Trainer knew about my bad luck, although he tended to contribute it to poor decision making on my part. I watched as he went inside with the others, leaving me leaning against the building while Axel paced around. The guy always seemed to have a ton of energy that he was trying to burn off. When we first met, I thought he might be a tweaker, but now I knew that he just didn’t like sitting still. His overactive mind wouldn’t allow him to chill out.
It could get annoying, but I never called him out on it. I was here to watch over the most valuable property of the club, and I was going to do it, no matter who I was with. Hopefully, I’d earn my place and get to attend the meetings soon. I wanted to have a sense of brotherhood with these men. I was ready to wear an Outlaw Souls patch.
Five
Kat
The ride home from work was uneventful. Jason had bought me a new tire to replace the one that was flat, and the spare was back in my trunk. He didn’t even complain or try to get out of it, to my surprise. Jason didn’t usually have much money, but he’d managed to fork over the cost of a new tireandinstallation on short notice. It was odd, but when I questioned it, he blew me off. His demeanor reminded me of when he was questioned about Las Balas. He always got so damn evasive.
Jason still hadn’t been back home, and when he asked to stick around for dinner, I knew that he was avoiding it. But he couldn’t run away from his problems forever. So, despite my hatred of an empty house, I told him that I would only cook dinner for us if he promised to leave afterward and make up with Lexie.
So, I stood in the kitchen, forming raw hamburger meat into round patties. I was no Martha Stewart, but I could grill up a couple of cheeseburgers for us just fine. Jason half-heartedly offered to help, but I knew better than to ask him to do anything in the kitchen. He was a terrible cook, too easily distracted.
He settled in on the couch while I worked and turned on some kind of History channel show about presidential assassinations. I could see the TV from the kitchen island due to the open concept of the rooms, and it was interesting, but I soon found my mind wandering.
When I met Blade today, I found myself attracted to a man for the first time in months. It wasn’t just physical, although hedidhave that going for him with his stubble beard and dark eyes. I usually went for guys with long hair, something I could grab onto during sex, but Blade’s close-cropped cut worked for him.
It was his personality that got to me. The guy had a swagger, and during our short interaction, I had gotten a glimpse of his confidence. That had always been my sweet spot with men, enough self-assurance to be attractive without crossing the line into being a cocky asshole.
He’d only been at the shop for a few hours today, observing, and I had clients most of the time to keep me busy. There was a constant awareness prickling at me, though, letting me know that he was watching me. I kept telling myself that it was just a professional curiosity kind of thing, but that didn’t stop my body from responding to him. My skin felt more sensitive, and the juncture between my legs ached.
It had been way too long since I’d had sex.
Pushing thoughts of Blade to the back of my mind, I took the plate full of hamburger patties out to the grill. The outdoor space was my favorite part of this place, and I suspected that it was the reason that my mom had bought this house in the first place.
There was a covered patio where we kept our grill and seating area, with a glass-topped table and cushioned chairs. Beyond the concrete patio, there was a privacy fence around the yard, which was perfect for sunny spring days when I wanted to lay out on a lawn chair in my bikini without the neighbor’s teenage son gawking at me. Along the west side of the yard, my mom had always had a vegetable garden. She grew tomatoes, cucumbers, and fresh herbs back there, often sending me out to grab a handful of basil or dill while she was in the middle of preparing dinner.
I didn’t have her green thumb, and it made me sad to know that there would be nothing growing in that patch of dirt this year. Out front, there were flower beds along each side of the porch steps. With the warm spring weather, there were already Hosta plants growing up out of the ground, since they came back every year. Each day, when I left the house, I saw them, and it made me happy. I wasn’t fit to carry on the tradition of planting big beautiful flowers in the garden, but at least I still had her perineal Hostas.
Jason joined me out on the patio, his arms laden with hamburger buns, plates, ketchup, and a container of potato salad. It wasn’t extravagant, but we weren’t fancy people. Sitting at the patio table, we dug in. Jason took a big bite and let out a moan.
“Damn, Kat. How do your burgers always taste so good?”
“Top secret recipe,” I teased, fighting back a smile.
He threw his napkin at me across the table. “Don’t be a dick. Just tell me.”
I rolled my eyes at his insult. “Fine. I add garlic powder and seasoned salt to the meat. It’s the way mom made her burgers. And what she put on the steaks.”
Jason let out a low whistle. “She could make a killer steak.”
Yeah, she could. I looked across the round table at the chair beside Jason. It was where she always sat, because it was the closest to the back door, just in case she needed to go inside for anything. I never thought about her not being here until she was already gone. Now, I felt like nothing in my life would ever be the same.
“You know,” Jason said after a long moment of silence between us, “I think it’s about time that you started making this house your own.”
“Itismine,” I said. I’d lived here my whole life, and Jason already had a home with Lexie. He and I agreed that I should keep it.
“Sure, it’s yours on paper,” Jason agreed, “but you haven’t changed a thing. It’s like she’s still here.”
“I wish she was.”
Jason reached across the table, putting his hand over mine. “I do, too. But you can’t keep this place like a shrine to her. It’s your home, and you don’t even want to be here.”
I scowled. “You’re too smart for your own good, you know that?”
“It’s a blessing and a curse.”
I sighed. “I hear you, but it’s not easy.”
