Page 8 of Hawk
Wraith turns to me and says, “It’s a welcome home party for Hawk. That’s why the place is packed.”
A welcome home party…
Why welcome him home when he’ll be involved in activities that can send him right back? There’s really nothing to celebrate if you look at it in that respect.
I’m still following Wraith through the crowd when a woman near me says, “Oh em gee…who has a baby in here?”
She captures the attention of some blondes who giggle like teenagers when they look like they’re every bit of thirty – maybe even forty. Fake boobs are everywhere. Apparently, this place can be whatever it wants to be – a dance hall, a nightclub, a pub and a strip joint.
Two women are on the pool table dancing or wrestling. Yeah, maybe they’re wrestling. Thongs and implants – that’s what has this crowd stirred up. Hawk is still nowhere in sight.
Growing more uneasy but still thankful that Lilly is sleeping, I ask, “Do you know where he is?”
Instead of answering my question, he tosses his empty beer bottle behind the bar and immediately grabs another one. He puts his thumb on the top, shakes it then removes his thumb so it spews up in the air. Some land on me, but most on the ladies with the implants. They lick it off of each other.
What the heck? I have to get up out of here.
I gaze through the rowdiness and see Hawk at the back, standing in the entrance of a back room. Based on what’s going on in here, I do not want to know what’s going on back there, but I have to talk to him.
I get away from Wraith and head in Hawk’s direction. He doesn’t yet see me and I use that time to study him. He still looks the same. He has that brown, curly hair that I loved to play in. It’s similar to Lilly’s. One of his biker friends must be good with razors and clippers because not only is his hair lined up well, but his mustache is impeccable. His dark eyes look menacing. His slender lips – gosh I miss kissing those. The sleeveless shirt he has on reveals that he didn’t lose any muscle mass. He’s still muscular and strong. And tall.
Dang!
Once upon a time, this was my white chocolate. My man. My everything. But he chose this life over me, so there’s that.
A few more steps and now, his eyes connect with mine. He instantly frowns but he doesn’t break eye contact with me. He doesn’t move either. He just stands there. Time has stood eerily still.
My stomach does backflips. Seeing him again brings back old feelings that have never left and would probably never leave me. My head is spinning. My box is throbbing. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’m in it now.
“Hi, Gideon,” I say. I refuse to call him Hawk. I don’t care where we are. He’s Gideon to me and always will be.
He doesn’t respond back, just stares – glares – at me.
“You’re not going to say anything?” I ask.
He sucks his teeth. “Why would you bring a baby up in this fine establishment?”
“Um…I didn’t want to, but I need to talk to you?”
He hisses a grin. “Oh, now you need to talk to me. Ain’t that a –”
“Gideon…”
“When I got locked up, you said you had nothing else to say to me. So, I’ll ask you again. What are you doing here, Ivy?”
“I’m here because—I—”
“You what? Spit it out, Mrs. Independent.”
“I need help.”
His dark eyes narrow. “So, now that you need something from me, you seek me out.”
“Listen, I know I wasn’t there for you when you went to prison, but I told you I didn’t want that lifestyle anymore. And you promised me, Gideon. You promised me that you would stay out of trouble.”
“I’m not getting into this with you.”
He turns away from me and focuses on a group of women.