CHAPTER FOURTEEN OVERCOMPENSATING RHYS
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
OVERCOMPENSATING
RHYS
“You good, man?”
Pulling my focus from the doorway I’d been staring at, I looked to where Jake sat on a stool near a mint Land Rover he was inspecting for planned upgrades. “Yeah, why?”
“You were fuckin’ shot at a few days ago. That slip your mind?”
“It happens so frequently, they just blur together.”
He gave me a look that said he didn’t think I was funny.
I held my hands up. “I’m good. Barely a scratch.”
“Lo wasn’t so lucky.”
Like his wifey, Jake didn’t need to be reminded that she was Lo and not the Detective Oscar they knew. Unlike his wife, he hadn’t greeted me with a delicious cookie. Just the fucked-up reminder of how bad it could’ve been.
My fists tightened till my knuckles went white. “Could’ve been worse. Literal inches away from so much fuckin’ worse.”
He shook his head, his jaw clenched. “Any ideas what happened?”
“Not a damn one.” And that pissed me off almost as much as Lo getting scraped up.
“Fuck.” He tilted his head toward the doorway as Hollywood strolled by with a wave before hauling his equipment into a different room. “Between all of us, we’re fundin’ MayCo for the month with these security sweeps.”
Jake knew they were a biker club. Hell, his garage had become Court of Mayhem’s unofficial provider for all things parts, repairs, upgrades, and maintenance.
But I wasn’t sure if he knew about the extractions they did to help the traumatized and vulnerable.
I doubted it, though. Court of Mayhem was tight-lipped about those details.
But since funding MayCo meant contributing to those heroic efforts, I said, “There are worse things to throw money at.”
“True. And at least I know it’s done right with them.”
We shot the shit for a while as he worked, and my mind wandered frequently to the other side of the building.
Kase and Eli joined us one after another, each offering the same commiseration and concern before settling in to chat.
Or, more likely, settling in so they didn’t miss any details, the nosy bastards.
Sucked for them that there wasn’t much to offer.
That didn’t stop them from trying.
“So what’s up with Lo?” Eli asked, rubbing his hand over a bandage on the opposite forearm. It was the plastic kind that denoted a new tattoo, not an injury. Didn’t think he had much available real estate for more ink, but he’d found a spot.
“Aren’t you a married man?” I snapped.
Like Glitch a few days prior, his smile at the reminder was nothing but contentment.
He took all that loved-up sickness a step further by peeling away the plastic to give me an unobstructed view of his new floral tattoo.
Didn’t know shit about flowers, but it was a safe bet they shared a name with his Posey.
“Happily. But I was simply asking what’s up with her.
You know, since she’s gonna be around and has been through a lot. ”
Dammit.
My own thoughts about her were far from innocent concern, and my projection—and the thread of irritation in my tone—snuck free without thought.
“She’s fine,” I said—and lied. She was better than fine. “And she won’t be around long. It’ll likely only be a couple days before she’s transferred to the next shitshow in this city.”
Thank fuck.
I didn’t think I’d given much away, but my tension didn’t go unnoticed.
Jake looked up from his notes with narrowed eyes. “It’s going that bad? Should I give Piper a warning?”
I waved him off. “Nah, nothing like that. You know how I feel about people in my space.”
Especially distractingly beautiful people with big eyes, fuckable lips, and soft thighs…
“Everyone knows how you feel about anything more than a few hours, so how’s this gonna work?
” Kase asked as he hefted himself onto a workbench.
Like Eli, he was also covered in ink—some of it permanent and some of it courtesy of the custom paint jobs he did in the shop.
It was the latter he was leaving streaked on the bench under him.
“We’re just gonna say she’s my cousin or something like that,” I said. We hadn’t had to nail down the logistics of our story with anyone who didn’t know the truth, but the cousin thing her captain suggested made the most sense.
Actually, the more I thought about it, the more perfect it was.
No one would blink at her sudden arrival in my life.
No one would be suspicious that she stuck around for more than the few hours Kase mentioned.
And if she was family, I could get away with being overprotective.
I would ensure the men at the bar would give her a wide berth since less distraction meant she was out of there sooner.
Since there was no good gossip to gain from me, conversation moved to what everyone still had to work on for the day.
And I split my time between watching my phone and the doorway.
When someone finally came through said doorway, it wasn’t the detective. It was Hollywood.
“All good,” he said to Jake.
“Whole place?” Eli confirmed.
Hollywood lifted his chin. “Studio, too. I accidentally interrupted your wife’s recording, though. The shit that innocent face says?” He put his hand to his heart. “My poor ears have never heard such naughtiness.”
Eli’s wife was a narrator for romance audiobooks, and the reason Rye now stocked honey and tea.
She was sweet and funny, which was probably why Eli had gone away for a wedding and returned with her as his souvenir.
I had a hard time imagining what Hollywood could’ve overheard that would have him reacting like he was.
Because he might’ve been playing it up for shits and giggles, but there was a very real tinge of pink on his cheeks that his short beard failed to hide.
Worse has to be said at the clubhouse. Right?
I thought about some of the conversations and jokes I’d heard from the women.
Or maybe not.
“Wait, you got through this whole glorified strip mall already?” I asked Hollywood, earning a middle finger from Jake.
The place was built from the ground up for Hyde Garage and Sweets You Rock, along with additional spaces to be rented out.
Other than Posey’s studio tucked away close because Eli was as bad as the rest of them, the two successful businesses ended up needing to utilize all available space.
And none of it was faded, dodgy, or cheap like a typical strip mall.
“Don’t take your size envy out on me,” he tossed in while raising his other middle finger to give a double dose.
“What size envy? Rye isn’t exactly lacking.”
“I’m sure your patrons tell you it’s the perfect size. That they don’t like the bigger bars.”
“Or maybe I’m not overcompensating for something.”
He gestured outward. “Can’t overcompensate for what I already have.”
He was talking about more than just his building, and an unfamiliar punch of envy hit me in the gut. Not about the size of anything, but for the happiness he’d managed to secure. For the life he’d built with Piper.
I didn’t want her. Sure, once upon a damn time, I’d thought I did. I’d barely even known her, but I’d seen her sweetness and let myself imagine what it would be like to have it in my life. What it would be like to let someone in again for longer than a few hours.
But that wasn’t my life. I didn’t do more than those few hours where I told them what to do, they obeyed, and then I sent them on their way with a smile on their face.
Jake might’ve been mostly the same, but that was before Piper. As soon as I’d seen how badly he wanted her—even while he’d lied to himself—I happily backed off. It wasn’t a chivalrous move on my part. I would’ve lost even if I’d brought my A-game and pursued her with the determination she deserved.
Because she and Jake were it for each other, and I never stood a chance.
That didn’t mean the burn of a past betrayal didn’t occasionally team up with those what-ifs to remind me what I could never have.
Happiness with a woman who understood me.
With big brown eyes.
And awful suits.
And thighs I wanted wrapped around…
I wasn’t going there. Not in reality. And not in my head.
I just needed my damn dick to get that message.
Conceding Jake’s win with a grudging glare that was fake as hell and only meant to make him laugh, I dragged my focus back to Hollywood. “What’s the deal? Is Glitch slow-walking his process to bill me more, or is he losing his touch?”
The biker barked out a laugh. “Don’t let him hear you ask that. He’ll fuck your life up with a few mouse clicks. Bye-bye, bank account. Bye-bye, credit score. Bye-bye, porn access.”
“He’d have to lock the back room to really make a difference,” Eli put in.
He was wrong. That room went unused for anything other than downtime or the employees taking quick hits of their vapes when the weather was shit—something they thought I didn’t know about.
Even the loss of porn would make no difference to me right then. That wasn’t what fueled my self-given orgasms.
“He might do all that out of frustration alone,” Hollywood said. “Something is fucked with your system, and it’s pissing him off.”
“He’s the one who installed the system,” I said.
“Which is why he’s so pissed. He swears someone must’ve messed with his perfection.”
I put my hands up to plead innocence. “Wasn’t me.”
“What wasn’t you?” Xavier asked as he joined us.
I went alert at his sudden appearance, ignoring his question. “Where’s Lo?”
He hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “Working the counter. They’re almost out of inventory, so it’s slowed down.”
“That’s my cue to take off before all that’s left is raisin bullshit,” Hollywood said with a flicked wrist wave to us.
“And I should see if Lo’s done. I need to get back to Rye before Glitch takes a sledgehammer to the electrical panel,” I said.
“If she’s not ready to go, I can give her a ride,” Xavier offered.
I’m sure you’d fuckin’ love that.
“Stop trying to steal my bodyguard.” I gestured to the already fading scrape on my arm. “You want a tiny badass, you have to earn it.”
“Would be worth it,” he muttered as he rubbed a hand across his jaw.
A jaw I suddenly wanted to break.
I thought I was leaving them to the work they were slacking on, but when I got into the hall, I realized the nosy entourage had followed. All except Eli. He broke off to head toward the back where Posey’s studio was set.
He built her a recording studio in his place of work to keep her close.
Jake designed the building so the door in his office opens into his wife’s kitchen.
Sad fuckers.
I went to the garage lobby before pushing through the swinging door that led to the bakery storefront.
Hollywood still stood at the counter while Joss bagged something up.
When he shifted out of the way, I got a view of Lo with her back to us.
Her already short t-shirt lifted farther, giving me—giving everyone—a glimpse of her bare skin before it was covered again by the hoodie she was pulling on.
I have no room to talk about sad fuckers.
Kase moved straight to Harlow. Xavier went for the baked goods even though he’d likely already pilfered some while he was helping out.
But I stayed where I was, thinking about how asinine the plan was.
Who thought this was a good idea? Contrary to her statement, there’s no fuckin’ way she’s blending in anywhere.
I didn’t even notice I wasn’t the only one who hung back till Jake spoke from next to me.
“Not gonna work,” he muttered, amusement in his tone.
“What?” I asked.
“Saying she’s your cousin.”
“Why not?” We didn’t look a thing alike, but that didn’t matter when it came to cousins.
“Because of the way you’re lookin’ at her. No one will buy it. Not unless you want people to think you’re into some freaky shit that’s illegal in most states.”
“I’m not looking at her like anything,” I said—after I fixed my damn face to be as blank as it should’ve been from the start. “Don’t take up your wifey’s habit of matchmaking. It’s a lost cause.”
“I call it like I see it.”
“Then you need glasses, old man.”
His low chuckle said he didn’t buy it.
Which was fair.
Neither did I.