Chapter Twenty-Two
I DIDN’T LIKE it.
I didn’t like any of it, not the way Evie had gone quiet on me outside, not the way she’d shut down mid-sentence like something had cut her off, and definitely not the way her eyes kept drifting past me like there was something behind me she didn’t want me to see.
And I damn sure didn’t like the way she kept saying everything was fine when it clearly wasn’t.
I walked her back inside anyway, my hand settled low at her back, like I could keep things in place just by staying close, just by not giving whatever this was room to get worse, and when we stepped back into the noise and heat of the bar, everything looked the same as it had before, people drinking, talking, moving like it was just another night, but it didn’t feel the same.
Not only was Evie acting strange, but Mystic was acting weird as hell. He didn’t just show up here tonight on a whim.
“Go sit,” I told her quietly, my hand brushing her arm before I let her go, keeping my tone easy even though my attention was already moving, already tracking.
“I’m gonna grab you something.”
She nodded, a little too quick, her gaze flicking once toward Ruby before she moved that way, and that alone was enough to confirm my suspicions.
I stayed where I was for a second longer than I should’ve, watching her cross the floor, watching the way she moved like she was trying to act normal and not quite pulling it off, and then I let my gaze shift.
Slow and careful, the way I’d learned a long time ago, I kept it low-key, no head turn, no tells, just let my attention move from the bar to Chain and then to Ruby, where it locked in, because something about her was off, and my gut was already calling it trouble.
Not obvious if you didn’t know her, but I did, and the way she moved now, the way her focus snapped and shifted instead of settling, the way she kept looking at Evie and then away again like she couldn’t hold it, that wasn’t normal.
That was pressure.
And it lined up too damn well with whatever Evie had almost said outside.
“Gats,” Chain said, snapping me out of it as he slid a glass across the bar. “You good?”
“Yeah,” I answered automatically, my eyes still tracking the room. “Just thinking.”
“You’re always thinkin’,” he muttered, but there was a hint of curiosity under it now as he followed my line of sight for half a second before looking back at me.
I didn’t answer that.
Because something in me had already shifted, that quiet instinct that didn’t kick in unless it had a reason to, the one that said pay attention, the one that had kept me alive more than once.
And it wasn’t wrong.
I grabbed Evie’s drink and headed back to her, my focus locking in the second I got close enough to see her face again, to read the small things she probably didn’t realize she was showing.
“Miss me?” I asked, keeping it light, even as I handed her the glass.
“Of course,” she said, giving me a smile.
“It’s so loud in here,” I said. “You wanna stay here a bit, or you wanna head to your place?”
Her answer came just a second too fast.
“Let’s go to your room at the clubhouse.”
That had me pausing.
Not enough for anyone else to catch, but enough that something in my head clicked into place a little harder than before.
“Yeah?” I said, watching her now, really watching her. Why the clubhouse when her place had more privacy.
“Yeah,” she repeated, her fingers tightening slightly around the glass. “I just… I don’t feel like going home tonight.”
There it was, another piece sliding into place, because earlier she’d been fine with it, no hesitation, and now something had shifted, something in this room, and I felt it land wrong in my gut as I nodded like it didn’t mean anything.
“Alright… clubhouse it is.” The relief hit her face too fast, too damn obvious, and that just made it worse.
I stepped in closer, my hand coming up to her jaw, turning her face just enough so she had to look at me, and I let my thumb drag once more along her jaw before I dropped my hand, stepping back just enough to give her space again.
“Alright,” I said again, quieter this time, but there was an edge under it now, something more certain. “We’re’re gonna go somewhere you feel safe, and you can pretend all you want that nothing’s wrong.”
Her breath caught slightly at that. Good. Because I wasn’t blind. And I wasn’t letting it go.
“Let me grab my keys,” I added, already turning away before she could argue, before she could try to smooth it over again.
The door shut behind us, and just like that, the noise dropped away, leaving the room quiet in a way that felt different from the bar, different from outside, like everything that had been pressing in on us had been left on the other side of it.
For a second, neither of us moved.
I watched her, really watched her, the way her shoulders lowered just a fraction, the way she let out a breath like she hadn’t realized she’d been holding it, and something in my chest eased at the sight of it, even if the rest of me still didn’t like what had put that tension there in the first place.
“Better?” I asked, quieter now, not pushing, just checking.
She nodded, her eyes on mine, softer than they’d been all night. “Yeah… a lot better.”
I stepped closer, slow, giving her space to pull back still unsure of her mood, but she didn’t, didn’t hesitate, and when my hand came up to her jaw, my thumb brushing lightly along her skin, she leaned into it instead of away.
That was all I needed.
I kissed her slow, not driven by heat or urgency, but something easier, something that lingered, like I had nowhere else to be and no reason to rush it, and she met me just as easily, her hands coming up, settling against me.
For a while everything else faded, the tension, the questions, whatever she still wasn’t telling me, because none of it seemed to matter in there, not with her pressed against me like this, and when I finally pulled back it was only enough to look at her, my forehead resting lightly against hers, my thumb moving slow along her cheek.
“You’re staying tonight,” I said, not really a question.
She smiled, small but real, the kind that hit deeper than anything else she’d given me so far. “Yeah… if that’s okay.”
I let out a quiet breath, something close to a laugh slipping through. “Yeah, it’s okay.”
More than okay.
My hand slid from her face to her hand, lacing our fingers together without thinking, grounding us there, and for a second we just stood like that, not moving, not talking, just… there.
Together.
She shifted first, stepping closer, her head tipping slightly as she rested it against my chest, and the simple weight of it, the trust in that small movement, hit harder than anything else had tonight.
I wrapped an arm around her, pulling her in without hesitation, my chin brushing the top of her head as I held her there, steady, like I wasn’t planning on letting go anytime soon.
“I hope you’re not gonna be this quiet all night,” I joked to light the mood.
She huffed a soft laugh against me. “No… just… thinking.”
“Dangerous,” I muttered, earning another quiet laugh out of her, and that alone was enough to settle something in me I hadn’t even realized was still tight.
We stayed like that longer than we probably should have, just standing in the middle of the room, holding onto something that didn’t feel complicated, didn’t feel heavy, didn’t feel like it came with a dozen things waiting to go wrong.
Just… simple.
I pulled back eventually, my hand sliding down her arm before catching hers again, giving it a small squeeze. “C’mon.”
I grabbed my helmet, handed her one, and swung a leg over, glancing back at her as I held it out. “C’mon.”
She pulled it on, then I waited until she climbed on behind me. Her hands settled at my sides.
“Hold on,” I cautioned.
There was a beat, then her arms slid around me, tighter this time, closer, just what I wanted. I kicked the bike to life, the engine breaking through the quiet, grounding in a way the rest of the night hadn’t been, and pulled out onto the road.
The ride back wasn’t long, but it stayed quiet the whole way, no talking between us, just the wind cutting past, the constant vibration of the bike under us, and her pressed against my back closer than she’d been all night, like whatever had been chewing at her inside the bar hadn’t followed us.
The clubhouse finally came into view through the trees, lights bright against the dark, the place sitting loud the way it always did this late at night, and I pulled up out front before cutting the engine, the sudden silence settling around us thick and heavy while neither of us moved for a second, her arms still around me until they finally loosened, slow and reluctant, like she hated it as much as I did.
I got off first, turning back to her as she pulled the helmet off, her hair falling loose around her shoulders, her eyes finding mine in the dim light.
“Let’s go through the back.”
Thank all hell I didn’t run into any drama tonight, we made it to my room without seeing anyone. I wanted Evie all to myself and around here that could be hard.
I grabbed a shirt from the chair and tossed it her way. “You can steal that for the night.”
She caught it, smiling as she looked down at it before glancing back up at me. “You’re just giving me permission for the night?”
“How about forever?” I asked, stepping closer again, my hand brushing her hip lightly as I passed, fingers lingering to trace the curve of her ass cheek through her skirt, feeling the heat radiating from her skin.
She shook her head, that smile still there, softer now, more relaxed than I’d seen her all night, and as she moved to change, I turned away just enough to give her space without fully breaking the moment, listening to the quiet shift of fabric, the small sounds that somehow made the room feel even more charged, the zipper of her dress sliding down, the soft thud of it hitting the floor, her panties whispering off her hips.