Chapter 13 #2
Two more guys walk over, flanking Chris and me on either side.
“There a problem here?” one asks.
I look at the two guys, then back at Chris, who is wearing an overconfident grin.
“I don’t know, fellas, you tell me,” a smooth English-accented voice says as Jude and Linc walk up to the group. “Our women wanted a night out to have some fun and dancing. Not be manhandled by some fucking hicks with no manners.”
“I’m having a great time,” Chris says with wide eyes as though Jude is ridiculous for insinuating otherwise. “What about you guys?” He looks at both of his friends. The meatheads don’t respond. They’re too busy trying to look intimidating in front of the bikers.
“Camryn,” Barrett says, nodding toward the girls.
I’m not a fan of Barrett saying my name like that and commanding me to go anywhere.
I’m also not an idiot and don’t want to be in the middle of six guys who look ready to throw a punch any second.
Well, except for Jude. There’s a gleeful look in his eyes as though he’s having the time of his life right now.
When I shove away from Chris, his eyes don’t leave Barrett’s. I pass the biker, and he hands me his keys. “Go wait in the truck. This won’t take long.”
“Let’s go, Barrett. There’s nothing to prove,” I say.
“Yeah, Barrett. Listen to your friend.”
I whirl around and face Chris. “You can’t possibly be this stupid. What the hell do you think is going to happen here?”
“Not now, Camryn. Go,” Barrett commands.
I roll my eyes and let out an annoyed huff. “Fine.”
I stomp toward where Charlie and Lucy are waiting. “Barrett said we’re leaving.”
The girls nod, and I turn just in time to watch Chris take a swing at Barrett. I inhale a sharp gasp as Barrett leans to the side, Chris’s fist not even touching him. Then Barrett smiles as though that was the opening he was waiting for and throws a punch, his fist flying right into Chris’s face.
Oh shit.
That’s when all hell breaks loose. Charlie grabs my arm and pulls me toward the door, Lucy hurrying behind us.
I turn again when we get to the door—just in time to catch Jude barreling into one of the guys Chris has with him.
In the next second, Linc grabs the other guy by the shirt, pounding his fist into the man’s face.
“Goddammit,” Lucy says as we weave through the crowd, rubbernecking, trying to see what’s going on. “I was really enjoying the band.”
When we get outside, Lucy and Charlie head to where we parked, and we all hop into Barrett’s truck.
“Shit, do you think the cops are going to show up?” I ask, my eyes focused on the front door of the bar, hoping the guys emerge soon. The last thing I want to do is bail Barrett out of jail.
“Hopefully they take care of that asshole before they do,” Charlie says. “I swear, I’ve never seen a man move so fast as when Barrett saw that asshole grab your ass.”
“What a dick. You should have punched him in the junk,” Lucy says.
“I would have,” I grit out. “But Barrett beat me to it.”
“I knew you had a little violent streak in you,” Lucy says with a smile. “Fuck those guys.”
Lucy doesn’t seem particularly worried about what’s happening inside the bar, but Charlie and I keep our eyes glued to the front of the building.
Moments later, the door opens and Jude, Linc, and Barrett drag that asshole and his friends out by their shirts, throwing them on the pavement.
I can’t hear what’s happening, but each man who thought they had a chance against three bikers is rolling on the ground trying to stand.
Mikey is behind the guys and yells something at them, pointing toward the parking lot.
The three men get to their feet and stagger over to a truck on the other end of the lot.
I watch Barrett, who is standing next to his brothers and Mikey, waiting for them to leave.
They don’t relax their stance until the truck peels out of the parking lot, and the taillights disappear around the corner. Jude says a few words to Mikey, who shakes the hands of all three bikers before heading back inside the bar.
Lucy and Charlie hop out of the truck, but I stay in the passenger seat.
Their men don’t look any worse for wear as the two women check for injuries.
Barrett says something, and the guys laugh.
Not sure what they find funny in this situation, though.
Our plans were ruined because some jackass decided to get handsy, and these three couldn’t let me handle it.
Barrett hops in the truck and looks at me. “Do you want to go back in?” he asks.
I notice three of his knuckles are swollen, and blood is still oozing from a cut.
“You’re bleeding all over the truck,” I say in an annoyed voice. “And I think I’ve had all the fun I can handle for one night.”
Barrett’s brows dip in confusion. “Are you mad?”
I scoff. “That you couldn’t keep your temper in check and let me handle a situation? Why on earth would I be mad at that?”
“Whoa. That guy had no right touching you the way he did. I was making sure he understood that.”
“I had it handled! Or I would have, had you not barged in and started a fight. I don’t need or want you fighting my battles, Barrett.”
“And I don’t like seeing any man put his hands on you! Especially some piece of shit like that.”
“Yeah, that guy was a dick and obviously barking up the wrong fucking tree. But don’t act like you’re some saint either. Your hands have been all over the asses of plenty of women, according to Jude.”
For the love of God, why am I bringing this up?
I sound like a jealous girlfriend—which I’m not.
But hearing about Barrett’s past extracurriculars has put a sour taste in my mouth toward the man sitting next to me.
It shouldn’t matter to me in the slightest, but it’s pissing me the hell off and leaving an unsettled feeling in my stomach instead of the butterflies I’ve been feeling lately.
And therein lies the problem.
Barrett rolls down the window of his truck. “We’re heading home,” he tells our friends.
“Aw, come on. The night is just getting started,” Lucy says with a small pout.
Her gaze darts between me and Barrett, and she must pick up on the tension.
“Or not. Drive safe.” I give Lucy a tight smile, and Barrett rolls up the window before pulling out of the parking lot and making his way back to the highway.
The truck is silent for several minutes, both of us stewing in our own thoughts.
Barrett blows out a long breath. “You know, Jude says a lot of shit. Pretty much anything that comes to his mind comes out of his mouth.”
My arms cross over my chest. “That doesn’t mean it isn’t true.”
He rolls his lips between his teeth and nods. “You’re right. It doesn’t. But here’s the thing, pup, it shouldn’t matter to you what my past looks like. I’m not ashamed of doing whatever I want as a single man. And the women in my life knew the score and were completely on board with it.”
“I’m sure they were.” I look out the window and stare at the streetlights quickly passing.
“But you aren’t those women, and that guy took liberties with you I never would have.”
He’s right, dammit.
My head swivels back toward him. “You should have let me handle it, though,” I say, trying to hang on to the anger from before, though I’m not exactly sure why.
Maybe I don’t like seeing the violent side of Barrett, or maybe I don’t like realizing I’m jealous of the women Barrett has spent time with.
Double dammit.
“That’s not going to happen. Men who are only looking for one thing don’t have the right to put their hands on you.”
“Even you?”
Where the hell did that come from?
“Especially me, pup.”
This conversation is veering in a direction I wasn’t prepared for.
Something shifted between Barrett and me last night, and I’m obviously not handling it well.
Not that there’s anything to handle. It was a charged moment.
That’s all. And an almost kiss certainly doesn’t mean I have any claim over the man sitting next to me.
He’s practically sitting here telling me that he has no intention of ever acting on whatever that was last night.
It was a one-time thing that never really happened and never will.
There isn’t much to say, so I return my gaze to the streetlights and keep my mouth shut.
When we pull up to the house, Barrett kills the engine and turns to me.
“Living with you and Syd, having a relationship with my daughter, it’s the most important thing I’ve ever done. I can’t fuck it up.”
“I get it,” I whisper.
“No, I don’t think you do.” His jaw clenches. “There’s no way you can understand how hard it is to see you every day, knowing if I touch you, I won’t be able to stop. That I’ve wanted to taste your smile more times than I can count. Every time I see it, I have to stop myself from doing just that.”
“Barrett…”
“I’m trying to be different. I’ve never had to worry about what would happen if it didn’t work out.
I’ve never cared. But with you, it’s completely different.
So tonight, when I saw someone put their hands on you, I lost it, and not just because the guy was completely out of line.
But even though I’ve never touched you, I can’t help but think of you as mine, and I’m the last person you should ever be with.
I may not deserve someone like you, Camryn, and sometimes we may want to strangle each other, but it kills me seeing you with anyone else.
Thinking that at some point, some asshole is going to come in and sweep you off your feet, because how could someone not see what I do?
And that someone is going to be able to do what I can’t. ”
“What’s that?” My heart feels like it’s about to beat straight out of my chest. How many times did I fantasize about Barrett saying something like this to me? How many times have I told myself it was wrong to want him to say it?
He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, then exhales before opening them. “This.”
Barrett leans over and cups my cheek in his palm before pressing his lips to mine. His kiss is softer than I imagined. He brushes his mouth against mine slowly as though he’s memorizing the sensation. Because this is going to be our only kiss. It’s all it can be.
I pull away, and Barrett rests his forehead against mine.
“We can’t,” I whisper.
“I know. But if things were different, if this was different, I wouldn’t stop at a kiss, Cam.”
“Neither would I.”
The breath that Barrett blows out tickles my lips before he pulls away.
“You should go inside,” he says.
“What about you?”
“I’m going to go for a drive. I need you to do something for me.”
“What?”
“Lock your door. I need to know that I can’t walk into your room tonight. Otherwise, neither of us will be getting any sleep.”