Evil Enemy (Saint View Strip Book 1) by Elle Thorpe

Author:Elle Thorpe [Thorpe, Elle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Elle Thorpe Pty Ltd
Published: 2023-03-09T16:00:00+00:00

17

EVE

On Tuesday nights, the club was closed to the public so a couple of friends and I could use the space to jam in. They played. I sang. None of us wanted to chase a career in music, but our hangouts had been fun, and over the years, it had turned into something more. It had become a family night, where the four of us put on a show that didn’t involve nudity. I made a pot of my famous stew, baked some crusty bread rolls, and fed whoever turned up. I never really knew who would appear from one week to the next. Fawn, Augie, Phoenix, and Lyric were all regulars. Lyric brought her tiny daughter sometimes, and her sweet laughter echoed around the room as she ran about, being chased by Phoenix or Fawn. My brothers dropped in from time to time, and other friends and family were always welcome.

I always cooked early in the day, so the stew had time to get tender, but also so I could enjoy my friends. There was nothing I liked better than standing at the head of the stage, with a microphone in my hand, and taking in the family I’d created for myself. I belted out lyrics, watching over them all. Fawn and Augie, flirting in a corner. Echo and Lucinda deep in conversation at the bar. Terry spun his wife around the dance floor, making her laugh while their two kids sat at a table watching their phones, pretending their parents didn’t exist.

This was my happy place. Nobody was going to tear it down or run me out of town. I owed it to these people to keep my doors open. I was the matriarch, the one who provided them with jobs, and food, and this sense of family that most of them didn’t have anywhere else. They relied on me, and this club was home.

I closed my eyes and let the music wash over me. But every time I did, I saw Boston. All the different versions of him. The smiling version, when I did something that amused him. The scowling version, that I’d gotten the last time we’d met. The sexy-as-fuck version, who kissed me like no other man had, and sent me videos that had me aching with need.

A big part of me wanted him here. I could see him fitting in with my family, with my life.

The logical part of my brain knew it would never happen, and that I had to stop fixating on him if I was going to get over whatever it was between him and me.

So I concentrated on singing. The band and I practiced until, one by one, the rest of my crew waved goodbye and headed out. Fawn and Augie left together, arm in arm, probably off to another bar where there was more action. Phoenix carried a sleeping Amelia to the car for Lyric, and the others followed, until the club was empty of everyone but me and the band.

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