Chapter Two
1466 Words
Chapter Two
“I really don’t feel like it, Kass,” Kristie said in a low voice into her phone. “I can’t talk anymore, I’m still at work.”
“Okay,” Kass said on the other end, sounding unsure. “Well, if you change your mind and want to grab a drink...”
“Thanks, Kass,” Kristie said quickly before mumbling goodbye and hanging up the phone.
She looked over her shoulder, but no one had noticed that she had been on the phone. Her boss was a grade-A tight a*s about cell phone usage in the office and the last thing Kristie needed was to get into trouble. She normally wouldn’t have even picked up, but Kass never called her and Kristie thought it had been important.
Instead, Kass had invited her out to the bar that the Devil’s Advocates ran. Kristie had no interest in going back outside in such a crowded place. She had been sticking to staying in the apartment lately and maybe going over to her mom’s house for dinner.
At the thought of her mother, Kristie’s mood darkened and she turned back to her computer screen. Any good will her mother had been feeling toward Gray and their marriage had been burnt up and turned into ash when Kristie had been shot. She had been pressing Kristie to divorce Gray and move back home as soon as she had recovered enough to speak. Kristie had been trying to hide her mother’s displeasure from Gray. Lionel ignored their marriage, never bringing it up, as if it hadn’t happened. Just another layer of stress, she thought numbly.
It was almost time to head home for the day. Gray had already texted her and said he would be home late tonight. She wished that Gray would be home before her for a change. Kristie wasn’t stupid enough to think that he was working at the garage this late. It made her heart ache when she realized she’d be coming back to an empty apartment. She wished Gray would be home so they could try to get pregnant again.
At five, Kristie shut off her computer and headed toward the front door. The law office was quiet. She was usually the last one to leave at five. The lawyers all left at around two or three. The other girls working in the office had crazy hours, bounding around from this location to the other location forty-five minutes away. Kristie did clerical work but kept hoping she’d get a promotion. She kept talking about going back to school for her law degree but didn’t know if she really wanted to or not. How can I be a lawyer with what my husband does for a living? Kristie headed outside.
The sun was setting. Winter was fast approaching again, and Kristie welcomed the chill in the air. The sky was overcast with streaks of orange shooting across the sky. The parking lot was empty except for her car. Suddenly, she saw a flash of color out of the corner of her eye.
Kristie’s breath caught, and she turned on her heels slowly. There was nothing there. You’re imagining it. She walked again toward her car. The parking lot seemed to stretch out ahead of her. Even though it was nice outside, sweat prickled the back of her neck. It seemed as if it each step would take her one step closer to someone hiding behind a tree, or waiting for her in her car...
Breathing hard, Kristie approached her car and peeked in the back seat. She had read online sometimes people would wait in the back seat to strike. No one was there. No one is watching you. She slid into her car. Her hands were clammy as she roared out of the parking lot, hopefully leaving whoever was there far behind.
>>
The bar was almost empty. It had been like this for quite some time now. Gray knew that they were barely making enough business to keep it open. It was just another thing that the Infernos were taking away from him. There was no live band tonight and instead music piped through speakers. A few people were at the bar and some people were lazily dancing on the floor. The atmosphere was more of a dive bar than a bike club. It made Gray sick.
Everyone was waiting for him in the corner. He could make out Rick and the others, all drinking and talking in low tones. The group had lost its zest since the Infernos had been striking out against them. Kristie being shot had reminded them how at any moment it could be one of them fighting for their own lives.
Gray sat down across from them. Their eyes fell on him but they all had bemused expressions on their faces that he hadn’t seen the first time he had glanced over.
“What?”
Rick was the one who cleared his throat. “I found something out when I got home earlier.”
“Everything okay?”
Pete, one of the guys who had joined shortly after getting out of high school snickered, “Ask the kid.”
Gray frowned in confusion and Rick cracked a smile, which was rare for him. It changed his face completely, making him look younger.
“Kass is pregnant.”
Gray’s mouth went slack. “Seriously?”
“Imagine Rick as a dad!” Jonathan said, laughing.
Rick’s eyes crinkled in joy. Gray tried to picture Rick as a father, but had a hard time imagining it. Rick was so large that a baby in his arms would look like a tiny grape or something.
“That’s great news. Congrats, man,” Gray finally said, patting Rick on the back.
“Kass wanted to tell Kristie, but I guess she didn’t want to go out tonight.”
Rick had said it casually, so no one else would pick up on it, but Gray knew what he was telling him. Your wife is staying inside again all night. He didn’t want to think about how Kristie would feel once she heard Kass was pregnant. He knew she would be thrilled for Kass, but she would still dwell on the fact that Kass would be pregnant and she wasn’t.
Gray pushed the thoughts out of his mind to focus on the other things that needed their attention. Rick had been planning a way to get into the bar the Infernos ran on the other side of town after hours.
“Are we thinking big or small?” Gray asked, tuning back into the conversation.
“We can blow it up.” Rick shrugged as if he was talking about the weather. “Totally depends on how hard we want to hit them.”
Gray thought of Kristie hitting the sidewalk in front of him, blood oozing out across her T-shirt.
“We want to hit them hard.”
>>
Gray didn’t get home until ten. Kristie had been pacing the apartment, unable to sleep, wishing he would hurry up. She was ovulating this week and they had missed a day yesterday, not sleeping together. Every day needs to be used. She took another glance outside the back window. It overlooked a back street and wouldn’t offer any actual views of Gray but it made her feel as if she was doing something.
Their apartment was inside a building, as opposed to the apartments that opened to the outside. Kristie felt safer with a place that had a buzzer to let people in and keys to gain access. She knew if someone truly wanted in that it wouldn’t stop them, but she would settle for any illusion of security at this point in her life.
Finally, she heard the key in the lock and darted out into the foyer to meet Gray. He was wearing his Devil’s Advocates jacket, which told her everything she needed to know about where he had been. He usually remembered to take it off before he got home.
Gray’s eyes widened when he saw her. “Hey. I thought you’d be asleep.”
“I wanted to but I’m ovulating.”
His face fell slightly. “Kristie, I don’t—”
She yanked on his hand. “Gray, we missed yesterday. We have to try today.”
Gray followed her toward the bedroom. “Did you talk to Kass today?”
She glanced back at him. “What? Yeah, but I didn’t feel like hanging out.”
Gray made a grunting noise in reply as they stepped inside the bedroom. Kristie turned to Gray and began to unzip his pants. It was methodical, and she knew it wasn’t the sexiest way to have s*x, but it wasn’t about s****l pleasure. Kristie wanted this child, and this would be the only way they could make their dreams come true.
As Gray loomed over her and thrust inside of her, they were both silent. Kristie clung to him as he finished and emptied inside of her. He slowly untangled himself from her arms and rolled over to go to sleep. Gray was snoring in seconds. Kristie envied him for falling asleep that quickly.
As she tried to fall asleep, she realized neither one of them had asked each other about their day.
- Writer
