Page 33 of Make or Break

“Thanks for listening. Send my love to your mom and sister.”

I stared at my bed. At the end of the week I always changed my sheets. Dumbass that I was, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

“Stop being stupid,” I muttered.

Then I stripped the bed and changed the sheets. No more hints of Tundra’s cologne or the scent of sexual escapades.

I thought it would help me move on.

Instead, I tossed and turned.

Three days later, it was our first New Year’s Eve at On a Lark and I had no idea what to expect.

We were located in an area that had what I considered to be adultier adults. They stayed in for ‘amateur’ holidays - or in this case, they stayed up to shoot off fireworks and stay off the roads.

I was scheduled to work five p.m. to three a.m., and I hoped we’d get done closer to two. Walking through the restaurant, the bar was almost packed.

That both pleased and concerned me.

Were we going to have to turn people away? Did we have enough booze, beer, and wine on hand? Ryan gave me a hard time earlier in December about it, but looking at this crush of people, I wished I’d gone with my gut and over-ordered.

As I weaved my way to the office, I saw at least ten familiar faces from the Riot MC. I couldn’t say they didn’t count as patrons, but they didn’t live close by either, and we needed the neighborhood to be our patrons.

I hit the office and found Killian there, to my surprise.

“Are you sure you’re up for this, Killian? I thought your doctor told you to take another—”

“Nope. Got a clean bill of health yesterday.” He grinned. “And in five days, I can ride my Harley again.”

That was what Killian looked forward to most. It was in his blood. It was in my blood too, but I had no desire to ride my own motorcycle. For a brief moment on Christmas day, I’d imagined riding next to Tundra.

Nothing beat riding on the bike behind him though.

After I shut the file cabinet drawer holding my wristlet, Lark pushed into the office. “All right, we’re slammed. Mick you’re behind the bar with me. Killian, you’ve got the patio and tables one through eight. Nickel has the rest and Adam is up front.”

“Got it,” Killian said.

“What about Harper, our new hire?” I asked.

Lark shook his head. “I don’t want to scare her off. No way she’s ready for a night like this one.”

I could see that, but we were gonna need some help if we got to capacity.

Lark read my expression. “Don’t worry. Volt’s gonna man the front if we get too crowded.”

“We’re lucky he’s here,” Killian said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Platinum’s gets waylaid on New Year’s Eve,” my triplet said.

That was news to me - and definitely for the best because I knew Tundra had to be working, which prevented me from wishing he was here.

“From the group text, Punc and Tundra have had to send three men packing already,” Lark said.

“They got a long night ahead,” Killian said.

“So do we. Let’s hit it,” Lark said.