I shook my head, still reeling.“So you’ve known all this time?”
She grinned.“Yep.”
I pressed my hands flat on the bar, needing something solid.“Mason’s terrified.He thinks Slayer is going to kill him.”
Alice snorted.“The club won’t kill him.Slayer, though?I wouldn’t put money on it either way.You’re his only kid, Adley.His baby girl.Doesn’t matter if you’re thirty-one, you’re still his little girl.”
I sighed, my chest tightening.“Do you think it’s wrong?Me and Mason?”
Alice tilted her head, actually giving the question some thought.Then she shrugged.“I’ve had a few months to wrap my head around it, and no.It’s not wrong.It’s ten years.If you brought home some guy from Chicago who was ten years older, no one would blink.It’s just… Mason.And he’s part of the club.That’s what makes it complicated.”
I nodded slowly.“Yeah.That’s what I’m afraid of.”
Alice reached across the bar and squeezed my hand.“Listen.You love who you love.Mason may be terrified, but you?You’re not doing a damn thing wrong.”
My throat tightened.“Thanks, Alice.”
She leaned back, smirking again.“Don’t thank me yet.I’m just excited I don’t have to keep sneaking around pretending not to notice the way you two practically undress each other with your eyes.”
I covered my face with my hands, groaning.“Kill me now.”
Alice laughed and patted the bar.“Nope.You’re gonna be just fine.Graduation party’s in three weeks.That’s when the real fireworks are gonna hit.Cameras, booze, half the damn town.You might wanna brace yourself.”
Three weeks.My stomach flipped.
“Promise me you won’t say anything,” I said quietly.
Alice winked.“Cross my heart.Until you and Mason decide to come clean, my lips are sealed.”
I blew out a shaky breath.For the first time in days, I felt like maybe, just maybe, I wasn’t carrying this secret alone anymore.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Mason
The second the words left her mouth; I thought my heart stopped.
“Alice and Wrecker know.”
I was standing behind the bar, wiping it down before the night started even though it was already clean.Just something to keep my hands busy.But now my rag dropped, and I gripped the edge of the counter so hard my knuckles turned white.
“You’re joking,” I said flatly.
Adley’s eyes narrowed.“Do I look like I’m joking?”
I stared at her, with my pulse hammering in my ears.Wrecker.Christ.If there was one man whose radar I didn’t want to ping, it was him.The man was my president and my brother.
“Jesus Christ, Adley,” I hissed.“You tellin’ me this now like it’s nothing?Like Wrecker knowing isn’t a goddamn disaster?”
She crossed her arms, and tilted her in defiance.“See?They know.And the world didn’t end.You’re still standing here, I’m still standing here, and no one’s put a bullet in your head.”
I shoved a hand through my hair and paced behind the bar.“Don’t you get it?It’s not about me.It’s about what this looks like.You’re Slayer’s daughter, Adley.You’re the one person in this world I’m not supposed to touch.”
“Well, you already touched me,” she snapped, cheeks flushed, eyes blazing.“And I’m not sorry for it.Are you?”
Her words punched me right in the chest.I swallowed hard, and tried to tamp down the surge of heat that always came when she looked at me like that.Like she saw right through every wall I’d ever built.
“I’m not sorry,” I admitted.My voice was low, rough.“But that doesn’t mean this is easy.Wrecker and Alice knowing?That’s bad enough.What happens when the rest of the club finds out?When Slayer finds out?”
