Chapter 18
Lark
Last night was exactly what I needed.
We ended up ordering in tons of Chinese food and ate family style while we watched an old favorite movie of mine, Today’s Special.
Normally, I like to have the movie on in the background when I’m cooking since it’s about a chef named Samir, who is of Indian descent.
He finds out his dream of being the head chef at his boss’s new restaurant is shattered when his boss chooses someone else.
On a whim, Samir decides to head to Paris to tutor under a famous chef, but before that happens, his father has a heart attack.
Despite not getting along with his father, family obligation has him telling his mother he’ll watch over his father’s Indian restaurant.
Along the way, he learns to embrace his Indian heritage and ends up falling in love.
It’s one of my all-time favorites and thankfully, both Khloe and Miracle, as well as my family, like it as well.
At first, Zac had a conniption that we were planning on eating in the living room.
That had me wondering how long, or even if, he has been living here.
We normally eat in the living room when we have get-togethers, so Khloe quickly told him to suck it up.
That it was her house, so it’s her rules.
He also wasn’t impressed that we wanted to get Chinese and he insisted that we should be having a more nutritious meal.
Especially me since my body would need the nutrients for healing.
I was about to go tell him to fuck himself and that I could make my own choices when Khloe lit into him.
Then, once again, she rolled her eyes at him and told me he’s a health food nut, but part of that is because of his job.
It was then that I remembered Zac recently got a job at the fire station.
I nearly asked him if he knew who carried me and the first firefighter out.
Or what my first rescuer’s name was. Instead, I’d bitten my tongue and went back to stuffing my face and watching the movie.
I’m still not sure if I’m ready for those answers or not.
Biting my lip, I look down at my phone in my hand as I sit on the swing on the back porch and scroll through my text thread with Reaper.
We talked a lot last night and a part of me questions my initial decision to keep my distance from him until I got my head on straight.
Even if the fire hadn’t happened and he had asked me to go out that weekend, I still feel like I would have told him yes.
Despite being wary of the bunnies. Part of being in a relationship is learning more about them, but still, it would kill me if I later found out he was seeing someone or sleeping with the club bunnies, even though he said he hadn’t been with anyone for four months.
My phone vibrates and I look down, smiling when I see Reaper’s new text saying he and Python are on their way over with the laptop. Grabbing my coffee mug, I stand and head back inside. Once in the kitchen, I refill my mug.
As I sip the much-needed life-giving nectar, nerves start to form about talking with Granny and Ma about the businesses later today. I know in my heart that this is the right way to move forward, but I need them to be on board as well.
The sound of motorcycles coming down the driveway brings me out of my thoughts and my gaze darts to the clock, surprised that ten minutes have already passed.
Seeing that my mug is almost empty again, I top it off and set it on the counter before walking to the front door.
I open it just in time to see Reaper and the man that I’m assuming is Python swinging their legs over their bikes as they get off them.
My mouth goes dry as I stare at Reaper’s back, admiring how his shirt shows off his arm muscles and how his jeans hug his ass and thighs.
“You’re drooling,” Granny says in a sing-song voice as she heads into the kitchen, and I feel my face burning as I glare at her over my shoulder.
She laughs and goes to the cupboard, pulling out two more coffee mugs. Turning back to the guys, I feel my cheeks getting hotter when I see Reaper’s smirk.
Shit.
Did he know I was checking him out?
Shaking off those thoughts, I smile as they walk up the path and up the porch steps.
“Morning, Darlin’.” He pulls me into his arms and I feel myself melting into him. He places a chaste kiss on the top of my head and I damn near melt into a puddle.
Reaper steps aside and it’s then that I realize I’ve met Python before. He’s come into the supper club a few times.
“Lark,” he says as he gives me a chin lift and hands me a messenger bag.
“Thank you, both of you, for doing this for me.” I pause, my cheeks heating when Reaper gives me a look that almost seems to mirror his words yesterday.
That I don’t need to thank him for taking care of me.
Clearing my throat, I step back and open the door wider.
“Come on in, guys. Would you like any coffee?”
“Yes, please. Black,” Python replies.
“Same,” Reaper says as he shuts the door behind us.
I lead the way into the kitchen, setting the laptop bag down on the table. Of course, Zac chooses that moment to come downstairs, and he narrows his eyes at Reaper and Python when he sees that I’m not alone. Then his gaze narrows further when he sees how close Reaper is standing to me.
Choosing to ignore him, I walk over to the counter and pour them both their coffee before bringing them over to the table.
Straightening, I start with introductions. “Guys, this is Zac Crawford, Khloe’s boyfriend. Zac, these are my friends, Reaper and Python.”
“What are they doing here?”
I frown at how cold and hard his voice is. What the fuck is his problem? Something in me snaps with the need to know what is going on with him.
“I don’t know what the hell your problem is, Zac, but I am allowed to have friends over while I’m staying here, and I most definitely don’t need your permission nor your approval. Now, if you will excuse us, I need to talk to Python about this laptop, so please leave us alone.”
I stare him down, not liking how he’s been treating me. I just hope Khloe isn’t overhearing or seeing this, because I don’t know how she’ll take it.
“You shouldn’t be friends with people like them. They bring trouble wherever they go.”
Oh, no, he did not.
I point angrily at him. “You do not get a fucking say in who I’m friends with and who I’m not.
They had nothing to do with the fire, and in fact, they have been extremely helpful ever since it happened.
Besides helping over this past month, they spent all day yesterday helping us get our belongings that survived the fire out of the house.
You have no say with what I do with my life or who I have in it, so you can keep your damn opinions to yourself. ”
His face hardens as he stares me down. “You’re going to get hurt if you keep hanging around them. Don’t you know what happens at those fucking parties they throw?” He sneers at both Reaper and Python before turning back to me.
“Yes, I do know what happens at those parties. Again, you are in no position to control any aspect of my life, so you can get the fuck out of here if you have a problem with them being here.”
Movement has me looking to the right of Zac and into the living room. A pit grows in my stomach at Khloe’s shocked face as she stares at Zac.
“What the fuck is your problem, Zac?” she demands.
Zac’s body tenses and he clenches his fists before turning on her and pointing angrily toward Reaper and Python. “Did you know they were going to be here?”
The way he says ‘they’ has both Reaper and Python tensing further beside me, their muscles almost visibly coiling tighter than they already were, like they’re ready launch into a fight at a second’s notice.
Khloe stands and crosses her arms across her chest. “Yes. Lark told me last night and I thought it was sweet that they were thinking of her and wanted to help her when she was clearly tired and overwhelmed from seeing the state of her house and the supper club for the first time yesterday. Not to mention everything that was lost. I don’t have a problem with them being here either.
I’ve gotten to know them pretty well over the past few months and I know no one in the club would ever lay a finger on Lark.
Now, again. What the fuck is your problem? ”
“Nothing,” he mutters and then stomps toward the front door, slamming it shut after him. A moment later, his truck starts up and through the window, I can see him gunning it down the driveway. When he’s out of sight, tension thickens in the room.
“Khloe, I’m sorry—”
She shakes her head as she crosses the room toward us.
“Don’t you dare apologize, Lark. He’s been acting weird ever since you guys got here last night, and I don’t know why.
” She frowns and looks at something on her phone.
“He’s got a shift starting at noon and it’s a twenty-four-hour one.
I’ll talk to him tomorrow after he’s had a chance to cool off and sleep so I can figure out what crawled up his ass and died.
If he can’t handle you and the guys being here, then he can stay at his apartment in town.
It’s not like he lives here. He just sleeps over sometimes. ”
“How has he been acting toward you?” Reaper asks me, and a shiver runs down my spine at the possessive tone in his voice and the glint in his eyes.
I open my mouth to reply, but Khloe beats me to it.
“Staring a lot, watching what she does, hovering. This isn’t the only time he’s tried to dictate what Lark does either,” she says as she frowns.
“He almost threw a tantrum last night when she said she was craving Chinese and then blew up when Emma, Lottie, and I all agreed with her. He said she should be eating healthier foods because her body needs them to heal. I told him to mind his fucking business. After the day she had, she wanted some damn comfort food, so comfort food was what she was going to get. It’s not like we always eat like that. ”
I fume as memories of the argument come back to me, but I try to reign in my anger.
“I don’t get why he’s trying to dictate so much about what I do or who I’m with.
He’s not my boyfriend, he’s yours, Khloe.
And I’m sorry that I never told you about this before.
I wasn’t always around him, so I just let it roll off my back.
However, last night and just now... it was starting to get to be too much, and I couldn’t just let it slide this time. I’m sorry.”
“Well, he might not be mine for long if he keeps this shit up. I won’t tolerate him treating you like this, either.
And I don’t want to hear you apologizing again.
It’s not your fault, it’s his.” She pauses as she runs a hand through her hair.
“I’m going to head into my office to do some work and to give you guys some privacy while you finish setting up the laptop and then having your meeting with Emma and Lottie. ”
I bite my lip as I watch her disappear down the hallway and then her office door shuts softly.
“Are you alright, Darlin’?”
My shoulders slump. “I don’t know, honestly.
Being around Zac has always had me on edge, and it just got to be too much with everything else going on.
But still, I feel bad for Khloe because it seems like Zac has been focusing on me rather than her and he’s her boyfriend, not mine.
Before this, I knew she was happy being with him, but I don’t want to cause problems with their relationship. ”
I’m pulled into his arms again and his spicy scent mixed with the smell of leather relaxes me.
“If he ever makes you feel unsafe, I want you to call me, Darlin’. I’ll be there as quickly as I can. Or for that matter, if anyone makes you feel unsafe.”
I relax further into his embrace at his words. “Just don’t forget, I’m also more than capable of hurting him if need be. Though, I should probably take up some self-defense classes for when I’m not armed. Once my burns heal more, that is.”
“Well, when you’re ready for that step, just let me know. Cannon runs our gym here in town, so I can hook you up with some lessons.”
Movement behind me has my cheeks heating as I remember we aren’t alone. Clearing my throat, I step away from Reaper and turn toward the table.
“So, what all do I need to do still for setting up the laptop?”