Chapter Thirteen
TY STARED AT his cell phone with a frown. 11:02 a.m. Where was the text from Jinx?
For the past three days, his club brother texted him the same message at exactly eleven in the morning.
Hey, asshole, only text back if you’re dead. If shit is good, ignore this.
A dig over how he fell off the radar and a sincere check-in wrapped up in classic Jinx snark. Since he was coasting along, he hadn’t responded. The guys knew he’d contact them if he needed them.
But today, his phone remained mysteriously silent for the past two minutes. After another minute of scowling at the quiet device, Ty rolled his eyes. “For fuck’s sake,” he muttered. “He’s probably fucking busy running your business.”
He’d booked this bungalow until tomorrow with an option to extend since no one had it booked directly after him. But he’d been away long enough to pull his head out of his ass, not that he had, but late tomorrow morning, he’d head home so he could arrive back in Lithia by evening.
This trip had been, well, useless in a way. The plan was to hit the beach, surf, watch the waves, and do some thinking. That part he’d done in spades. His skin was now a nice golden brown from the hours spent outside in the waves, something he loved but didn’t do nearly enough. Running a business was a serious time suck.
The other goal he’d had for this little getaway was to shake Kelsie out of his head by getting someone else on his dick. And in that part of his plan, he’d failed spectacularly. He might have gotten off many times, but all consisted of his hand and no one else’s. He’d tried, somewhat. Each night, he’d gotten dressed to go out. The main street was riddled with tiki bars full of prospective hookups. But then something kept him from leaving.
He”d run through a host of bullshit reasons for his hesitancy.
He was too old to go trolling for women.
One night, it was raining, and he didn’t want to get wet.
Another, there was an epic sunset he didn’t want to miss from the porch of his bungalow.
Pitiful excuses when he knew the real reason.
He was just too damn stubborn to admit it.
With a huff, he tossed his phone on the couch. As it bounced, it chimed as though he’d shaken the text message into his inbox.
Fucking Jinx.
Chuckling while shaking his head, he reached for the device. Sure enough, Jinx’s name flashed on the screen. Maybe he’d put the poor guy out of his misery and let him know he planned to return tomorrow.
He swiped the text open only to frown as he realized this one was longer than the others.
A man Kelsie knows tracked her down and approached her when she was shopping with the ladies. The gals don’t know what he wants, but he upset her. She’s not saying why.
It felt like granite entered his veins, stiffening his entire body. What the fuck? They knew little of Kelsie’s history except that she kept to herself and lived a quiet, simple life. He’d gotten the impression she was avoiding someone or maybe even running from something.
This man?
Was he an ex?
A stalker?
They also said he was smokin’ hot. Their words, not mine. I like pussy. Harper’s pussy.
Any other time, he’d have snickered at Jinx’s idiocy, but his entire brainpower was focused on this mystery man.
Who the fuck was he, and what did he want with Kelsie?
The urge to call and ask her those very questions hit strong, but she’d probably tell him to fuck off after the way he’d disappeared without a word. And he’d deserve it.
“Goddammit,” he shouted as he snatched a pillow off the couch and sent it hurtling across the room. “Guess I’m riding back today.”
Nine hours later, he killed the engine on his bike in front of the clubhouse. Traffic had been a bitch. He was dusty, hungry, and needed a stiff drink almost as much as he needed to pound on whoever this asshole was that fucking stalked Kelsie. If anyone got in his path on the way to the bar, they might not like the outcome.
He yanked the door to the clubhouse open and stopped dead in his tracks. The scene before him almost had him backing out the door to check if he had the right location.
“What the fuck?” he whispered.
All the tables had been shoved to the sides of the room. Where they used to be, two large trashcans had been placed side by side. Two of his brothers, Lock and Pulse, stood about fifteen feet from them. Brenna sat on her old man’s shoulders, laughing as she threw beachball after beachball toward the trashcan, only sinking one. But what caught his attention was the woman atop Pulse’s shoulders. Though he knew her, Kelsie was barely recognizable from the woman he rescued months ago or the woman he’d visited in the hospital. She laughed so hard she could barely hang onto the beachballs as Jo tossed them up to her. None came close to landing in the trashcan, but that only made her and Brenna laugh harder. The others cheered them on, encouraging the madness.
The clubhouse had never seen an event like this before, that was for damn sure. Whatever this weird-as-fuck competition he’d walked in on was, Kelsie was having a hell of a time.
His eyes narrowed on Pulse’s hands, clutching her bare thighs to keep her in place. The sight had his hackles rising. When the fuck had she become comfortable with Pulse touching her?
“Ty! You’re back.” Brenna’s shout had the laughter and yelling disappearing as all eyes turned his way.
After he scooped his jaw off the floor, he said, “Don’t let me interrupt,” as he walked toward the bar. The shock of this strange party hadn”t killed his need for something to relax him. Instead, seeing Pulse groping Kelsie made him need something more. He remembered the joint he’d been saving for his final night on Marco Island. Maybe he’d head out back and put it to good use.
The festivities didn’t start back up. It seemed his presence killed the vibe. He couldn’t say he minded as he spied Kelsie tap Pulse’s shoulder, asking to be put down. When her feet hit the floor, and she stepped away from Pulse while staring at Ty, he let out a breath he hadn’t realized had stalled in his lungs.
“The prodigal son returns,” Jinx said as he strolled up behind Ty. “Get you a drink?” He circled the bar.
“Thanks. You know what I like.” Aside from Curly, Jinx was probably his closest friend. They spent the most time together since Jinx worked for him. He loved the big guy’s ridiculous personality, but tonight, he was wary of what might come out of the jokester’s mouth.
“So, was it me telling you the dude was hot?” Jinx asked as he fetched a bottle of tequila from the shelf.
“Huh?” Ty said as his ass landed on a barstool.
“The reason you left to come back as soon as you got my text. Was it the dude being hot or him upsetting Kelsie?”
Both.
“It was you saying you liked pussy. Thought you might go sniffing around someone new and leave Harper in the dust.” He pressed his lips together to keep from smirking.
“Not funny,” Jinx said, pointing the neck of the tequila bottle his way. “That’s the kind of shit that gets a man sleeping on the couch. I happen to like it in my bed. So does Harp.” He waggled his eyebrows.
“How do you know I wasn’t already on my way when I got your texts?”
“If you could have seen your face when you walked in, you’d know the answer to that.” Jinx slid the generous glass of tequila Ty’s way.
“What the fuck’s that supposed to mean?” He snatched the glass and brought it to his lips for a taste.
Ahh, the good shit. Jinx never disappointed.
“Your eyes went straight to Pulse’s hand on your gal’s thigh. She looked cute in that little black outfit.” He winked. “Bet Pulse thought so, too. He almost fell over when she asked to play the game with him. We all assumed she’d watch, but nope, the girl has grit. It took her a few minutes to get comfy, but Pulse was real patient and gentle.”
Ty couldn’t keep his nostrils from flaring as the image reappeared in his head.
“There it is,” Jinx said as he snickered and pointed at Ty’s face. “Same damn look.”
“Fuck off. There’s no look.”
The big man continued to laugh at him. “You’re fighting a losing battle, my man. I recommend you just give the fuck in and go after her. She’s not exactly subtle over there, staring at you like you’re the last ice cream sundae on earth, and she’s starving.”
Christ, how he wanted to glance over his shoulder to see Kelsie’s expression, but he resisted. “Give me another,” he said, sliding the glass back to Jinx. He was playing a stupid game he’d already lost. Jinx knew he wanted Kelsie. He could deny it until he sprouted wings, but no one believed him.
Observant assholes.
He accepted the refreshed drink and took a long sip. There was nothing like the burn of a good tequila. After he set the glass down, he looked at Jinx, who seemed to be patiently waiting for him to say something worthwhile. “You know what she went through, or at least the gist of it,” he said in a low voice as he averted his gaze to the tequila in his glass. “How do I know if I go too far? She has to have pretty significant boundaries. Don’t you think? How would I even navigate that? What if I fuck up and do something that triggers her? You know how seriously bad things got for her before she ended up here. And for fuck’s sake, she’s so goddamned young.” He tossed back the rest of the tequila and shoved the glass away.
She wasn’t so young, for fuck’s sake. She was too young.
“You’re asking the wrong person, brother,” Jinx said. He rested his massive forearms on the bartop and speared Ty with a rare serious stare.
“Who should I ask? I’ll take help from anyone at this point.”
“You being dense on purpose?” Jinx smacked Ty’s forehead. “Ask her, dickwad. She’s the only one who can tell you what her boundaries are, if you’re going too far, or what the fuck she wants. How the hell am I supposed to know?”
Talk to her. He grunted. Jinx made it sound so simple.
But talking was a slippery slope. It led to vulnerability on his part, and after his divorce, he’d never taken that route with another woman. The fact that Trina could still cut him to the core, even years later, made him that much less willing to lay himself bare.
Emotionally speaking.
Physically, getting bare with Kelsie was becoming harder and harder to resist. He just had to find the right way to navigate the minefield of Kelsie’s trauma and his own emotional baggage.
And the twenty-some-odd-year age difference.
Sounded like a recipe for disaster.
Maybe Jinx was right, and he did need to speak to Kelsie about all this.
“I need to fucking think a bit. I’m gonna head home.”
Jinx tilted his head as he studied Ty. “You sure? You’ve been thinking for days.”
Shrugging, he stood. “Yeah, well, maybe I was thinking about the wrong shit.”
“Ain’t that the way it goes, brother? All right, man. See you tomorrow?” Jinx extended a hand across the bartop.
“Yeah, I’ll be around.” He grasped Jinx’s hand and shook it, then headed for the door without another glance in Kelsie’s direction. Okay, a very quick glance to make sure she was all right. And fine, an extra second to stare at her ass as she stood giggling with the ladies.
Laughter and music trailed him to the exit. He reached the door, pushed it open, and took one step outside before the urge to glance back at Kelsie became impossible to resist. He found her staring at him with confusion in her beautiful eyes. There he was once again, fleeing without a word to her. At this point, he wouldn’t be surprised if she flipped him off and turned away.
But she didn’t. She held his stare and didn’t try to mask the heat in her eyes, even as she seemed puzzled by his leaving.
Tomorrow, he’d be clear enough to talk to her and take the next step.
Whatever that was.