Chapter twenty

Isit in a corner booth at Joaquin's, enjoying watching my girl work the bar like a pro. What I don't enjoy seeing is the number of men ogling her like she's their next fucking meal.

I'm surprised the glass in my hand doesn't break into a million pieces with how hard I'm gripping it. Ever since the attack, I've been picking Shorty up from work. Even though Christian is locked up, it doesn't mean she's safe. He ordered Frankie and his guys to hurt her while he was behind bars. What's to say he won't find another way?

I feel her gaze on me as if she can hear my thoughts. Lifting my head, I tip my cap and give her a wink.

She smiles and works her way to me through the crowd. My mouth waters as she sways her hips and pulls her curly hair into a ponytail. When she arrives at the table, she places her hands on it and leans in, showing me her fantastic cleavage.

I lift my head enough to see her smile from under the brim of my cap. She pulls the hat off, puts it on her head, and sits across from me.

"Aren't you a bit early?" She glances down at her watch.

I prop my forearms on the table and lean closer.

"Nope."

"Are you actually going to sit here for another two hours?"

"Yep."

She shakes her head and smiles. When her gaze returns to me, she says, "Fine. Then you have to eat something."

"Nope."

"Would you stop giving me one-word answers?"

"No—"

She leans in and covers my mouth with her fingers, which smell like tequila. "Don't you dare?" Shorty says with a chuckle, and I lick her lips.

"Oh, my god!" She pulls away, but I grab her wrist.

"Did you eat?"

She shakes her head.

"Good."

"I don't like that sneaky look on your face." She wiggles her fingers at me.

"Sadie!" her boss yells from across the room.

Sighing, she stands up, puts my hat back on my head, and leans in, giving me a quick kiss.

"I'll see you later."

I watch her walk away.

SADIE

As soon as my shift was over, I walked outside and found Donnie standing outside beside his bike.

"You brought the bike?" I jump in place excitedly.

"Anything for my baby." He winks.

I take the helmet he hands me and pull it over my head.

"You ready?"

"Yep." He laughs and pulls down his face shield.

Lifting my legs over the seat and resting my feet on the foot pegs, I wrap my arms around Donnie's waist. He puts the key into the ignition and turns the throttle.

He pulls away from the curb and accelerates down the street into a familiar area. Donnie eases the bike and turns the engine off when we reach our destination. I swing off the bike first and remove my helmet and fix my ponytail.

"Do you remember this place?" Donnie asks as I take in my surroundings.

I nod slowly, holding back the emotions that are swirling inside me.

"It's the hot dog stand we used to go to when we saved enough money to buy one."

I remember the countless times our parents would take us to grab a hot dog and to the park across the street.

"Come on." He takes my hand and leads me to the hot dog stand. We place our orders, and Donnie insists on paying.

We sit on the bench beside the cart and eat silently, enjoying this moment. When we're done, I notice the wind has picked up and I regret only wearing a light jacket. A shiver runs through me.

"You cold?

"Yeah, but I'll be okay."

"Liar." He smirks, removes his leather jacket, and wraps it around my shoulders.

"Thank you." His eyes meet mine and we share a smile.

"Come on. There's one more thing we have to do."

We climb back on the bike and drive across the street to the park.

Donnie parks his bike in one of the empty spaces and grabs my hand, leading us toward the swings. The park has a large basketball court that Josiah would use, picnic grills, and a large play area. I could still hear the children's laughter ringing out in the air.

I sit on the swing, feeling the gravel underneath my feet. Donnie stands behind me, pushing me forward. He repeats the process until I'm high in the air. I laugh and scream when I feel like I am going to fly off.

Donnie catches the chains and pulls me to a stop.

"Do you remember when Bobby Jackson tried to kiss me when I went down the slide?" I smile at the memory.

"Yeah, I wanted to throw him off the monkey bars," Donnie mutters, taking a seat in the swing beside mine.

"Yeah, I remember how whiney you were." I laugh.

"I was not whiney. I just didn't want him to slobber all over my girl." My belly flips at his endearment.

"Right, because you wanted to be the one to do it."

"Damn straight. And you would've loved it just like you do now."

"Shut up." We laugh like we did as kids.

The stars look closer tonight as I stare into the night sky. My eye catches one of the stars, and it twinkles at me.

"I bet I can go higher." Donnie pulls me away from the stars.

I kick my legs out and swung.

"I bet you a Tootsie Pop." I raise my brow, challenging him.

"Deal," he says with a grin.

I hum "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," and the words fall from my lips. Donnie joins in, and we cackle like crazy kids on a sugar high.

We swing until Donnie falls off his.

Just kidding.

Ifell off the damn thing.

"I win!" Donnie shouts, jumping off the swing.

Just like when we were kids.