Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
LUKAS
Ieyed Rory across the table as we ate breakfast the next morning, waiting to see if she’d bring up her midnight visitors or not. As expected, she kept it to herself, disappointing me a little.
Why couldn’t she trust us enough to be open and honest? I believed her that she wasn’t fucking them, but that didn’t mean something wasn’t there and it wouldn’t happen.
When Jensen and Tyler wandered upstairs to have their showers, I moved around the table to sit beside her, letting out a sigh. “What did they want?”
She paused eating, looking over at me for a second before deciding not to lie about it.
“Marco was grabbing his bike. How did you know they were here?”
“I woke up and you weren’t in bed. Saw you outside with them,” I shrugged, tilting my head. “You don’t need to hide it from us, you know? It makes it look worse than it is.”
“You know I’m not—”
“I know, but if I was sneaking out of the house without pants on to talk to girls in the driveway in the middle of the night, you’d want to know too, and you definitely wouldn’t be okay with it,” I said dryly, her nose scrunching at the thought.
“Good morning,” Josie said brightly as she walked into the kitchen, leaning down to give us both a quick hug. “Get a good sleep?”
“I did. Rory tossed and turned a lot,” I stated before Rory could lie.
“The school knows you’re taking a few days at home before returning, so catch up on sleep and have some quiet time,” Josie murmured, checking her watch. “I’ll be at the main office today, but I’ll come home if you need me. You boys make sure you go to school. You have an hour.”
I really didn’t want to go to school, preferring to stay home with Rory, but Josie insisted it was best to leave Rory alone. Hopefully, she could spend some time with Diesel because her being alone didn’t sound like a good idea.
“I’ll make sure we’re out the door in forty minutes,” I promised, and Josie gave me a smile before saying goodbye and leaving.
Rory stood and moved to straddle me, draping her arms over my shoulders to run her fingers through my hair.
“Do you think Skeet will talk to me? Hunter wants me to stay away from him,” she said softly, not hiding the hurt in her tone.
“I don’t say this often, but listen to Hunter.
Skeet isn’t just upset with you, he thinks you betrayed him and his whole crew.
You’re lumped in with all their enemies, babe,” I warned, pressing a kiss to her lips.
“I know you want to talk to him, but I’d advise you to leave it alone.
Maybe spend some time with D this week while you have the time away from school. ”
“That’s a good idea,” she mumbled, leaning into me and just hugging me in silence until the guys reappeared.
She stayed on my lap until we had to leave, and it was hard prying her off me. I almost went against Josie and stayed home with her, but she forced a smile and shooed us away.
“Is she okay?” Tyler asked as we walked out to the cars, making me wince.
“Honestly? I don’t know. She’s cut up about Skeet and slept like shit. Didn’t help that Marco broke in last night to get his bike keys. I saw her out in the driveway talking to him and Hunter.”
“Marco was in the bedroom last night and we didn’t wake up?” Jensen asked with alarm.
“I don’t know, you’ll have to ask Rory later.
I suggested she hangs out with D today, so hopefully that keeps her out of trouble.
I left my keys for her in case she needs to go anywhere, but we need to organize getting the Lambo for her so she has wheels of her own.
I don’t want her calling Hunter for a ride when I need my car,” I grumbled, the guys giving me looks of agreement.
We climbed into the Camaro to go together, and tension filled the car when we pulled up at school next to Caden’s Challenger to see him climbing out. No matter how hard we tried to appear like nothing was wrong, the other students weren’t stupid. They knew something was going on between us.
He eyed us as he smoked, waiting for us to join him, and annoyance filled me at his lack of concern for Rory.
“Not even going to ask about her?” I asked flatly, making him scoff.
“If something was wrong, you’d have said something. Hope you all had a magical night of—”
“Stop being an ass. I don’t even give a shit if people see us fighting, so watch your mouth or I’ll put my fist in it,” I said to cut him off, his eyes narrowing.
“Let’s not do this, dude. I’m tired.”
“Up all night choking on Skeet’s cock?” Tyler asked dryly, making Caden snort and flick his cigarette away as he stalked off.
It was going to be a long day.
Diesel
I was making my morning coffee when a car pulled up outside and there was a knock on the door, annoyance washing through me. Who the fuck would be here this early? If it wasn’t a kid selling girl scout cookies, they were getting shot.
I walked over and opened the door with my hand on my gun, the tension leaving me instantly when I realized it was Rory. Only she’d make jeans, boots, and an overly large men’s hoodie look that good.
“What are you doing here?” I asked as I held the door open wider to let her in, and she cringed, looking apologetic.
“Sorry. The guys left for school and I thought I might be able to catch you before you head to the Shed. Is this okay? I can leave—”
“No, I like you here,” I promised, making sure the door was locked before leading her into the kitchen. “Coffee?”
She nodded and sat at the counter to wait, smiling at me once I slid it towards her and sat beside her.
“Did you get much sleep?” I asked, knowing she wouldn’t have.
“Not much. I was exhausted, so I thought it would’ve been easier to just pass out. Marco and Hunter stopped by in the middle of the night to get Marco’s bike too,” she huffed, sipping her coffee.
“Seriously? They woke you up?” I scowled, considering going to the warehouse and knocking them both out, but she chuckled.
“Not on purpose. I was already awake and heard Marco in the other room looking for his keys. Hunter gave me some handguns. I’m pissed at them both right now, but I trust that they’re not fucking me over. I need the guns, and there’s no way Skeet will let me have any of his.”
“You’re not wrong. I wanted to get some more for you but he shut that down fast. Hunter doesn’t want you locked up or dead, so you should be safe using his. His interest in you is still concerning though because it looks bad to Skeet. Causes more issues.”
“My only concern is staying safe from the Soldiers right now. Skeet’s a problem for another day,” she grunted, but I knew she was lying. She wanted to fix that problem right now, which wasn’t safe.
“I’ll talk to Skeet again, not that I think it will do much good.
Don’t go to him alone,” I murmured, placing my hand on the back of her neck for comfort.
She shuffled her chair closer and I automatically put my arm out for her to lean into me, the tingles moving across my skin like they always did when she touched me.
Her simple touches set me on fire, and I still couldn’t believe she trusted me like this after everything she’d been through.
“Caden didn’t come home last night,” she said, and I sighed.
“Skeet’s brainwashed him. They’ll realize they were wrong eventually.
I’m due at the Shed at ten, but you can hang out here all day, if you want?
No one should bother you, they know better than to come inside the house uninvited,” I replied seriously, but she shook her head and sat back to look at me.
“I need to be busy. I want to fight but have no idea where to do that. The gym can only occupy me for so long before I get bored.”
“You definitely worked out a lot in lockup. You’re getting biceps,” I smiled as if she didn’t have some muscle there before. She might have been skinny, but she’d been swinging arms in fights for a long damn time.
She laughed, taking a mouthful of her coffee again as we lapsed into silence.
It was nice spending my morning with her, but it was even better when Brick texted to let me know a bunch of them were handling the morning meeting and I didn’t need to show up for another few hours.
“C’mon, let’s go to the range for a while. Did you bring a gun?” I asked, relieved when she nodded. “Good. We can spend an hour or two doing that to keep you occupied, and it will get some practice in too. I’ll grab you that ointment for your tattoos too.”
Her face lit up and I melted a little. She really wasn’t hard to please once you knew her. Fancy shit didn’t really faze her, but shooting guns? Yeah, she liked that.
We took separate cars once she had the ointment in hand, just in case Skeeter decided to be a dick and call me back in, and I honestly wasn’t surprised in the slightest when we’d been there for twenty minutes before getting company.
“This is cute,” Archer scoffed as he appeared in the doorway with Myles, his eyes on Rory. She glanced over and groaned, giving them a dirty look.
“Whatever this is, don’t. I just got home, asshole.”
They didn’t appear to be angry, so it must not have been a bad visit. Not that it relaxed me.
“I don’t like you, but I can respect you for having Lexi’s back,” he grunted, light laughter leaving her.
“If you gave a shit about her, you’d visit.
She’s faking it until she makes it, you know?
Everyone thinks she’s so strong, but she’s trying so hard to keep it together and praying she gets out in one piece.
You think you deserve her back in your bed when she’s released?
Have you even answered the phone to her since she did you that favor?
You’re a prick,” she snapped, and I winced.
“Time-out. We’re having a nice morning, so no fighting. Hendricks, fuck off. Surely, you have better things to do. She’s right though, you’re a prick. Go visit your girl or don’t complain when Rivera does. At least someone visits her.”
Myles smirked, tilting his head at me. “You’re one to talk. You moved in on your boss’ girl the second you could.”