“Okay, spill,” Emma said the moment we were seated on my couch.
I had to toss back two half-glasses of my jack before I could answer. My mind and emotions were all over the place and I hated it. I had no right to feel anything about Jinx or Waylen. Even if Glory is a mega-cu.nt. They aren’t mine and have nothing to do with me. Waylen and I are just best buds. We get along because his mom abandoned him with me so much. That’s it.
So, why do I feel so weird that he’s here? Is it because of the conversation I had with Deb on the way to the airport? Is it the memory that played vividly in my head the other night? That must be it. It’s the holidays and my heart is aching. That’s all this is.
“We’re from the same town, but I have no idea what he’s doing here,” I told Emma. “Maybe he’s here with his baby momma and their kid. A little family get away.”
On the same trip that was supposed to be my romantic holiday getaway. Wow, this is all turning out to be fucked. Jinx is going to ruin my whole vacation just like he ruins everything else for me.
Okay, that might be harsh, but I don’t care right now.
“Oh, is he married?” Emma asked.
“No,” I replied, shaking my head.
“Pretty sure he’s not here with a baby momma then,” she said, and my eyes snapped towards her. She smiled slyly at me. “He’s in that big cabin,” she told me, pointing her thumb in the direction. “Five adults and four kids. I know that one of the couples is married because she was the one who made the reservation. Told me about how it would be her, her husband, their three kids, and her parents, and hopefully her brother and his son.”
I blinked at her.
“You’re telling me that the entire Roth family is staying in that cabin right over there?” I asked for confirmation.
Emma giggled, but nodded. I looked away from her, remembering the snowmen I saw last night before bed. The two that stood off to the side that pulled at my heartstrings.
“So, you gonna tell me what’s the deal between you?” she asked, laughing. “I wasn’t sure if you guys were going to start throwing hands or ripping each other’s clothes off. And the way he looked at you, like he was seeing a Christmas miracle.”
“More like a Christmas curse,” I muttered.
Still, I told Emma everything. From the more embarrassing things as children all the way to the last conversation Jinx and I had. I even told her about how he found me when my parents died. I didn’t give her details, because I didn’t want the pity from her after hearing that I was an orphan. I just told her I was going through something really rough and that Jinx was there for me, but she was the first and only person I’d ever told about that. I even told her all about Waylen and his stupid mother. Emma listened patiently, nodding throughout it all, but never interrupting me
“Sooooo, you two have always had a thing for each other, but you never did anything about it?” Were the first words out of her mouth after I was done.
I gave her an incredulous look, surprised that that’s what she thought.
“We do not!” I denied it. “Jinx is a royal a.sshole who has somehow been a huge source of bad luck for me my entire life. Besides, he’s a biker, and did you see him? He’s insanely hot. He has his pick of girls. Hell, they have girls that live at the clubhouse just for se.x stuff. Why the heck would he ever want me?”
Emma smiled as she rested her chin in her hand.
“But you want him?” she asked.
My jaw dropped.
“I most certainly do not!” I lied, making Emma snort.
“Oh come on,” she replied. “You’re telling me that all that electricity between you two, and you were never… curious about him?”
I opened my mouth, ready to deny it, but I couldn’t. When nothing came out, Emma raised a brow at me, giving me an I-told-you-so look.
“Okay, so maybe I think he’s ridiculously hot,” I grumbled. “But it doesn’t matter. He’s Jinx. Part of The Salvation Knights MC. A man of power, money, and darkness. We’re too opposite. And he’s not the settling down type, and I’m not the… causal fling type.”
Which was true. At least, I don’t think I am. When I was a teenager, Sophie was the one that caught everyone’s attention. After my parents died, I was just the weird loner girl who lost her parents. Then I worked too much, and then came Theo. I never had time, nor did anyone really interest me before.
Jinx interests me a little I guess…
I shook my head again, trying to rid the thoughts from my mind. I couldn’t think like that, because if I did, I’d do something stupid. Like be nice to him. It was stupid anyway. Jinx didn’t see me that way. He had his pick of women. Women a lot prettier than me.
It’s fine. I just need to survive this vacation without running into them again. Especially Waylen. Because if Waylen finds out I’m here too… I’ll end up spending my whole vacation with Jinx.
And who knows what would happen to me then.
Deidra’s P.O.V.
Emma and I spent a few more hours drinking and talking. She asked me all kinds of questions about the MC and what it was like living in a town with them. I told her how it wasn’t bad at all, and that the guys aren’t as bad as people say. Which launched her into asking all about every rumor flying around my hometown about The Salvation Knights.
“You don’t think the rumors are true about them?” Emma asked me. “Like any of them.”
I shrugged and poured myself another. We were pretty buzzed at this point. My goal was to get wasted though. Because, hey, vacation. And Jinx. Fu.cking Jinx and his stupid se.xy manbun and his stupidly pretty blue-green eyes. Ugh!
“I mean, maybe some are true,” I replied. “I’m not saying they’re saints or anything, but they’re definitely not bad people.”
“You sure that’s not just because of the hot one with the sweet kid?” she asked.
“No, Jinx is probably the worst,” I mumbled. “Though, I don’t know War that well, and he’s pretty scary looking.”
Emma snorted at that.
“Who’s War?” she asked.
“Their president,” I told her. “But he’s never been rude either. In fact, I don’t think any of them ever have. Maybe a little aggressive with the flirting, but that didn’t happen to me much.”
“Really?” Emma asked in disbelief.
“Yeah, I mean, a couple of them tried once or twice, but I guess my lack of enthusiasm put them off,” I replied with a shrug.
Emma suddenly gasped loudly and reached out to grab my arm with both hands.
“What if Jinx told them all to stay away from you?” She blurted.
“Uh, what?” I asked, confused as hell.
“I read books about motorcycle clubs,” she admitted shyly. “What if he has a secret crush on you, and he’s been telling everyone to leave you alone? Cause face it, girl, you’re hot.”
I blinked at her, trying to understand what she was saying.
“Why the hell would he do something like that?” I asked. “And don’t say it’s because he loves me or some sh.it. That would only make sense if he asked me out.”
“Well, you did say that you’ve always been mean to him,” she replied.
“So?” I said. “He’s used to it. It doesn’t bother him. Hell, half the time he smiles like it’s a fun game.
He could ask me out. The man is dripping with confidence.”
Emma giggled at that.
“Didn’t look very confident to me when I saw him,” she mumbled.
“Anyway,” I said dramatically. “I know that the guys of the MC are good. None of them have given me a reason to believe otherwise. As a matter of fact, a few of them helped me out right before I left.”
“Really? With what?” Emma asked excitedly.
That was when I realized that I hadn’t told Emma about Theo at all. So, I launched into a whole story about Sophie and Theo. We kept drinking, and I was pretty sure I was slurring my words at this point. I ended the whole thing by telling her how the three men helped me set fire to my mattress in Sophie’s yard, which made her fall backward in a fit of giggles.
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