Lynch's Rule (Ruthless Sinners MC 9)

“What? I did not!” She gasped with exaggerated horror. “Are you out of your mind?”

“You did,” I pushed. “You’re hoping to get a little biker action tonight.”

“Oh, my God. It’s official. You’ve finally lost it.” With the envelope in her hand, she sauntered back into the kitchen, grabbed her purse and keys, then opened our front door. “I’m going to go drop this off. That’s it and nothing more, so find us a good movie, and we’ll order takeout when I get back.”

Before I could respond, she walked out and closed the door behind her.

I lay down on the sofa and stared at the ceiling, and it wasn’t long before my foul mood seeped back in. I knew obsessing over the possibility of Haleigh seeing Lynch wouldn’t make me feel any better, so I tried my best not to think about it.

I rolled over to grab the remote and searched through the various movies until I found one I thought Haleigh might like. Then, I flipped through our takeout menus, hoping to find something that sounded remotely appetizing, and after a great deal of consideration, I finally decided on Chinese.

Since I had our dinner and movie covered, I grabbed my phone and went through a bunch of emails; I flipped through Facebook and Instagram, then lost myself in TikTok for a while.

One hour rolled into the next, and there was still no Haleigh.

I tried not to let myself think the worst, but it didn’t take long for my imagination to get the best of me. Hoping to end my misery, I dialed her number and let it ring repeatedly but got no answer.

I called again.

Still no answer.

I sent her a text and then another, but again, no answer.

I couldn’t imagine what had happened to her. I started to wonder if things hadn’t gone as planned with the mailbox and if she ran into some kind of trouble. Fearing something might’ve happened to her, I tossed my blanket back and got up from the sofa. I slipped on my shoes, grabbed my keys, and was just about to head out to my car when Haleigh came strolling through the front door with a big smile plastered across her face.

I, on the other hand, wasn’t smiling—not in the least. I placed a hand on my hip as I snapped, “Where have you been?”

“What do you mean?” She dropped her purse down on the kitchen table, then sauntered past me and over to the fridge. “You know where I’ve been.”

“You’ve been gone for almost two hours.”

“Oh, really?” She took out a bottle of wine and placed it on the counter. “I hadn’t realized it had been that long.”

“Well, it was, and I was really starting to worry.”

“Why would you worry?” She was still smiling while opening the bottle. “I was perfectly fine.”

Seeing her so cheerful sent my overactive imagination spiraling out of control—so much so I started to imagine Haleigh and Lynch tangled in each other’s arms as they shared a goodnight kiss. I knew it wasn’t fair for me to have these feelings. I’d had my chance with him and blew it; nonetheless, the knot in my throat made it difficult to speak. “I thought you were just going to put the envelope in the mailbox. What took you so long?”

“The mailbox idea kind of fell through.”

“Why? What happened?”

“For one, I couldn’t find the stupid thing. I thought it would be out by the road, but it wasn’t. So I parked and got out to find it, which wasn’t easy because they were having this big ‘Grand Re-Opening’ thing, and there were all these people around. I was heading towards the front door to see if I could find a mailbox when he came outside and found me.” She poured herself a glass of wine, then took a sip before asking, “Do you want one?”

“No, I’m good.”

A dreamy look crossed her face as she went on, “You know that saying about not judging a book by its cover? It really is true. When I saw Lynch and his friends the night we were arrested, I thought they were terrifying, but it turns out, they’re really great guys.”

“Oh? What makes you say that?”

“I don’t know. They just are.” Haleigh carried her glass of wine over to the sofa and sat down. “It’s been ages since I’ve enjoyed myself as much as I did tonight.”

“That’s great, Haleigh.” I needed a moment alone to collect myself, so I forced a smile, then started towards my bedroom. “I’m glad you had such a good night.”

“Wait, where are you going?” Haleigh called out to me. “I was just about to tell you that he asked for my phone number.”

“He did?”

“Mm-hmm. I think he’s going to ask me out.”

“You think you’ll go?”

“Yeah, I do.” She let out a little sigh, then added, “I know it sounds crazy, but Locke is a really great guy.”