Riot(60)

“Hi, Grace.”

“Hi, Crush.” Grace was relieved to see her. She had become tentative friends with her, while Rita’s antagonism had only grown worse.

“What do you have here?” Crush laid a light finger on the cover.

Grace smiled. “I made a cake for Ice. I wanted to surprise him for his birthday.” She included the gorgeous woman sitting next to Crush, giving her a smile. She hadn’t met her before.

Rita gave a harsh laugh. “He’ll enjoy the brothers’ present a whole lot more. They called Brandy to come and give him another go around.”

The smile slipped from Grace’s lips. “Excuse me?”

“You better watch it, Rita,” Fade warned from the pool table.

“What? If she stays, she’ll see for herself.” She nodded at the woman sitting next to her. “This is Brandy.”

“Hi, Brandy,” Grace said weakly.

“Hi,” she responded with a confident air, not denying what Rita had said.

“I think I’ll just wait out in the car for Ice.” Grace turned to leave.

“Grace, stay. I’ll get you a beer,” Crush offered.

“Let her go sit in the car. You know she shouldn’t be coming around, sniffing after our men. Fuck, she comes in all dressed up as if she’s worth a million fuckin' dollars when she’s a slut like the rest of us. Hell, she sounds like she’s being strangled when she comes. I don’t want to be in the house when Ice is finished with her and Stump has her. Then she’ll sound like a banshee.”

Grace’s temper got the better of her. It was better than the feelings of humiliation coursing through her bloodstream, though.

“What’s wrong, Rita? You upset because Ice isn’t giving it to you and the others since he started seeing me?” Grace snapped, and the men quit playing pool to listen.

“If that’s what you really think, then you’re a bigger fool than I thought you were. He fucked Brandy on that pool table over there right after he came back from seeing you.”

Grace felt the smack of Rita’s words as if she had hit her. It probably would have hurt less if she hadn’t seen the truth in all the faces staring at her.

“Rita!” Fade slammed down the pool stick walking angrily to the bar. Grace was too mortified to listen to what the angry biker was saying to Rita.

Without another word, she walked steadily out of the clubhouse, holding her tears back, determined not to let Rita see how badly she was hurt. After she heard the door close behind her, she let the tears slip down her cheeks. She could barely see where she was walking with the tears flooding her eyes and fell back a step when she plowed into another figure.

“Excuse me.”

Grace’s head came up at the feminine voice. “It was my fault,” Grace hiccupped.

“Are you okay?”

Grace furiously blinked her eyes so she could see the woman she was talking to. “Yes. Thanks,” Grace said, moving to the side so she could pass.

She went to her car and opened the door as the woman headed inside the clubhouse without knocking. Probably another present for Ice, she thought, stabbing the imaginary knife deeper in her heart.#p#分页标题#e#

She tried to turn her car on, but the motor wouldn’t start. She tried several times before she laid her head down on the wheel and burst into tears.

After a knock on her window had her jumping, she looked up to find the woman she had bumped into outside the club, watching her in concern.

Grace pressed the button to operate the window, but it didn’t work, either, so she opened the door.

“Your car won’t start?”

“No, when it gets hot, I have to give it time to cool down.”

“I’m Vida. My husband belongs to the club. I could give you a ride if you need one.”

“Are you going to Stephenville?” Grace asked on a sob.

“No, but I could. If you don’t want to sit here, I could take you to my husband’s tattoo shop and then bring you back when it closes.”

Grace grabbed her purse. She didn’t want to be sitting in her car when Ice showed up. “Thanks. I appreciate it.”

Grace got out of her car, locking the door, and then went with Vida to her small car, climbing into the passenger seat.

Once they were on the road, Vida cast her a curious glance. “You didn’t tell me your name.”

“I’m sorry. I’m Grace.”

“Do you want to talk about why you were crying?”

“Because my car wouldn’t start.”

“You were crying before you got in your car,” Vida gently reminded her.

“I was?”

“Yes, but it’s okay if you don’t want to tell me.”