Chapter 5
Chapter five
Shea
You’re worth staying for, Shea.
I tossed and turned as Trooper’s words replayed on an endless loop in my head. No one ever said something like that to me before.
On one hand, I wanted to believe him.
On the other hand, I didn’t let it sink in. Instead, I chose to keep it at arm’s length out of habit.
If I allowed myself to hope someone might want to stay for me one day, then I ran the risk of a broken heart if they walked out. I couldn’t bear that.
For the past two weeks, I’d spent every night at Lila’s apartment on her pull-out couch, with a biker parked outside for protection. As much as I enjoyed her company, I was beginning to miss having my own space.
Ritter was nowhere to be seen since that kiss with Trooper in my shop. I wasn’t foolish enough to believe it was that simple to run him off. But I didn’t like putting my life on hold because of some creep.
During my lunch break, I headed over to Lila’s lingerie boutique, Noir Delights, with milkshakes and fries to break the news that it was time for me to move out.
The bell over the door chimed as I entered the shop ensconced in swaths of lace, silk, and satin in every color imaginable. Lila glanced up from a nearby set of shelves as she folded gauzy pink camisoles into a tidy display.
“I brought you carbs and sugar,” I announced, holding up the bag of food. “As a thank you gift, for hosting me.”
“Oh, that definitely means you’re softening the blow before some bad news,” Lila replied. “What flavor?”
“Cookie dough, with extra whipped cream. And those spicy steak-cut fries that you love.”
Lila groaned, tipping her head back.
“Damn it, Shea. Those are my two greatest weaknesses in the world and you know it. Let me close up first. Have a seat, make yourself at home.”
Five minutes later, Lila and I were seated on one of her velvety lush burgundy loveseats, slurping our milkshakes.
“As long as you think it’s safe to return to your place,” Lila said.
“Of course I’ll support whatever you choose.
” She pointed at me fiercely with a french fry.
“But you have to promise me that we will have another sleepover in the future. Growing up around Dad and all those bikers loaded with testosterone has left me starved for girl talk. I liked hanging out with you.”
My heart warmed at the compliment.
“Those bikers loaded with testosterone treat you like a princess,” I pointed out. “And you’ve slept with half of them, so being surrounded by hot bikers with high sex drives must have some perks.”
Lila screwed one eye shut, calculating a tally with little jabs of her french fry in the air.
“Actually, I think it’s more than half by now. But who’s counting?”
I chuckled, scooping a chunk of cookie dough out of my milkshake with a spoon.
“I haven’t slept with Trooper though,” Lila added with a sly sideways look.
The cookie dough lodged in my throat and I nearly choked.
“That’s…good to know, I guess?” I wheezed between one coughing fit and the next.
Lila retrieved a bottle of water from the breakroom in the back and handed it to me.
“I didn’t want to step on your toes,” she said. “Since it seemed like you and Trooper have always been a thing. Or close to it, at least.”
I shook my head vehemently.
“We’re just friends. We’re not…a thing.”
The memory of that kiss filled my mind. The hunger, the want, the burning desire of it. And I kissed him back, because I was eager for more.
“It’s okay if you are,” Lila pressed. “He’s cute. Objectively.”
God, I did not want to be having this conversation. I kept shaking my head as I grabbed a thick fry and bit into it, scalding my mouth.
“Then you should be the one to date him,” I said.
Lila tilted her head, wrinkling her nose. She was considering it, I realized with a jolt of horror. She was actually thinking about dating Trooper. Or at the very least sleeping with him.
Please say no, please say no, please say no.
“It’s a tempting offer,” Lila said at last. “But he’s not interested in me.”
I heaved a sigh.
“Now you sound like Raine. She says the same thing. He’s my friend, Lila. That’s all.”
She shrugged.
“If you say so.”
The tone of her voice indicated she was clearly not convinced, but she wouldn’t argue it any further. I debated whether I should push the issue when the door opened.
“We’re closed—” Lila broke off when she saw Pretty Boy in his Reckless Order cut at the door. Her demeanor cooled instantly. “Oh. It’s you.”
“That’s no way to greet an old friend,” Pretty Boy replied, spreading his arms wide.
He crossed the shop and propped his elbows on the back of the loveseat, leaning over Lila.
She pretended like he wasn’t even there, angrily munching on her fries.
He gave a dramatic shiver despite the warmth of early June.
“Does it suddenly seem a little frosty to you, Shea?”
I chewed on my straw in an attempt to hide my laughter. For as long as I’d known them, Lila and Pretty Boy were at each other’s throats. The sexual tension between them was so glaringly obvious to everyone else except them.
“What do you want, Pretty Boy?” Lila said in a flat voice. “Unless you’re buying some lingerie, you’re doing nothing but getting in the way.”
Pretty Boy hummed with a smirk and traced the shell of her ear with one fingertip. She swatted his hand with a scathing look.
“If I did do a little shopping, I might need you to model for me,” he said. “So I can make up my mind about what I like. I’m a visual learner.”
I clucked my tongue and shook my head.
"Watch your step, Pretty Boy. You're flirting with fire. Keep it up and you're going to be nothing but a scorching black mark on the earth."
He wasn’t swayed by my warning. Lila swung her head around to look at him.
“Do you like your balls?”
He sputtered at first, then his eyes lit up, blindsided by the bluntness of her question.
“Are you hitting on me, sweetheart? Because if you are—”
“If you don’t leave the premises by the count of three,” Lila continued. “I will remove them and hang them on my wall as a trophy. So everyone in your club will know that you pissed me off and paid the price.”
Pretty Boy laughed and shook his head, backing away with his hands up in surrender.
“My apologies, princess. I just popped in to let Shea know that Brass’s shift ended and I’m on watch now. I didn’t want her to be taken by surprise when a strange man was following her all over town.”
“Thank you, Pretty Boy,” I said. “I appreciate it.”
He nodded with one final sweeping glance over Lila from head to toe. Then he turned and walked out.
“You’re so harsh with him,” I said to Lila. “Don’t you ever let up?”
“Absolutely not,” Lila replied primly. “Besides, his pupils were fucking huge. He loves it when I’m mean to him. He totally popped a boner, I’m sure of it.”
I huffed with amusement and shook my head.
“Now you’re just toying with him.”
She shrugged, unabashed.
“I’m not toying with him. I’m just not pulling any punches. He’s a world-class fuckboy who chases every skirt that crosses his path, and I’m a club princess. Of course he wants to get in my pants. And I won’t let him win, purely out of spite.”
I said nothing while she ranted, angrily jabbing at her milkshake with her straw.
“You aren’t jealous, are you?” I finally asked.
Lila scoffed. “Jealous? Of what?”
I shrugged.
“Hillbilly raised him like the son he never had, didn’t he? Teaching him how to be a biker. Bringing him into the club. Training him to be his replacement one day.”
Her gaze shuttered and she went silent. That struck a nerve. Lila was the one who noticed the pattern well before I did though. It wasn’t news to her.
But it still had to sting.
“I love my dad,” Lila said, considerably softer than before.
“I know,” I replied.
“And Pretty Boy needed help, so it totally makes sense that Dad took him in,” she admitted.
“I know,” I repeated.
Lila sighed.
“He’s a good biker, and I can’t even be justified in hating his guts. It’s infuriating.”
I laughed and offered the last of the fries to her. She took them with a grateful look.
After lunch, I stayed at Lila’s boutique for an hour or two to help out. But then I needed to finish packing up and clearing out of her apartment.
As I approached my Jeep, something fluttered on my windshield. Initially, I thought it was a promotional flyer. Or a parking ticket.
Until I came closer.
Trapped under the windshield wiper was a jewel-toned blue and black butterfly. The wings were tattered and torn, the legs folded up in death.
Had it been left here? Or had it been there all along and I simply didn’t notice it before?
My heart thundered hard against my ribs. Glancing around the parking lot, I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
Next to Lila’s boutique, Pretty Boy was parked in the shade of the building, arms folded across his chest. It seemed as if he was taking a nap, but when he spotted me looking in his direction, he sat up a little straighter, alert and attentive for something wrong.
I waved him off to reassure him that I was fine.
After I was safely inside my Jeep with the doors locked, I sent a text to Trooper with a picture of the dead butterfly. Just as a precaution.
Maybe it was nothing.
But the knot in my gut said otherwise.
This was not an accident. This was a message. A warning.
By the time I left Lila’s apartment and returned to my house, Trooper was waiting for me in the driveway, leaning against his bike.
“You’re like a bad penny,” I said, climbing out of my Jeep. “I can’t get rid of you, no matter how hard I try.”
He gave a small smile, but his sunglasses hid his eyes, concealing most of his expression, and his body language seemed a little more tense than usual.
“Well, then, you’re gonna love what I have to say next,” Trooper said.
He unhooked a backpack from his bike, slinging it over his shoulder.
“I’m spending the night on your couch.”