There was no one else she ever wanted to kiss.
****
Crow had done the reliablething and called Rebel to pick him up, complete with all the groceries, to take him back to Kelley’s house.He expected him to argue, but less than ten minutes later, Rebel was there and they were heading to Kelley’s.
“I hope you didn’t break the law to get to me?”he asked.
“I was already in town.I’ve organized Willow’s present, but it keeps getting fucking lost in the mail, so I just went and had a word with the manager of the post office.”
“He still breathing?”
“Yeah, and I got my gift.”Rebel picked up a small box.
“Jewelry?”
“Yeah.You want to tell me why you’re grocery shopping?Isn’t that a task you would consider beneath you?”
“Shut the fuck up,” Crow said.“I’m helping my girl out.”
“Your girl.That’s new.”
Crow was not going to bite.So, he stayed silent for about two minutes, and it was just getting too much for him to not know what the fuck he meant by that statement.
Rebel just laughed.
“That girl and you share a history.You think I’ve not noticed that you’ve changed your habits?You started by coming to the bar for a couple of days.Then it turned into a couple of weeks.Now, you come for months at a time.”
“No, I don’t!”
“You arrived here December first, and you’re not leaving until the New Year.That’s a whole fucking month.We all know Kelley’s birthday is in July, and you come back to celebrate it with her.Most of the time, you hang out at the bar and refuse to come back to the clubhouse, because you’re an asshole.That I get.”He shook his head.
“You’re reading too much into it.”
“I am, am I?”Rebel asked.
“I’m not doing this with you.”
“And you’re buying groceries,” Rebel said, bringing his truck to a stop outside of Kelley’s house.“You know, there’s nothing wrong with falling for her.”
“She’s twenty-one years old.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”Rebel asked.
“She’s young.She has a whole life to lead.”
Rebel laughed, grabbing a couple of the grocery bags as Crow let them into Kelley’s home.
“And what does that mean?”Crow asked, feeling his annoyance start to build.
“What do you think it means?”Rebel shook his head, like it was such an obvious joke.The only problem was, he wasn’t laughing.He didn’t get the joke, and it sure as fuck wasn’t funny.He went and grabbed a couple more bags, as did Rebel, and it only took them a couple of trips to get all of them.
Rebel invited himself in, closing the door.
“Look around you,” Rebel said.“Kelley’s not interested in living a different life.She’s not interested in fucking around.She is a woman who is settled.Trust me, you ask us to keep an eye on her, and we do.Other than go to some of the random street parties and events, she doesn’t do anything.She goes to work, cleans her house and her yard, and does whatever fucking hobbies she has.I know she cooks a lot and helps the locals when they’re having a hard time.There was a woman with, like, six kids, ended up in the hospital from a bad fall.Kelley helped make them dinner for two weeks.Don’t worry, I checked, it truly was a fall, the husband was beside himself with worry.Kept an eye on the situation seeing as Kelley is your girl—”
“She’s not my girl.”
“Keep telling yourself that,” Rebel said.“Maybe one day, you will start to believe it.Anyway, I’ve got to head out of here.”He looked toward him and then shook his head.“You wanted us to check on her for a reason.”
