Chapter 3 #2
Someone would come looking soon, so we got up and fixed our clothes, and I gave her a second to clean up in the bathroom before we headed back downstairs again, finding Josie waiting for us in the kitchen.
She gave us a disapproving once-over, knowing exactly what we’d been doing, but she didn’t mention it.
“Rory—” she started, but Rory cut her off.
“It’s fine.”
“It’s not. I upset you.”
“Skeet—”
“I’m sorry,” Josie said firmly, needing Rory to hear her. “I was out of line with my comments to Skeeter. I’m not sorry for pushing the safe sex conversation, but I had no right to insult you both.”
Rory blinked at her with confusion for a moment before glancing at me almost awkwardly. “I don’t know what to say now.”
I chuckled, nudging her. “This is where you hug it out and say you’ll be careful.”
“It’s that easy?” she scoffed, and as much as I hated that she seemed to think I was full of shit, I understood. My parents’ apologies weren’t that simple either, and Max probably never apologized to her in her entire life, so the confusion was valid.
“Yeah, babe. It is,” I smiled, making her hesitate before stepping closer to Josie for a hug.
Josie chuckled, hugging her back tightly and giving me a grateful smile that I returned.
Part of me hoped that Rory’s mom didn’t live too far away because it was going to kill Josie if Rory left.
Caden motioned for me to join him, so I left Rory with Josie and walked over to him, leaning against the wall.
“They’re fine,” I said before he could ask, relief filling his face.
“Good. Do you think her and Skeet—”
“They’re under each other’s skin too much to stay away from each other. We’ll see him again soon,” I said dryly, hoping Skeeter wasn’t going to start more trouble over it. I understood, Rory not listening to him could get her killed, but it wasn’t like he was explaining things properly.
They were both stubborn, so this wasn’t going to just be the end of them.
I sighed, motioning to Rory as she kept pulling her phone out to glare at it. “See? He’s already calling her.”
“How do you know it’s Skeet?” Caden scoffed, eyeing her too.
“She’s got that look of irritated lust on her face that only he can bring out of her,” I joked.
“Or you didn’t fuck her right,” he smirked, laughing when I shoved him. “I’m joking!”
I already wanted to fuck her again, and I considered dragging her back upstairs, but we really couldn’t.
“Hey, do you think I could steal her tonight?” I asked, not surprised when he scowled.
“It’s my turn. She lives here and I feel like I never get to spend time with her.”
“Can I crash tonight then?”
“Always,” he said without hesitation, giving my shoulder a squeeze.
“We might stick around too,” Lukas murmured as he appeared, his attention on Rory like always. “Hunter being around is making me nervous. What if he breaks in?”
“We’ll check the house. Skeet gets in somehow, so I want to find the weak spot. If he can get in, then so can Hunter,” Caden muttered, turning to start checking windows.
It didn’t take long to find the broken window latch, a curse leaving him.
“Seriously? Anyone could climb in through that.”
“Get it fixed today. Use your dad’s murder as an excuse for the security,” Jensen mumbled, testing the window beside it.
“What are you doing?” Josie asked with amusement as she noticed us, making us all turn to face her.
“Just wanted to check the security. You know, after that guy went after Dad,” Caden said with ease, motioning to the broken latch. “This window opens, the latch doesn’t work. I know the guy has been caught, but—”
“I’ll call the security company. I think it’s time we update our system since the cameras keep going down,” she said with a frown, already pulling her phone out.
Rory didn’t seem to like that idea, most likely thinking of Skeeter losing his ability to sneak in, and I was a little bit surprised when Caden dropped an arm around her shoulders to talk quietly.
“I’ll give him the codes.”
“Fuck him,” she grumbled, and we all rolled our eyes. She could be angry with him all she liked, but there was no way they were over.
Skeeter
“Feel better?” Slash grunted as I iced my face at my desk.
“Bite me.”
“You got to beat on someone. You should’ve felt way too happy to fight with Donovan,” he joked, dropping into his seat at his desk.
“It’s not my fault she won’t listen,” I scowled, amusement crossing his face.
“Face it. You like fighting with her. You’d hate a woman that did everything you asked for.”
“I’m done this time, I mean it,” I answered sharply, an ache forming in my chest at the thought.
No matter how badly I fought it, I’d fucking fallen in love with her.
Slash knew too, and he let out a sigh as he eyed me. “You’re not. That girl could put a bullet in you and you’d wait for her in the pits of hell.”
“No, I—”
“You can lie to her all you want about your feelings, but I know you. Once you fall, you never let go, no matter what they do to you. It’s one of the reasons I wanted her gone.”
I swallowed, the ache in my chest only growing.
“Why did you stop trying to scare her off then?”
“Because nothing’s going to scare her off, and I like her enough to not want her dead.
She’s proven she can keep her mouth shut, and loyalty seems to be the most important thing to her.
I can respect her for that, even if I don’t trust her one hundred percent.
Besides, you’ve already fallen, I’m not blind.
There’s no point trying to stop something that’s already happened,” he shrugged, looking away from me.
“I just hope she doesn’t break you because you never recovered from the last—”
“Don’t,” I bit out, tossing the ice pack down on the desk to glare at it.
“Sulk if you want, but keep it off your face. You can’t afford to make that mug any worse,” he teased, turning his attention to the computer and shutting up like I’d hoped.
My fingers itched to text Rory to make sure she got home okay. Telling her to leave when the Devils were still lurking around had been a dumb idea, but I ended up checking the security cameras to see she’d gotten home a little after the guys.
If she was with them, she was fine.
I wanted to murder Hunter for having the audacity to sit beside her earlier, and part of me questioned why she didn’t seem fazed by his attention.
Was it because I hadn’t been honest with her? Did she think I was just being a jealous prick and he was safe to be around? Even at the gas station, she seemed irritated by him caging her in against Jensen’s car, not worried.
“You need to open up to her if you want to keep her safe,” Slash said from close by, snapping me from my thoughts to find him behind me, his eyes on the screen.
“She’s safe if she’s not with me,” I muttered, closing the camera footage.
“Wrong. Too many crews know she’s important to you now, and you saw Hunter with her today.”
“He won’t hurt her physically.”
“He fucking tried to kill you for no reason, Skeet.”
That was what hurt when I’d lost him and Marco. They just turned on me overnight without an explanation. Well, I wasn’t speaking to Marco at the time, he’d already burned his bridges with me, but Hunter had kept out of it and said we’d get over it eventually.
Next minute, the fucker was gunning me down in a fit of rage. It didn’t make sense.
“Hey,” Slash murmured, resting his hip on my desk and crossing his arms. “I know we’re manly men who don’t talk about feelings, but I know you’re softer on the inside than you let people see.
I’ve seen you pummel people to death to purge your emotions.
I’ve seen you cry when you didn’t think anyone was watching.
I’ve also seen the way you look at Rory.
There’s only one person you’ve ever looked at like that before, and—”
“Does your story have a point?” I asked as I cut him off, not needing the reminder.
“My point is, you’ve fought hard to keep her here for a reason. You want her, so handle your shit then go get your girl.”
I leaned back in my chair, holding his gaze for a moment before speaking. “What are you playing at? You have to have some kind of ulterior motive for us to be together all of a sudden.”
“I meant it when I said me and her talked. We’re good, man. No more games or tests, I promise.”
It was small, but it was there. The flicker of guilt from hiding something.
He might have known me forever, but I knew him too. Something was going on, and he wasn’t going to tell me.
“I want her to be allowed here without argument,” I started, and he nodded.
“Done.”
“You need to publicly state to the guys that she’s untouchable here.”
“Also done.”
“Promise you’ll keep your hands off her and not make her exchange sexual favors to fight,” I said dryly, and he grinned.
“I promise I won’t make her suck my cock to fight again.”
“I don’t believe you've had a change of heart,” I said as I lit a cigarette, eyeing him as he put his phone to his ear. “What are you doing?”
“Calling her for you,” he said bluntly, huffing when it rang out and she didn’t answer. “She doesn’t usually ignore me.”
“Good. She’s learning,” I grumbled, hating that she kept answering his damn calls in the first place.
“I’ll admit that the Devils stopping by to cause trouble today was my fault. I went to Hunter’s last night unannounced, so it was his way of making sure the rest of you found out about it,” he admitted, making me frown.
“I heard him mention that. Why the fuck did you go there alone, anyway?”
“I was hoping to make some peace before this shit gets out of hand.” He looked like he was thinking something over before speaking again, apology in his tone. “I knew about the gas station and wanted to warn him away from her.”
I glared at him, flicking ash in the ashtray. “You fucking knew the Devils were bugging my girl and didn’t say anything?”
“Thought she wasn’t your girl?” he scoffed, raking a hand through his hair. “But yeah. I didn’t want it to explode into something if I could avoid it, so I went to speak to him to let him know she’s Psychos property and to leave her alone.”
“Why?”
He blinked at me for a second before frowning. “Why not?”
“I don’t believe for a second you like her and want to be her bestie. You’re playing the long game, and I don’t know why,” I gritted out. “If this is a trick so we lower our guard, it won’t happen. Regardless of our friendship, I’ll never trust you with her. You’ve proven I can’t.”
“I deserve that,” he mumbled, texting on his phone before pocketing it. “I’ll handle the meet tonight with the weapons’ client. Take the night off.”
“I can work.”
“No. Marco always gets under your skin, and I need you clear-headed when you’re on a job. Go home, go to Rory’s, or find a bar. Just take the night, okay?” he said seriously, patting my shoulder on his way from the room.
His mood didn’t make sense, but I wasn’t going to say no to the night off.