Live Free (Lords of Mayhem 3)

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. The girls here?”

“Waiting at Rocky’s,” Moose said.

“Fantastic.” She pictured them lined up on the couch with furrowed brows and downturned lips.

“Yeah, have fun with that,” Moose said. “You got practice soon,” he said to Rocky. I’ll play chauffeur to Evonne.”

“All right, thanks, man. I’ll catch you later at home,” Rocky said to Evonne.

“Yeah.” Home. It reminded her of how much she’d lost in the blink of an eye. He walked away and she found herself left with Moose.

“You ready?” Moose asked.

“Yeah, might as well get it over with. Were they pissed off?” she asked.

“Out for blood more like it, especially Hil. If we hadn’t stopped her, she would’ve busted in there like a cop after drugs.” He snorted.

“Oh lord.” She followed him outside, dragging her feet slightly.

“Yeah. I’m going to be straight up. I’m not about to venture into that house with you. I’ll see you to the door and I’m out,” Moose said.

“Coward.”

“Are you kidding me? They’re all out for blood and Joey with hormones is over the top.” He shook his head.

She laughed. “Still hard to believe you’re about to be parents.”

“Who you telling?” He arched an eyebrow at her.

She liked Moose. His humor offset his scariness. She climbed onto the bike behind him. A prospect opened the gate and they roared out of the compound. The winds whipping at her hair and her clothing felt good, but the downtime was murder. Her mind immediately drifted to her plight. How long would she be relocated? She needed to start calling clients today and minimizing bills coming in. The mental checklist she compiled gave her ground to stand on. A point to cling to until she could move forward. Like a lone survivor surrounded by zombies with torches, she clutched the small tasks tightly and held the panic and breakdown at bay.

They pulled into the yard at what she assumed was Rocky’s house. He dropped her off and watched as she walked to the front door. Stepping inside, she found all three women stood by the front door.

“What were you thinking?” Hil snapped.

“Nice to see you too,” Evonne said.

“This isn’t you, Evonne. We’re worried,” Juliette piped in.

“We know the shit with Levi has you reeling, but this is not the answer,” Joey said, unusually serious.

“What? Having fun? Blowing off steam? Allowing myself a little distraction?” Evonne asked.

Silence fell.

“I know this seems sudden, but for the first time in a very long time, I don’t want to think. I can’t. Not right now.” Evonne shook her head. “I have to keep it together to get through this. Do you know what it’s like to be uprooted? I have to call my clients and cancel my work for an undetermined amount of time. Stay away from the home I worked so hard to get and make a safe haven.” She wrapped her arms around her waist. “Trust me, I’m screaming on the inside. This is me trying to get by. Can you let me have that?”

“We’re just worried about what’ll happen when you come back to reality,” Juliette offered.

“Regrets can eat you up from the inside out,” Hil added. “We don’t want that for you.”

“It won’t.” Evonne shook her head. “Look, I’m not reading too deeply or looking to replace Levi with Rocky. It’s just—well shit, sex.”

Joey snickered. “Oh my God, it’s like you suddenly have an evil twin.”

“Oh come on, like all of you haven’t hooked up without thinking about happily ever after before.” Evonne rolled her eyes.

“It’s not that we’re judging you. It’s that—well, we never thought you would,” Hil explained.