Page 29 of Bowser (Dragon Riders MC 2)
This could definitely be the pizza guy.
Or some of Skeleton’s guys.
Knock! Knock! “Papa John’s. I have your order.”
I furrowed my brow at the sound of the girl’s voice. “Hello?”
Knock! Knock! “Did you order pizza, ma’am?”
I walked to the door. “Yes, I did.”
“Medium Hawaiian, extra jalapenos, a Pepsi, two ranch—”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s mine.”
She paused. “Are you going to open the door?”
I swallowed hard. “Sorry, still getting my money together.”
I drew in a deep breath before I swung the door open, ready to accept whatever fate befell me. But instead, the woman simply handed me food. She was a scrawny thing, and short also. And with how tight her clothes were, it was easy to tell she wasn’t packing anything except cigarettes and a lighter inside her bra.
“Thank you. I really appreciate this,” I said.
She nodded. “The total is—”
I handed her the two twenties. “Keep the change. I appreciate it.”
She smiled. “Hey, thanks.”
I smiled back. “Drive safe.”
I closed the door and heaved a heavy sigh. All right. Good. This was a good thing. I set all of the food on the bed and inched the curtains closed. I didn’t think twice about locking the door, then I went in search of the remote. It took me a little while to find it in the dresser drawer, but once I did, I hunkered down into bed with an open pizza box on my lap and my Pepsi on my bedside table.
And before I knew it, the chirping of birds scattered throughout the woods opened my eyes.
“Bowser?” I murmured.
My hand fell off to the side and I expected to feel him. But instead, it fell against an open box of cold pizza.
“Ew,” I whispered.
I pushed myself up. “Bowser? You here?”
But a quick look around the room told me I had fallen asleep alone as well as woken up alone.
“Good thing I locked the damn door,” I murmured.
Maybe you slept alone because you locked the door.
“Well, he shouldn’t have left me, then.”
Maybe they’ve all left you behind.
I threw the covers off me and raced over to the door. I ripped it open and sighed with relief when I saw Bowser’s bike sitting there. The morning sun glinted over the tops of the trees, almost blinding me in the process. So, I quickly closed the door and slowly turned around.
“Did he even come back last night?” I asked myself.
My stomach grumbled with hunger and the cold pizza called my name. I slithered back into bed and pulled the pizza onto my lap, ready to devour the rest of my food. I turned on the television and watched a bit of the morning news. The box set didn’t have impeccable service or anything, but I didn’t really need the picture. The voices were coming through just fine, and that was enough for me.
Enough to fill the void I felt myself slipping inside.
“Why didn’t he come back?” I whispered.
After the news concluded, so did my eating. Other than a few bites of cinnamon pieces, I had inhaled everything else. I tossed my stuff beside the trash can and resolved myself to a shower. The bathroom was oddly clean, but I didn’t waste any time beneath that lukewarm water. I wanted to get out of this place as soon as possible. I wanted to get back to the clubhouse, or back to my own place, or back to anywhere that wasn’t here.
“You don’t even have your own place, Hope,” I murmured to myself.
And that reality made my eyes water with tears.
I trudged through the rest of my routine without so much as a knock on my door from Bowser. I felt more alone than ever before, and I wondered if coming with him was a mistake. I wondered if anything I had done with him was a mistake. Maybe he really didn’t care about me. Maybe none of those guys cared about what happened to me. Maybe I had misplaced my trust in people, and it was about to bite me in the ass yet again.
If I was going to condemn them, though, I needed proof.
So, I threw on some clothes, tied up my wet hair, and went in search of Bowser.
“If you won’t come to me, I’ll come to you.”
I threw open my motel room door and stepped outside. And seeing as no one started shooting at me immediately, I figured I was all right. I walked down the sidewalk and approached Link’s door, ready to bang it down. But the curtains were thrown wide open, which didn’t sit well with me.
“Link?” I called out.
He didn’t answer, though. So, I cupped my hands against the window and peeked inside.
Only to find it empty.
“What the fuck?” I whispered.
“Hey! You!”
I whipped around at the sound of the voice as my heart rate skyrocketed.
“Yeah?” I asked.
I saw a haggard man in a robe walking up to me with his finger wagging in the air.
