Chapter 21
Twenty-One
After I say goodbye to Rebel, and Brooks rides off with her on the back of his motorcycle, I walk further onto the property.
I’m conflicted about whether I want Paxton to be home.
Despite my apprehension, I continue to walk with unwavering determination toward his house.
Or at least, toward the spot Kyler told me his house should be in.
Pax’s house, along with their parents’ and Colt’s, is located on the Renegades’ property.
Ky’s apartment sits above the bar, which is near the entrance to the grounds.
The further I get, the more convinced I become that I’ve walked in the wrong direction.
He’s got a good reason he’s acting like this to you.
The phrase keeps crossing my mind and I simultaneously want to have an answer to it and don’t. Pax’s incredibly straightforward, verging on painfully so.
Suddenly, a wooden cabin looms before me with a small porch, which has a swinging bench. I don’t think the whole thing fits Paxton at all, though I really only know his hard exterior.
Determined, I step onto the porch and knock on the door. My head can’t decide if I want Pax to open the door or not be home.
Then, all of a sudden, the door opens with a jerk, and my heart starts to gallop.
Before me stands the sprawling six foot four and a bit Paxton, shirtless and with his hair down. As soon as his deep-brown eyes land on me, they roll.
“What do you want?” Snorting, he turns and stomps back inside.
He leaves the door open, so I assume it’s an invitation to enter. His bare feet make a thumping sound against the wooden floor. Cautiously, I take a step over the threshold.
“Shoes off,” he grumbles, and I do as he asks. I put my All Stars on the porch on the other side of the threshold and close the door behind me.
The house isn’t what I expected at all. Pale-blue walls surround the light wooden floor.
Against the left wall of the open space is a black, all-purpose wood burner on a patch of flooring, where large white tiles sit in a diamond pattern.
White paint covers the ceiling between the visible ceiling beams. There’s a massive white corner sofa opposite the wood burner with a soft rug in front of it.
The back wall is glass and overlooks part of the property.
“What are you doing here, Layne?”
I’m startled by Pax’s voice. I was so engrossed by how his house looks, but his question snaps me into focus.
On the balls of my feet, I turn to face him and run a hand through my hair. Pax is standing at the kitchen island of his light-gray kitchen, pouring milk into a glass. His eyebrows are raised as my eyes find his.
“I spoke to your mother,” I stammer.
He takes a sip of his milk and I do my best not to stare. So instead I look at my toes like some weirdo.
“And?” he says dryly and sets the glass with a slam back down on the island. He tilts his head and I see his hand squeezing the edge of the island. It’s abundantly clear that he isn’t as calm and composed as he’d like me to believe.
“What’s your problem with me, Paxton?” This time, I look straight at him as I tuck my hands into the back pockets of my jeans.
“My problem?” A frown forms on his forehead and his other hand wraps around the edge of the island as well.
“Yeah. What did I ever do to you that you’re being so rude to me now? That you act like I burned your entire world down?” I take a step toward the kitchen island. No idea if that’s smart, given his white knuckles, but I don’t want him to think I’m afraid of him.
Suddenly, he straightens his head and stares at the kitchen countertop.
“My problem, Layne, is that you always bring a shitload of problems with ya.” When he looks up at me, his irises seem almost black.
His mouth is set in a straight line as he pushes away from the kitchen and steps back.
“It’s always trouble with you. You run off with some pussy accountant and leave Ky heartbroken.
Then all of a sudden you’re back and bringing all the shit from that fucking accountant with ya to screw us over with.
And after this? Let me guess…” He inhales deeply.
“Then you run off again and I can pick up the pieces you left of my brother.” Pax walks around the kitchen island and takes a step toward me. “That’s how it works, right?”
I open my mouth several times, but fail to come up with an answer. “Pax, I…”
“Oh, fuck off, Layne.” He rolls his eyes and puts his head back. “Women and their fucking excuses.”
That’s when I come out of my dazed state and slap him against his chest. Fuck, that hurts, but I don’t let it show.
“Fucking excuses? Fuck yourself. I almost got kidnapped and didn’t ask for a goddamn thing.
I’m fucking grateful to you and Ky for showing up at the right time.
Who knows what would’ve happened if you guys hadn’t been there?
” I take a deep breath and furiously wipe away a tear.
“Who knows what would’ve happened to Rebel? ”
My voice fades. I briefly fix my gaze on the floor, sigh, and then look up at him again. My eyes burn, but I don’t give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry.
“This world, our world, terrified me as an eighteen-year-old, and that’s why I left. Kyler knows this. We talked about it together at the time, not that it’s any of your business. What’s also none of your business is that it hurt me just as much to leave him behind.”
The last sentence is quiet, but Paxton is standing so close by now that he’s almost pressed up against me in an obvious attempt to intimidate me.
“Any more bullshit? You ran off with that little accountant of yours.” Pax squints.
Shaking my head, I drop my hands along my thighs. “That’s not true. If you’d asked him, you’d have known. If you’d asked me, you’d have known.”
That’s what silences him. His gaze slides over me, as if trying to look inside my head.
“Did you ever ask him?” My voice is soft. I tilt my head as I look up at him.
With a deep sigh, he runs a hand through that beautiful long hair of his. The only response is a head shake.
“I promise I won’t ghost him, okay?” I reach for his arm, but at the last moment I decide it probably isn’t such a good idea.
“Still, you screwed us over, Layne. We’re in serious shit because of you and that asshole of a husband of yours. Do you have any idea what he knew? Do you have any clue why he was killed?” His eyes look over me to a place behind me. “Anything. Anything can help.”
I squeeze my eyes together. “No, I know nothing. What’s going on, Pax?”
He attempts to walk past me, but I block his path. When he looks at me again, the cold stare is back. “That’s none of your business, since it’s club business. Get out of my house, Layne.”
“Seriously? You’re accusing me, but you won’t tell me of what?” A frustrated groan comes out of my throat before I can stop it. “You guys really are… argh,” I bring out, as I can’t find the right word.
I throw my hands in the air, turn around and stomp out of the cottage.
Stepping outside, the full force of my emotions hit me, and I find myself crying uncontrollably, tears streaming down my face.
Furiously, I slip on my shoes on the porch and stomp away.
I walk toward the clubhouse when I hear my name from behind me.
“Layne, wait.”
Wildly, I start wiping away the tears, but it’s a lost cause.
“Layne!” Colt grabs my arm, but I jerk away.
“Let go of me,” I say through gritted teeth.
There’s a deep frown on his forehead. “Hey, are you okay? What happened?”
“Fine. Nothing, okay? Never mind.” I turn and want to continue walking, but he grabs my arm once more. “Seriously, Colton, let go of me.”
He holds his hands up in the air as I look at him. “You sure?”
With a nod, I take a step forward. “Definitely. I’m going home.” Then I walk away. My tears are still falling, though less violently. I feel Colt’s blue gaze on my back until I disappear from view behind the garage.
As fast as I can, I run up the stairs to the walkway on the outside of the clubhouse and disappear into the apartment. I kick off my shoes and put my hands in front of my eyes. My shoulders shake as I cry soundlessly.
“Lay?”
A shiver passes through me upon hearing his voice.
“Hey.” His fingers stroke my arm. “Where did you come from?”
My hand slowly goes to my mouth and I stare up at him with watery eyes. “What do you know that I don’t, Ky?”
“What?” He cradles my cheek and, with his thumb, he brushes my fingers from my mouth.
“What do you know that I don’t?” I whisper again. A frown appears on his forehead, but that’s the only movement I detect in him. “Ky?”
“Where did you come from?” His voice changes from concerned to a cooler tone and my body stiffens.
“I was at Paxton’s. Ky, what’re you hiding?” I take a step toward him, trying to look into his eyes, but he turns his face away from me.
“What did he say?”
“Nothing. That I’m trouble. That I screwed you guys over.” I twist my upper body in another attempt to look him in the eye, but to no avail.
“Goddammit.” Suddenly he slips into his boots, pulls open the door behind me and disappears.
“What the hell just happened?” I ask out loud into the empty apartment and drop against the door.