“Nah, I’m good.” If I started drinking now, I could end up drunk by nightfall. While sober me was totally in control, I didn’t want to think about if my drunk alter ego could avoid sending Claire a message.
“Well, I’m gonna indulge,” Moves said, opening the fridge. “I need one after all the Las Balas bullshit.”
I raised my brows as I remembered. This was good. Or, well, not good, but it was a real issue. Something actually important. “What went down the other day?”
“We just got word of some dealing on our territory,” Moves said, taking out a beer. He opened it and frowned, eyes zoned out as he seemed to think. “It wasn’t a big deal, but something was off.”
“What do you mean by off?” I asked.
Moves had been around the block. He didn’t get rattled by just anything, nor did he overthink. He was the enforcer. If something was out of line, he cracked some heads, told a joke, and moved on.
“We ran the dealer down outside some seedy bar,” Moves said. “I hadn’t even seen this guy before.”
“So?” Not even Moves had a catalog of every active dealer in La Playa. They came and went so quickly, popping up, getting sent off to a stint in jail, coming out of jail, moving towns, or straight-up just dying (and not of natural causes).
“Dunno,” Moves said. “Just something off about him.”
I didn’t want to badger Moves, but he was going to have to be more specific before I got concerned. I was the analytical one in the club. I trusted facts and hard data. I didn’t make decisions off of bad vibes. Not to say that Moves made bad decisions. He had excellent instincts. It just wasn’t my way.
“Young,” Moves said. “He was real young.”
I raised my eyebrows and looked at Moves. His face was almost haunted.
“What did you do to him?” I asked.
“Nothing major,” Moves said. “Just scared him off, told him to stay outta Outlaw Souls territory.”
“How young?” I asked.
“Couldn’t say,” Moves said. “He’d been using, you know how that fucks you up and makes you look way older.”
I nodded. I had come across too many addicts in their twenties who could have easily passed for over forty.
“But something about him,” Moves said. “Really young.”
Moves glanced at me and his face broke into a wry grin as he shrugged.
“But forget that,” Moves said. “Tell me about your night, I hear you went for revenge with Kimmy.”
“Yeah, it was pretty funny,” I said.
I told him about Kim getting even with Trey, but I was careful to not mention Claire. Just a night with a minor adventure. I could tell that Moves wasn’t thinking of her, which meant that Kim, if she was playing matchmaker, had not enlisted Moves’ help. Which was all for the best.
Because I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to see Claire Brennan ever again.
Ten
Claire
When I woke up, I wasn’t certain where I was for a few seconds. When I realized I was in my bed, I was confused. Something was different about my bed.
I rolled over, and there was no Pin where I had fully expected a Pin.
I sat up and checked my clock. It was just after eight. When had he left? I could have sworn he was there when I fell asleep. I had drifted off in his arms with my head rested on his chest. I reached up and touched my hand against my cheek, and then was instantly mortified at the sappy gesture.
It was good that he left. Definitely for the best. If he was still here, I would have to feign politeness and maybe even have coffee with him. All the while I’d be trying to figure out how to let him know it was just casual sex. There was no need for us to waste time with the pleasantries.
Not that it had been bad. Definitely not bad.
