Chapter 18 Pete
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
PETE
Ireadjust myself for the hundredth time as Wren smiles at me in approval. It’s getting harder and harder—literally—to hide the way my cock reacts to her, especially when she looks at me like that. Like she’s pleased with me.
My life has been a series of shitty events: no dad, mom overdosed when I was twelve, my uncle turned me into his drug runner, and the only friend I ever had was gunned down in front of me when I was eighteen. Other than him, nobody has ever looked at me like I was worth anything.
And even he didn’t look at me like she does, like I could do no wrong. If only she knew what lengths I’d go to, to make her happy.
“Okay, let’s try this one,” she says from the seat beside me in the middle row of the SUV.
She signs the action that means her name, which mimics the flap of wings. “Wren.”
She motions toward her chest. “Want,” I tell her.
Then, with her fingertips pressed together, she brings them to her mouth and taps twice. I grin, knowing it means food, but instead I answer. “Kiss.”
Sly glares at me over his shoulder, but I just grin down at her reddening cheeks.
She shakes her head. “This…” she does the action again, “is food. This…” She touches her fingertips to her lips, then pulls them away. “Means kiss.”
I reach out quickly and grab her wrist, pulling her hand to my lips and kissing her fingertips. “Like this?”
Her lips part, and her breaths quicken as she stares at my mouth. I lick my lips and watch her eyes track the movement.
“We’ve just entered Lantern Hill,” Sly says, interrupting us. “We’ll be at the bar soon. We should go over the plan.”
Dex waves a hand in dismissal. “We don’t need a plan. We just go in and ask for Jack. That’s what the email said, right?”
We’d found out about Jack online; it looked like he’d be able to get us all IDs within a couple of hours, and we’d made arrangements to meet him this afternoon at a bar in Lantern Hill, Texas.
“I say you let me rough him up a little, then he’ll do whatever we want,” I say, linking my fingers together and stretching my arms forward so they can crack.
“And what if he has friends?” Sly asks. “You’ll put Wren in danger.”
“She should stay in the car with Jagger,” I say, but I quickly start picturing what they might get up to unsupervised. “Actually, I’ll stay with her.” I look down at her and wink as Sly sighs from the front seat.
“Pete, we all need IDs; they’ll have to take photos of all of us.”
I let my eyes trail down her body. I thought she looked fucking delicious in her dress, but these new clothes…
Yeah, they were really working for me. My cock hadn’t stopped twitching since she stepped out of the bathroom, wearing ripped black jeans, a white crop top, and a black choker.
She even had a black leather jacket to complete the look, but wasn’t wearing it now due to the heat.
This edgy look took her from sweet and beautiful to fucking gorgeous, and it was taking everything I had not to throw her into the back seat and rut her like an animal. I knew the others would kick my ass if I even tried, though, just like I’d do to them.
We were all at an unspoken standstill when it came to her. However, Jagger crossed that line this morning, and I wasn’t exactly mad about it. I was just waiting for my own chance to cross it, too.
I was positive she wanted me to kiss her.
I kept finding her eyes drifting to my mouth, and the sexual tension between us was like nothing I’d ever felt before.
I’ve had my share of women, especially in my younger days, but none of them actually made me feel anything. Everything was different with Wren.
I’m actually terrified of the way I feel about her, even before I met her. But I’ve never done things the usual way. I tend to get a little addicted and obsessed over things, like her. Except I already knew she was something I would always crave, always want more of.
I just hoped she wanted to keep me, too.
I was desperate to make her want to keep me around.
I had a feeling she never used to smile or laugh much in that prison she called home.
So I’m determined to make her smile as much as possible now, and to show her that I’m not just best friend material.
With one kiss, I could make it clear to her that I wanted more.
That if she let me between her legs, I could make her feel things she never even knew were possible.
I could make her as addicted to me as I am to her.
But it never felt like the right moment. And fucking Sly and Jagger were always cock-blocking me.
I’m determined to find a chance to kiss her today. I can’t let Jagger edge ahead of me; I refuse to be in last place when it comes to her.
“Wren, you stay with us at all times, you understand?” Sly asks, and she nods. “I mean it, I don’t want you even using the bathroom there, we can stop after, but I’m not taking any risks when it comes to you.”
“I have no intention of leaving your side,” she assures him, resting her head on Dex’s arm. I feel a pang of jealousy, but her hand reaches across to grab mine, and a smile tugs at my lips as I squeeze it back.
“Alright, there it is,” Sly says as Jagger pulls into the parking lot. “Dex, try not to let your Neanderthal show.”
“Hey!”
“And Pete, please try not to let your crazy out.”
“You’re one to talk,” I quip as Jagger switches off the engine and we all pile out. Dex lifts Wren out at his side and takes her hand as we all move together to the door—Sly and Jagger in front, with me bringing up the rear.
My eyes flash down to her ass, and I smirk. What a nice rear it is, too.
As soon as we enter, I’m bombarded by the smell of smoke and beer. I lick my lips. It’s been a long while since I had a nice cold beer. Maybe there was time to grab a quick drink?
Sly asks the bartender for Jack, and he motions to a guy sitting at the side in a booth on his own.
As soon as Sly turns toward him, I lean on the bar top and hiss, “Hey, barkeep! Give me a cold one, stat!” I slap a twenty on the bar, and he quickly grabs a bottle, pops the top, and slides it over to me. I tilt it back and take a few chugs before coming up for air. “Ah! As good as I remember!”
I quickly follow the others before they notice I’m missing, and as I step up behind Wren, I offer her my beer over her shoulder.
She looks up at me in confusion, and I raise a brow in question. She takes it and tries a tiny sip, licking her lips in contemplation before trying it again.
“I think I like it,” she says with a smile as she passes it back to me.
“You keep it, I’ll get another,” I tell her and quickly go to do just that as Sly talks to Jack, who looks docile enough that even Wren would have a chance at taking him in a fight. Well, maybe not Wren, but Sly could. Probably. Maybe.
I come back with my beer and try to listen to their conversation.
“And you can do that in two hours?”
“Yep. I got all my stuff right here. Just hang around, have a drink, and I’ll let you know when I’m done.”
Sly nods as he turns back to the rest of us. “Why don’t we grab a… drink,” he finishes, frowning at the beer in Wren's and my hands. “And take a seat.”
“Come on, angel,” I grab her free hand and tug her to the free booth beside Jack’s. I slide in first and pull her in beside me. Jagger sits on her other side, boxing her in and protecting her from anyone who approaches, and Dex and Sly head to the bar to get drinks.
“Peter?” Just the way she says my name has my cock twitching in her direction, determined to get closer to her.
“Yeah, angel?”
“Is this beer?”
“Yep, you like it?”
“It’s different, but I like that. Jagger, do you want some?” She offers it to him, and he takes it, taking a small sip before passing it back to her. Sly and Dex soon join us with about six beers between them.
Dex shrugs when he sees Wren’s confused gaze. “This way we don’t have to go up for more.”
Loud voices suddenly penetrate the low hum of the bar’s afternoon crowd as a group of bikers enters. Wren gasps, then hides her head behind Jagger’s arm. I wrap my arm protectively around her and pull her against my chest.
“It’s not the same club, angel. We’ll keep you safe.” She nods against me as Jagger signs something. I pick up the words 'touch' and 'you,' but miss the rest.
“What does this mean?” Wren asks, repeating the first motion where he pointed to the side. Jagger holds out his hand to Sly, who passes him the phone. He types out the answer.
“They,” she reads. Then she tries to piece the sentence together. “They touch you… Oh! They won’t touch you!” she says excitedly as she pieces together what he signed. He points a finger at her chest and mouths, “You.”
“They won’t touch you,” I clarify, squeezing her a little tighter.
The bikers settle around a table in the center of the room.
One guy with bright blue hair catches my attention as it's a bit unusual for a biker; he’s smiling widely at another guy who looks just like him, but with brown hair.
They laugh at something he says as a bigger guy hands out beers to them all.
I don’t get the sense of them wanting to cause any trouble, so I relax, just a fraction, and Wren decides we need to learn some more ASL, American Sign Language.
When she finishes her beer, I stealthily replace it with one of the fresh ones, hoping that if she gets a little tipsy, she’ll stop with the lesson.
I don’t mind learning some words for Jagger, but couldn’t he just use the phone to type out what he wants us to know? I was never that good at learning, especially other languages. I didn’t have her gift.
Jack comes over to take our photos, and when Wren finishes her second beer, I start to slide her my half-drunk second one. In a flash, Sly’s hand whips out to grab my forearm, stopping me.
He shakes his head at me, his eyes narrowing. “She likes it,” I say defensively with a shrug.
“She’s probably never had alcohol before; we don’t want her to get sick.”