Chapter 6
Pyre
“Asshole,” I muttered, not bothering to look up from Cynic’s thigh as I shoved my needle through it again.
“I was just helping you out,” Warrant said, leaning against the doorframe as he watched me stitch up Cynic. “Did you pause that to come up and hang out with Rae?” There was amusement in his tone.
“I didn’t fucking know that was what you wanted, did I?” I replied, scowling at him.
Cynic sat up on his elbows, looking back and forth between us. “Wait, that’s why you left me here fucking bleeding? To talk to some chick?”
“Not just some chick,” Warrant told him. “Death chick.”
“Oh,” Cynic said, then sighed. “Fine. Can you hurry that up? I swear my shit’s going to fall off before you get it done.”
It was a deep laceration, but nowhere deep enough for anything to fall off.
Cynic was always dramatic when he got injured.
Laceration, puncture wounds, bullets, he was the whiniest of all the men in the club.
“Do you want to do it?” I asked, glaring at him.
“And stop calling her that,” I told Warrant.
He shook his head and laid back on the bed I kept in here for these kinds of things. They’d just gotten back from a mission. Seemed someone was always in need of attention after one of our jobs. I didn’t mind. Kept my skills sharp.
“That’s how we all know her,” Warrant said with a shrug. “You don’t like it, give her a new nickname.” A smile spread over his face.
“You’re acting like an old woman who’s trying to set her grandson up,” I said, going back to Cynic’s thigh. He knew that if I gave her a nickname that would be the first step in me claiming her. Or one of the steps anyway.
Warrant scoffed. “Like I’d waste my time on you.”
I gave him an exasperated look. “Didn’t you just fucking bring Rae here to-”
“No. Ains invited her for lunch,” he said, cutting me off. “Not my fault she was here.”
Narrowing my eyes, I studied him. I had a feeling it was his fault, but had no conclusive proof.
“Warrant,” Cynic said, “go away. I want him to get this over with before the damn anesthetic he gave me wears off. If it does, I’m going to have this asshole take your temperature rectally.”
Warrant barked out a laugh. “Like I’d let either of you anywhere near my ass.”
I went back to focusing on sewing Cynic up while he came further into the room and started asking about the assignment they just finished up. It was keeping Cynic distracted, so I let him stay. My mind kept drifting to Rae.
I’d damn near kissed her. If I had, I may not have stopped with just a kiss.
Once I got my hands on her, I wasn’t sure where we’d end up.
I didn’t know if I was pissed off that Ainsley had interrupted us, or grateful.
That would depend on whether I was ready to break down and do something about my interest in her.
My brothers sure wanted me to. Which meant that I hadn’t done a good job of hiding that interest over the years.
I thought I had. Apparently staring at the woman’s ass every time she was around tended to get noticed.
“There,” I said, cleaning off the area and putting a bandage over it. “Don’t get it wet for forty-eight hours. Shouldn’t be a problem for you since you only bathe once a week.”
“Fuck off, I bathe regularly.”
“Could’ve fooled me,” Warrant said.
“You need an IV?” I asked.
“No, I’m fine.”
I looked up at him and arched a brow. “You’re probably dehydrated after that mission. You sure you’re good?”
“Good or not, I don’t want you fucking stabbing me anymore,” Cynic said. “I’m grateful, but I’m fucking done, Pyre.”
I shrugged. “Fine. Keep an eye on it. If it looks infected, well fuck right off.”
Cynic froze as he was putting his pants back on, looking up at me. “Infected?”
“Well you’re about to put those dirty ass pants back on over it,” I told him with a flat, unimpressed stare. “I’m assuming you’re going to do other stupid shit and it’s going to get infected. That’s why it’s your problem.”
Cynic let the pants fall to the floor. They were the same cut and material of fatigues all military members wore, but plain black instead of camo. “Well shit. Why didn’t you say anything?”
“That was him saying something, dumbass,” Warrant replied with a shake of his head.
“You want me fucking riding home in my boxers?”
“Don’t you keep any clothes up in your room?” Warrant asked him.
The clubhouse had apartments up on the second floor. Each of us had one assigned as ours. None of us really ever used them unless we were too fucking drunk to drive home. Or we had back to back missions and needed a quick nap in between.
“Shit, that’s right. Forgot all about that,” he muttered. “Thanks.” He bent and grabbed his pants, limping out the door.
Going over to the sink, I tossed my gloves into the trash can, then washed off my hands. I sighed when Warrant stuck around. “What?”
“What happened?”
I looked over my shoulder and found my brother grinning at me. That wasn’t unusual for him. Wasn’t odd that he was causing trouble either. He just didn’t fuck with me very often. I wasn’t sure why I’d caught his interest now. “Don’t you have better things to do?”
“Not really. Ainsley’s at lunch. Demo’s busy helping Cypher with something-”
I turned around, drying my hands. “Anything that’s going to get them blown up?”
“Probably.”
I made a mental note to restock my supplies from the armory. Sure, we kept the weapons in there, but it was where we kept everything else, too. And if Demo was fucking around with explosives, someone was getting hurt. I’d rather have everything I needed within arm’s reach.
“All kidding aside, Pyre,” Warrant said, “what are your plans?”
Shaking my head, I scowled at him. “None of your fucking business. Did I bother you when you were chasing the sheriff?”
“No,” he replied, “but that’s because I was already chasing her. I distinctly remember a betting pool, though.”
“I didn’t start that,” I told him. “You have an issue with that, you need to talk to Demo.”
“I knew that fucker was the one who started that bet,” he muttered.
There was not one ounce of regret in me for ratting Demo out. Now Warrant would spend the next couple of days annoying the shit out of him instead of me. I watched him walk out of my exam room, still muttering to himself as he thought of the best way to get back at our brother.
As pissed as I was at Warrant for butting in where he wasn’t wanted, he wasn’t wrong.
I needed to figure out what to do about Rae.
I’d damn near kissed her upstairs in the middle of the fucking clubhouse.
It hadn’t even been the plan. I was going to just stand there and talk to her for a few minutes until Ainsley came out to get her.
Instead, I’d found myself drawn to her in a way I couldn’t resist. She’d looked so…
open and inviting. Fuck. I was screwed. My attraction to her certainly hadn’t dulled over the years.
If anything, it was stronger. And now with Warrant, and possibly the others, interfering, he was going to find a way to bring her around as often as he could.
Just to mess with me. To force me to make a choice.
The best course of action would be to take that option away from him and decide what I wanted to do and make a move before he could intervene. I sighed again. I hated being made to do something before I was ready, but I wasn’t about to put up with Warrant for long either.
I had some thinking to do, but deep down, I already knew what my decision was.
I’d made it years ago, the very first time I’d spotted Rae outside that grocery store.
I’d just been kidding myself this whole time.
Thinking it was my decision whether to make her mine.
It wasn’t really. The three years of dreams about her proved that.
The fact that I could be a stubborn bastard was the only reason I’d made it this long and was still single.
I had a feeling that was about to change.
If I started pursuing Rae, that was it. She struck me as the forever kind of woman.
Those kind who managed to get their hooks into you and have you down on one knee before you even fucking knew what happened.
That was why I’d kept my distance. I was going to end up with an old lady if I moved forward with these thoughts. And strangely that didn’t sound as bad now as it had in the past. Maybe that was exactly what I needed. Maybe she was what I needed.