Like she could read my mind, Cora pulled a hip flask out from her cleavage. “Maybe I could tempt you with this?”
I couldn’t help but grin. She was sweet. And she grinned back, because she was pleased to make me happy. She unscrewed the lid and handed it to me. I took a strong mouthful and savored the heat as it travelled down my throat and spread throughout my chest. The second mouthful was just as good. Yeah, drowning my sorrows tonight seemed like a great idea.
I felt Cora’s eyes on me.
“Good?” she asked.
I handed her the flask and watched as she closed her mouth over the top and slowly took a sip, letting bourbon spill on her lips as she pulled the flask away. When she ran her tongue along her bottom lip, she looked up at me through her lashes. She moaned as if it was the best thing she’d ever tasted. She was flirting.
Making sure I was watching, she slid her tongue across her lip again, this time slow and teasing… inviting.
Before I could stop it, her mouth was on mine and she wrapped herself around me like she couldn’t get close enough. The flask fell to ground with a loud smack. And because I was unsteady from too much liquor, I fell, too. Cora landed on top of me, and with an enthusiastic moan she straddled me and leaned down to devour my mouth with hers.
INDY
Now
I was a fool.
I needed to find Cade.
Maybe I was drunk. Or maybe I was just sick of pretending. Either way, my stupid head was finally ready to listen to my demanding heart. I scanned the reception for him, but he was nowhere. I didn’t know what I was going to say to him.
I forgive you?
I want to kiss you?
I love you?
No.
Not I love you.
Even if it was the truth, I wasn’t stupid enough to think that we had a future together. But I could at least put our history back in the past where it belonged and move forward. I understood now. It wasn’t the club or Cade I was running from; I was running from the ugliness that my mom and dad had become. Somewhere in my teenage mind I had twisted it all around. I had blamed the club—the MC lifestyle—for the demise of their marriage. But in truth, my father had turned mean in his grief over the loss of Bolt, and in my confused teenage mind, his viciousness had manifested into a monster I identified as the MC.
I might not be able to be with Cade. But I could stop hating the MC like I had been.
“I have to talk to Cade,” I said to Abby.
“I think I saw him head toward the riverbank,” she replied, taking my glass from me.
I nodded. I knew where he would be. Through the trees was a small, sandy beach where we used to fish for catfish as kids. I slipped away from the wedding reception and disappeared into the darkness, navigating the uneven terrain in my Valentino Garavani heels.
Almost straight away I heard it.
The moaning.
Then a giggle.
Followed by more moaning.
I stopped. It was coming from deep within the scrub. I heard the rustle of leaves and then a gasp, followed by a muffled, “You like that, baby?” I couldn’t make out the voices, but the girl gasped again, followed by a long, pornographic moan.
I thought I could sneak past them. Thought I could get by them without them knowing I was there. But when I started walking, my foot slipped on some damp bark and I yelped.
Immediately, a gruff voice called out to me. “Who the fuck is there?”
I grimaced.
Fuck me.
Now I looked like a creeper.
“Sorry! It’s just Indy,” I said, feeling like a voyeuristic loser. Thankfully, we were covered in darkness and this unbearably uncomfortable scene was in audio only.
“Oh, hey, Indy. It’s Maple and Hawke,” called a female voice.
I had no idea who Maple was.
“Hey, Maple. Hawke. Sorry, guys, I’m just on my way to the river,” I called back.
“You okay, girl?” Hawke asked, like he wasn’t currently inside a woman called Maple.
“All good,” I called out, climbing to my feet and dusting off my knees. “I’m leaving now.”
“Okay, have a good night, Indy,” the woman called Maple said.
“You, too!”
I scurried off, keen to never relive that moment in my head ever again.
As I made my way through the trees toward the little beach where Cade and I used to play as kids the clanging of something metallic turned my head. I heard noises and walked toward them. It was hard to see in the fading light, but I could just make out the silhouettes of two people as they lay by the water’s edge. As I walked closer and stepped through the trees and into the clearing, I could see who they were.