Chapter 44
44
PAIGE
“Mmm…” Harper hummed. “Look what just walked in.”
“What?” I asked as I turned to look over my shoulder.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Bree muttered.
All of our heads snapped toward Bree, who was staring at him with a very annoyed expression.
“Do you know him?” Harper asked.
“Unfortunately,” she mumbled just as his eyes landed on our table.
But more specifically, they landed on Bree.
To say he didn’t look like her type would be an understatement. He was dressed in jeans, a black T-shirt that was tight against his broad chest, and black motorcycle boots. It didn’t seem to fit with Bree’s dress and heels, but I guess the same could be said about Cole and me.
The door opened behind him, but his eyes never left Bree, not even when a few more guys surrounded him. He gestured to our table, and Bree sighed, turning her back on him and facing us.
She rolled her eyes. “Let me guess, they’re coming over here.”
I glanced over my shoulder. “Good guess.”
She sighed just as they approached. “I thought that was you.”
I looked up just as one of the three men spoke, and I expected it to be the one watching Bree, but it wasn’t him. I shifted my eyes, and my gaze landed on another who looked vaguely familiar to me, but he was staring at Bridget.
“Hey, Kyle,” she said with a smile.
He looked around the table. “Looks like you’re making new friends.”
“I am.” She nodded happily. She gestured toward me before going around the table. “That’s Paige, Bree, Lanie, and Harper.”
“Hi, Kyle,” Lanie said immediately.
He smirked. “I know Lanie.” Then his eyes landed on me. “I’ve seen Paige before, but I don’t think we’ve met.” He held out his hand, which I shook. “And I definitely know Bree and Harper.”
“Yeah, I know you.” Harper smiled at Kyle but gestured toward the men beside him. “But I don’t know them.”
Kyle laughed and gestured beside him. “Skinner and Hawk meet Bridget, who is Striker’s sister, and the Dimarco ladies.”
I raised my hand. “I’m not a Dimarco.”
“Yet.” Kyle winked.
I tilted my head. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Heard you’ve been shacking up with a Dimarco.” He chuckled. “That’s how it starts.”
“Yeah, yeah, she’s with Cole.” Harper leaned over the table and held out her hand to Skinner while Kyle laughed. He glanced down at the cleavage she had purposely put on display before grinning at her and sliding his hand into hers. “Nice to meet you, Harper.”
Harper finger waved at Hawk, but her eyes stayed locked on Skinner. “How do you know Kyle?”
“We have some friends in common.” He glanced at Kyle before continuing. “I’m a member of the Sinners motorcycle club.”
“Ahh,” Harper said, and I agreed with her sentiment. Now it made sense how Kyle knew these guys. Lanie had privately shared that Elite and the Sinners have previously worked together.
Bree shifted her attention to Hawk. “You’re not a Sinner.”
He grinned slowly. “Didn’t know you knew so much about me, Bree.”
“Wait.” Harper flicked her finger between Hawk and Bree. “How do you two know each other?”
Bree sighed. “We met at the coffee shop. He was meeting with Luke for some reason.” She leaned forward and put her elbows on the table, her eyes on Harper. “And he insulted Bailey.”
Harper’s eyebrows raised before she shifted her stare toward Hawk. “You insulted our sister?”
Hawk snorted. “Not exactly the way it happened.”
“Are you saying Bree’s lying?”
I glanced at Lanie, who grinned at me. We both knew Harper was not going to like someone who said anything bad about her sisters, and it seemed to me like Bree was instigating her wrath for some reason.
He put his hands on his hips. “Just sayin’ we remember it differently.”
Harper narrowed her eyes and shifted her attention back to Skinner. “You two friends?”
He smirked. “Yeah.”
“Shame.” She sighed and sat back in her seat.
Kyle swung his head in Hawk’s direction. “Man, what the hell did you say?”
“Probably not worth repeating,” Hawk muttered.
“Why are you here?” Bree glanced at Hawk, who remained standing beside her and still had his eyes locked on her. “Luke said you were moving back to wherever you came from.”
He studied Bree for a moment before replying, “You asked Luke about me?”
“Only to make sure I’d never see you again,” she replied and gestured toward him. “Yet here you are, so why are you back?”
He grunted. “Have some work in town.”
“How long will you be here?”
“A while.”
Annoyed, she faced the table again. “Great.”
With a shake of his head, Kyle gestured toward the bar, but his gaze settled on Bridget. “We’re gonna grab drinks. You need anything?”
“No, thanks, Kyle.” Bridget smiled. “Cole and Jake went for them a little bit ago, but the line is long.” She gestured toward the large table. “You’re welcome to join us if you’d like. It might be hard to find a table of your own.”
Kyle glanced around the bar, then the table before facing Bridget again and smirking. “We might have to take you up on that.” He winked at Bridget. “This night is really looking up.”
They shared a smile, then she watched Kyle walk toward the bar without any idea that we were all studying her.
I cleared my throat to ask what was going on between her and Kyle when Harper did it for me. “What’s going on between you and Kyle?”
Bridget’s eyes snapped toward Harper. “Nothing, other than being friends or friendly, I guess.”
“Seemed a little more than friendly,” Lanie said, and that surprised me. Lanie was usually quiet during stuff like this, which told me even she was curious about their relationship.
Bridget glanced at the bar again before facing us and sighing. “Kyle’s been showing me around town, stuff like that. He’s Striker’s best friend. They were in the military together, and I know he’s trying to help us get to know each other. I’m grateful to him. Honestly, without Kyle and Striker’s girlfriend, I doubt Striker would’ve ever reached out to talk to me.”
“Why not?”
“He has a lot of animosity toward me.” She smiled sadly. “And he has every right to. It’s a long story.”
“Ooh, long stories are usually the best stories,” Harper chimed in.
Bridget chuckled. “Yeah, but I’m not sure it’s my story to share.”
“Bummer.” Harper sat back and crossed her arms over her chest, aiming her stare at Bree. “What’s up with you and the hottie?”
“I already told you.”
Harper snorted. “You only told us part of the story.”
Bree shrugged her shoulder. “I just don’t like him.”
“After meeting one time?” I asked.
“I think arrogance is unattractive, and he has that in spades.”
Harper shifted her attention back to Bridget, which told me she got everything she could out of Bree. “What’s the story with Skinner?”
Bridget shook her head. “I don’t know. I never met him before today. I only really know Striker and Kyle.”
“Finally.” We all shifted our attention to the end of the table when we heard Jake’s voice. “This place is slammed.”
Cole moved around the table and put a glass in front of me before sliding into the chair beside me.
“Thanks.” We shared a smile when I leaned my shoulder against his arm.
“Saw Kyle,” Jake said, and I shifted my attention back to the table in time to see him sit in the chair between Lanie and Bree. “He said you begged them to sit with us.”
Bridget laughed. “That’s not exactly what happened, but it sounds like something Kyle would say.”
Jake shifted his attention to Bree and smirked. “He also said you hate Hawk.”
She lifted her glass to her lips. “He’s annoying.”
“Hmm…” He laid his arm across Lanie’s shoulders. “Surprised you didn’t just tell him to fuck off.”
Bree smiled for the first time since Hawk walked into the bar. “My Southern charm won’t allow it.”
Cole laughed and gestured toward Harper with his bottle. “How come you don’t have that?”
“Oh, I have it.” She smirked. “I just choose who deserves it.”
Sitting back in my seat, I laughed with everyone else, happy the sour mood had lifted. After a while, Kyle and his crew joined us, and I was curious how Bree would act with Hawk at the same table, but she turned on that Southern charm and didn’t let the mood turn again.
After we finished our drinks and another round, Cole swung his arm around my shoulders and leaned down. “You ready to get out of here?”
I smiled up at him. “Almost.”
He leaned down and pressed a kiss on my lips that made me hum in appreciation, but I smiled when Jake’s voice interrupted our moment. “Knock it off, you two.”
“Fuck off,” Cole said over his shoulder, making me laugh. He twisted in his seat to face the table, but his eyes landed on Harper. “Guess I didn’t get the Southern charm either.”
She lifted her drink, and he tapped his bottle against it while they laughed. Listening to him laugh, I leaned my head against his chest and smiled. This was what I’d been missing. This feeling of love and acceptance that I never knew I wanted but now couldn’t imagine my life without.
I met Lanie’s eyes across the table, and we shared a smile.
We’d moved here for a fresh start.
And both finally found that and so much more.