the door, and asked, “Where’s Momma?”
“She got tied up at a meeting or something and asked me to come get ya.” I motioned my hand towards the seat belt. “Buckle up.”
Her brows were furrowed and her lips pursed as she asked, “When’s she coming home?”
“Can’t say for sure.” I gave her a slight shrug. “Don’t figure it’ll be long.”
“Oh.”
A melancholy look crossed her face as she reached over, fastened her seat belt, then peered out the window. “You all set?”
“Mm-hmm,” was all I got. It was obvious that something was troubling her, but I didn’t have a clue what it was or how to fix it. I figured it was best to just get her home and let Bec handle it whenever she got back.