Chapter 6
STARBUCKS
“What the fuck is wrong with you?”
I turned to glare at Ranger’s silhouette through the eye slit of my balaclava. “Nothing.”
“Then get your head in the game. I am not ending up in federal prison because you have a stick shoved so far up your ass you have splinters in your tongue.”
Despite myself, I snorted. We were on the roof of the building across from the forensics laboratory. “Unless you’re planning on making out with me tonight, what is or is not on my tongue is none of your business.”
It was dark in the shadows, but we were close enough that I felt him turn his head towards me. Neither of us wore anything that could identify us or our club. Our clothing was generic, our boots were common, and the only body part showing was our eyes.
Ranger was right, though. My head was elsewhere.
It had been since I’d seen Calliope’s fucking happy dance at selling her first bulk order of honey.
I’d barely been able to finish that last shelf in the timeframe of the charity deal.
Not that that would have really mattered, but it gave me the excuse to leave and truly give us the space we both needed.
Fucking hell. I felt like I was stuck between a rock and a hard place with a freight train barreling towards me. I’d never been so caught up by a woman before, and the speed in which it happened was giving me whiplash.
I felt like I was going against my nature, and yet there was something so natural about being with Calliope. Like we were old friends seeing each other for the first time in years. Hell, even my cat and her dragon acted like they were meant to be.
And that was what twisted me up inside. She knew.
I wasn’t angered by that fact. Confused, maybe.
I’d always been a skeptical bastard when it came to superstitions and the supernatural.
In my old unit, there’d been a guy who wouldn’t go into battle unless he had his lucky socks on, which he never washed.
There was a reason we called him ‘Scholls’.
I thought him ridiculous. How could a fucking pair of socks change the outcome of a battle?
Especially ones that could put a skunk to shame.
So why was I so inclined to believe Calliope? Sure, I’d joked about her being a witch only that morning—which now felt like a lifetime ago. How had it only been this morning that Pumpkin had scolded me for referring to her as ‘the witch’ in a belittling way?
“He’s having girl problems,” came over our earpieces. Keys’ voice was clear, whereas ours were muffled by our masks. The kid was waiting a safe distance away in his souped-up van while Ranger and I risked our asses for our President.
Or soon-to-be former President. Ghost, our Enforcer, had been voted in as Steel’s replacement. To be honest, the guy had looked kind of pale when he’d been told. Then again, he was a ginger and was whiter than a wedding dress. It could have just been the lighting.
My hackles rose at Keys’ words. “What the fuck do you know about ‘girl problems’, kid?”
“I know that you spent the afternoon with Calliope Hutchins and then spent your evening watching porn loudly in your room.” I saw Ranger turn towards me again but couldn’t see his expression due to the darkness and his mask. Keys added, “Thin walls, remember?”
Yeah, that was a common issue in the clubhouse.
We tended to know what—or who—each other was doing simply because we could hear it.
It hadn’t been that big of an issue since the Honeys were no longer employed, and just as before, no one who wasn’t an ol’ lady could stay in the clubhouse overnight.
Scar and Tally were the only couple who lived in the clubhouse at present.
Their house was being built, and it was their hope that they’d be able to move in by Christmas.
The exterior was built prior to the weather turning, which made Cage’s job easier, and his crew could continue working through the cold to get the interior done.
Most of us wore headphones, but there were still telltale sounds and signs that gave either ourselves or a neighbor away. For the most part, the rule was the same as it had been when we were in the military: ignore it.
“At least I know what to do with my dick,” I shot back at him. “Do you even know where yours is?”
Keys grumbled something before saying louder. “Yes. Just because I’m not a horndog like you doesn’t mean I don’t know where my dick is.”
“Just be grateful condoms work for you, kid,” Ranger added.
I’d missed the announcement this afternoon, but when Pumpkin had introduced Dosia and his daughter JJ to the club, he’d also informed everyone that Dosia was already pregnant with his child.
He claimed he had ‘super sperm’ since this was the third time a condom had failed him.
“Don’t change the subject. I want to know what’s going on between Starbucks and Calliope.”
My eyes narrowed, even though Keys was nowhere near me.
We were waiting on his all-clear before we worked our way across the rooftops.
Apparently someone was working in the lab that wasn’t supposed to be here this late, but Keys was able to confirm they were working on a different case than Steel’s.
“Has the worker gone home yet?” I growled instead of responding to his statement.
“I’d have told you if they did,” Keys shot back at me. “Now quit dodging the subject and tell me what happened.”
An idea struck me. “Sure, I’ll tell you, but then you have to tell us about your mystery bidder.”
Keys must have been taking a drink of something because suddenly he was spluttering through our earpieces.
“What? Nothing. It’s nobody. She’s not— I mean, they’re not anyone important.
And even if they were, why would it mean something?
She— I mean, they were just helping me out.
We’re friends. Only friends. And,” he gasped before deflating, “I don’t want to talk about it. ”
Ranger and I both had to fight to keep our laughter at bay. Shit, the kid was easily flustered.
“Fine, then I don’t want to talk about mine either,” I shot back at him.
“She’s watching your latest video.”
My eyebrows perked up at that. “She is? Wait, how do you know?”
“Please,” Keys scoffed. “Like I can’t break into your TikTok channel and look at your stats? What do I look like, an amateur?”
“You’ll be a dead amateur soon,” I warned, my voice an octave above a growl. I could feel Ranger’s shoulder shaking in silent laughter next to me.
“Do you want me to see how many videos she’s watched?”
“No!” I said, a little too loudly for a clandestine operation. I lowered my voice. “Keys, stay out of it.”
“Aw, she’s a beekeeper. I didn’t realize that we had someone local. I’ve always been fascinated by the videos I’ve seen of the professionals who actually scoop up bees with their bare hands. Like, how do they not get stung? It’s freaky, but also fascinating.”
Calliope scooped up bees in her hands? I knew she was a beekeeper, but I hadn’t known about that. I’m not sure I liked that. What happened if the bees turned aggressive? She should be wearing protection.
Keys continued, oblivious to my internal thoughts. “I’m following her now. She’s only got a couple dozen followers. Oh, shoot. I’m still logged in as you. Oh, well. She’s got two new followers now.”
I groaned. I hadn’t known Calliope had her own TikTok channel, but now she probably thought I was stalking her or something.
It had been awkward leaving this afternoon.
Neither of us wanted me to leave, and I was sure our pets loathed the separation more than we did.
But it was for the best. All six shelves were built and mounted.
Somehow four of them had taken us one hour to make while the last two took almost three hours.
I hadn’t been lying when I said she was too distracting.
I felt like I could talk to her for the rest of my life and never get bored.
And that was a scary fucking thought.
I wasn’t the relationship type. I wasn’t even sure I’d ever been in a relationship. Not the dinner-and-dining, meet-the-parents, building-a-future type anyway. One-night stands and friends with benefits was my history. I still wasn’t a hundred percent certain what her history was.
I also wasn’t sure I wanted to know. The thought of another man touching her made me murderous.
“Calliope, huh?” Ranger said from beside me. “Isn’t she Dosia’s niece?”
“Other way around,” I grumbled. Neither of them were going to let this go. I really needed that fucking worker inside to move his fucking ass!
A breathless, “Jesus,” came over the line.
“What?” Ranger and I demanded in unison.
“Nothing,” Keys said quickly. “It’s just… I kind of broke into her computer just to see what it was she liked to search. And here I thought I watched a lot of porn.”
My dick had never reacted to another man’s words before this moment. What. The. Fuck! The image of a naked Calliope on her bed—her room generic, since I’d never been in it—with her hand between her legs, pumping a dildo in and out of her sweet honeytrap. My sweet, sweet Winnie…
“Jesus Christ, Keys!” Ranger berated. “Time and place. I am not breaking into a federal building with a guy sporting a hard-on.”
Shit. I forgot where we were. I had to get my body under control, but my blood had turned to fire at the fantasy I couldn’t get out of my head.
“Don’t you ever mention this to her,” I warned Keys. I’d skin him alive if he did. “I will not have you embarrass her—”
“God, no!” he said hastily. “I hadn’t meant to say anything to you. It just startled me. I expected her to have horoscopes or moon charts or something on her computer. Not an entire search history filled with PornHub and .”
And there went my dick again.
“Keys!” Ranger snapped.
“Shit, shit. Sorry. Okay. I’m out. Really. Subject dropped. I promise,” he hastily said over the earpiece. “But seriously, Starbucks, what’s going on between you two?”