At least he didn’t ask a stupid and obvious question.
Just made a stupid and obvious statement.
“Turns out Jess is no better than the Black Reapers.”
OK, that was a little bit unfair. But not as unfair as the bombshell she’d dropped on me right after sex.
“Sorry, man,” Cole said.
But he didn’t say anything else. Didn’t say women sucked. Didn’t say she sucked.
Of all people, I would have thought Cole would be the one to take my side on this. Cole, the man who got passed over by women for his shithead brother. Cole, the one who had every reason to scorn the world. Cole...
A guy who had actually gotten in much better shape and looked far more rugged than he had when his father had first died. I wasn’t going to say that he ever looked like a bitch, but if anyone had grown in the past year, it was Cole Carter. Before, he was a boy, perhaps like I had been.
Now, because we had no choice, we were men.
“Unfortunately, though, I’m going to need your help with something tonight. And it’s not something that can wait.”
Well, this should just be fucking grand.
“I need you and Owen to accompany me to meet the Black Reapers.”
“The fuck?”
I was too clouded by anger, too pissed off to really try to ponder any rationale for why this might be happening or what the consequences would be. The only thing that really came to mind was the utter conviction that life or God or karma or whatever the fuck there was must have been having a grand old time fucking with me right now. It really didn’t feel like much more could get thrown my way, but I knew having that thought was just daring fate to fuck me over.
“They’re more receptive to some of the things we’ve been asking for, and they want to come to the negotiating table,” Cole said in such a calm voice that it just pissed me off more. Couldn’t he fucking see I was hurting? “So, we’re going to try to put our differences aside and unite. But I’m not stupid. I’m bringing my VP and my SAA for protection. Hence, you two.”
“That’s a hell of a lot of faith for someone that you’re supposedly uniting with,” I said, the venom in my voice so strong that it felt like I had to get the words out just to avoid poisoning myself. “If you two were really—”
“Phoenix,” Cole said. “I’m happy to talk to you about whatever happened with Jess. But you are coming with me tonight. And I expect you to protect me, not to start a fight with the Black Reapers.”
God. Fucking. Damnit.
I sighed and gave a one-off nod. I was going to do this not because I liked or even was neutral about the Black Reapers, and not because I wanted something. I was doing this out of a sense of duty.
It seemed like about the only thing that I could really hold on to these days.
“Can’t wait to see what surprises pop up now,” I muttered.
“There will probably be some, but...”
Even Cole recognized nothing he was going to say would sound rational. Not when it came to dealing with the assholes in Springsville.
“We’ll deal with them when we get there,” Cole said, shaking his head. “Meet back here at seven o’clock tonight. Whatever you do until then is up to you. Just make sure you can function when the evening comes.”
Cole had the good sense to leave me alone. I went back to the very chair I’d sat down in and plopped my ass back in it.
That lasted for all of about five minutes before I decided some booze—some, I wasn’t going to be derelict in my duty—and something on the TV to pass the time would work a hell of a lot better. But that meant...
Well, not like going home meant that I was in a permanent quarantine with the memory of Jess. It also wasn’t like I could never return home; I’d just have to deal with that lingering scent once before I fumigated the shit out of the place.
“Ah, shit,” I grumbled as I rose from the chair, stretched out, and headed to my bike. A couple of people called my name, but I just pretended not to hear them. I just needed to get this part of everything over and done with.
I revved the bike to life, slowly pulled out of the lot, and drove slightly above the speed limit. Oh, I was still pissed off; I just knew I had all the time in the world to get home.
And when I did, when I got to the front door, I paused. I was surprised at myself—it wasn’t anger I was feeling. It wasn’t rage or determination to get Jess’ scent out of my living quarters as soon as I could.
