Shade choked on his coffee.
“He’s from Texas, and he promised to teach her to ride a horse. Now that the weather is getting warmer, I’m sure he’ll keep his promise. I’ll be happy for her to spend some time with the opposite sex, and I like Conner. He’s a nice guy. I checked all his references myself. Lily will be thrilled when Conner takes her riding.”
“I bet she will be. I know I would.” Jewell snickered.
Shade’s chair scraped back from the table. He walked away, taking his dirty dishes to the sink, not caring that his coffee cup broke from the force. He then strode toward the kitchen door.
“Where you going, Shade?” Razer taunted with an evil smile.
“I need to buy a plane ticket. Someone I know needs to go home as soon as possible.”
“Oh, I hope it isn’t serious?” Beth’s voice was filled with concern.
“It’s a medical emergency,” Shade replied, going out the door.
* * *
Shade leaned nonchalantly against the kitchen counter, waiting for the club meeting to begin. He wished Viper would give them their punishments instead of making them draw them weekly.
“Where’s Viper?” Shade had been late for the meeting because he had been held up finishing an order at the factory, making up time for being late that morning.
He was fucking tired. His nights were getting longer, and nothing seemed to be working to keep Lily off his mind. And he had tried it all.
“He’s in the backyard, fighting with Winter,” Bliss explained. She was standing on the opposite side of the counter.
“What over?” Shade asked without turning around.
She lowered her voice so only he could hear her in the crowded room. “She seems to think either Razer or Viper are the reason I’ve been late to work at the factory lately.”
Shade’s face darkened. He liked to keep his business private, especially from Winter and Beth, but he didn’t expect his brothers to take the blame for something he had done. He was about to go outside when they returned.
Winter sat down at the table, and Bliss took an empty seat as Viper went into the large room connected off the kitchen where Cash handed him the red punishment bag.
“Bliss,” Viper called.
Bliss got up from the table, going to Viper. He held the bag out to her, and Bliss put her hand out and dug inside the bag. When her hand came out, she was holding a folded piece of paper.
“Rider.” Rider, who was leaning on the kitchen counter next to him, walked to Viper. He also pulled a piece of paper from the bag.
Viper repeated the procedure seven more times. “That’s everyone.” Viper handed the bag back to Cash before going to the counter to grab himself a beer while everyone read their punishments.
Shade unfolded the slip of paper he had drawn.#p#分页标题#e#
“I got the worst one,” Bliss complained.
“What did you get?” Natasha asked.
“Laundry for two weeks.” She pouted.
“That’s not bad. I got dishes for three weeks. Want to switch? I don’t mind the laundry if it’s for two weeks,” Natasha bargained.
“I don’t want to pack everyone’s laundry up and down the stairs for two weeks. I may be willing to switch.”
“Seed inventory,” came from Winter, and Natasha and Bliss switched papers.
Nobody wanted seed inventory.
“Mine seems the easiest.”
Shade almost felt sorry for Winter. If he wasn’t such a bastard, he would offer to switch with her. However, he was, so he held onto his own punishment.
“Dinner’s ready,” Evie called.
Shade got in line behind Evie and Stori.
“I’m surprised Viper made her pull a punishment after she found out from her aunt that Sam’s baby isn’t Gavin’s,” Stori remarked.
“Viper plays fair.” Evie shrugged.
“Have they been able to find any trace of the baby yet?” she asked.
“No. Viper said the sheriff is working to find out, and he ordered the brothers to help run down the clues,” Evie answered.
The line moved fairly quickly with Shade and Rider last in line.
“You want to go over today’s orders?” Shade asked Rider.
“Yeah, give me a minute,” he said, going to the table Winter was sitting at.
“What punishment did you get?” Rider asked Winter.
“What did you get?” she asked first. Winter was a fast learner.
“Cooking, two weeks,” Rider answered. Winter looked at Shade.
“Cleaning the stove, fridge, and pantry,” Shade answered, despite having already made up his mind. He wasn’t switching punishments with her.
“I got seed inventory.”