Chaos meets my disbelieving stare. “Nothing out of the ordinary.” He smirks.
Right.In other words, Smoke threatened his family and the club, promised to fuck everyone up, and then hung up.
“What have you got out of Kyra?” he asks suddenly. “You haven’t said a thing about her since the run-in in the alley.”
“We’ve been busy at the club, so I haven’t had time to talk with her.” I drop my gaze to my leg and pick at a hard spot on the denim where I once spilled quick-set glue.
“Flinch told me she stayed the night with you after.”
Smarmy asshole.I can feel his shit-stirring grin grate against the side of my face. I refuse to give him the satisfaction of a surprised look. “She left super early, so I don’t know if I’d call it staying the night.”
“She was still inside your room longer than anyone other than Dolly has been for some time.”
I raise my eyebrow at his mention of our cleaner. “Keep a timesheet on my door, do you?”
Fucker smiles. “Keep an eye on my best friend, actually.” He leans back, lifting his chin before asking, “Whatisgoing on between you and the Sheriff’s daughter?”
“Nothing.” And I can say that with a straight goddamn face, because thanks to me, it’s true.
Painfully true.
“Must be why you’re such a grumpy asshole again.”
I lift my middle finger.
“You still know me the best,” he muses, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the edge of the table.
“Of course I fucking do.” We were raised side-by-side, put through the same trials, and experienced the same trauma. We’re two parts of a whole.
“And yet you don’t know fuck all about yourself.”
“Pardon the fuck me?” I stiffen in my seat, arms folded.
“She makes you happy.” He narrows his gaze and twists his lips like the fucker he is, knowing he has me pinned. “I picked it the minute you fell out because you’re whole…” He waves a hand up and down, gesturing to me. “Became you again. Snippy like a woman on her rag.”
“You sure we’re best friends?” I say.
He leans back to set an elbow on the back of the chair, eyes still sparkling with mischief as he studies me. “What did it? Her old man?”
“Yes and no.”
He tilts his head.
“I ain’t telling you shit. So you can quit your meddling this minute.”
Chaos nods. “Don’t fuck it up for yourself, Jinx. You know, moments of happiness are fucking rare for people like us. Finding someone who gives those to you is like stumbling across the end of the rainbow.”
I sigh and run a hand through my hair. “Don’t worry about me, boss. Worry about what we’ve got to do.”
“Worrying about you gives me a break from that shit.”
“What does Vanessa say about Circus’s suggestion?” Yeah, I’m well aware he tells her way more than he should. But I get it.
I’ve got my old man to bounce ideas off if I need an outside perspective. He doesn’t.
“She thinks I should at least make them aware of what’s going on so it’s not a surprise if I do decide to ask for reinforcement.”
“She’s a smart woman.”
