6. Viper
Chapter Six
VIPER
I've been busy as fuck for the last forty-eight hours.
Two days of throwing myself into every hobby I've got, trying to outrun the memory of Jean's face when she said I was just her escape from real problems. I’ve been stress baking until Gram's kitchen looks like a damn commercial bakery. Baron von Drool and Monstro, who’ve decided to buddy up, are both watching me with interest.
I'm pulling my fourth batch of chocolate chip cookies out of the oven, the familiar routine doing nothing to quiet the mess in my head. The way Jean looked at me afterward, like she couldn't believe what she'd done. Like she regretted every second of it.
Maybe she did.
“Jesus Christ, Viper. Did you bake for the entire county?”
I look up to find Hunter and Kieran, my Ridge Renegades MC brothers, standing in Gram's doorway, staring at the cookie sheets covering every surface in the kitchen.
“What do you want?”
“An intervention,” Kieran says, stepping over a cooling rack to get to the table. “I hear you've been sulking for two days.”
“I don't sulk.”
“Brother, you stress-baked enough cookies to feed half the county,” Hunter points out. “That's your form of sulking.”
I set down the hot pan and glare at them both. “Don't you have somewhere else to be?”
“Nope.” Kieran grabs a cookie and takes a bite. “Damn, these are good. No wonder your grandma called us.”
“Gram needs to mind her own business.”
“She’s worried about you.” Hunter leans against the counter, avoiding another cookie sheet. “Talk.”
“Nothing to talk about.”
“Crap.” Kieran points the half-eaten cookie at me. “This is about that girl, isn't it? The one you rescued on the mountain?”
I don't answer, which is answer enough.
“What happened?” Hunter asks.
“Nothing happened.”
“Horse shit. Something happened, and now you're here single-handedly supplying the entire Snowflake Falls Fall Festival with baked goods.” Kieran gestures at the kitchen chaos. “Just tell us.”
I'm quiet for a long moment, debating whether to kick them out or talk. The need to get it off my chest wins.
“We got together.”
“And?” Hunter prompts.
“And afterward, she said it was a mistake. That I was just her way of acting out because her life imploded.” The words taste bitter. “Called me her escape from real problems.”
Kieran winces. “Ouch.”
I grab a dish towel, needing something to do with my hands. “Yeah. So I left. Haven't talked to her since.”
“Have you tried calling her, bro?”
“Why the fuck would I do that? She made it pretty clear where she stands.”
Hunter looks steadily at me.
“What?” I snap.
Hunter shrugs. “You sure that's what she meant, Viper?”
“Pretty fucking sure.”
“Because from where I'm sitting, it sounds like she was scared.”
“Scared of what?”
“Of you, dumbass. Of how fast things were moving.”
I hate that he might have a point.
“She said she didn't know me,” I shrug.
“Do you know her?”
The question catches me off guard. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, do you actually know her? Or are you just attracted to her?”
“I know her.”
“Then maybe you should tell her that.”
“She doesn't want to hear it.”
“Bro. Now you sound scared. How do you know if you haven't tried?” Hunter leans forward. “Look, when I first met Trinity in Ember Heart, I thought she was out of my league. But she wasn't looking for perfect. She was looking for real.” Hunter's expression softens.
“I’ll think about it. Now, if I give you both some cookies, will you get the fuck out of my kitchen?”