My words hit him hard; the hurt in his eyes is almost immediate.
“Last I checked, buying those pastries helped you sell out on your first day.”
“And look where that left me. We had to stay up all night just to make enough food for the next day. Speaking of which, I need to get back. My pastries aren’t going to bake themselves.”
His scowl says everything he won’t. But that doesn’t stop him from laying in one final dig. “Fine, but don’t expect me to save you this time when shit goes south.”
It’s the last thing we say to each other before we part ways.
ChapterSixteen
Krampus
It’s been two whole weeks since Mindy and I last saw each other. I still feel her kisses like they’re permanently stuck to my lips.
She doesn’t know it, but every day I’ve sat at her shop just watching over it, making sure that Moseley and his goons don’t make a move. Drac and Voorhees both think I’m crazy, but I don’t care. Fighting or not, I’m going to do whatever I can to make sure she stays safe.
“Thought I’d find you out here,” Voorhees says, sitting down on the bench beside me. “How long are you gonna watch her place?”
“As long as I have to.”
“Have you even gone home to shower?” His nose crinkles in disgust. “Are you sleeping at all?”
Shrugging, I lay my head back on the picnic table, resting my eyes. “In spurts. I go home while she’s working, get a little sleep in, then come right back here to watch over the building at night.”
He shakes his head. “Drac is starting to question your sanity. Me too, if I’m going to be honest.”
“Let me ask you this, Voor. If it were Poppy—”
“Don’t,” he warns.
But his warning falls on deaf ears. “If it were Poppy in trouble, would you just let it go?”
“Poppyisin trouble, Brother. But nobody knows where to find her. Word on the street is the Misfits have relocated to Fallon for the time being.”
“Fallon? Really?”
“Yup, and if I had to guess, Poppy is there with them.”
My hand moves absentmindedly through my hair. “That sucks, Voor.”
His vacant stare speaks volumes. It’s haunted him how Poppy’s turned out. The girl, once a star academic scholar in our school and on the fast track to Harvard, was now nothing more than a drug addict bound to a rival club.
“Do you think she’s even still alive?”
His head snaps my way with a glare so murderous I feel myself shrinking. “Don’t you dare say that! She’s alive. I can feel it right here.” He pounds on his chest, his eyes only softening for a second.
“Anyway, Drac wants you back at the clubhouse for a meeting.”
He follows my gaze, knowing they’ll have to pretty much pry my ass off this bench to get me to leave.
“It’s not a request, man. After the meeting, you can come back.”
None of them know. I haven’t told them about Moseley’s threat to Mindy, and I’m not sure why. Maybe because they’ll think I’m crazy for protecting a girl, I barely know and putting my life on the line.
“I can’t leave.”
“This little obsession you have with her isn’t healthy, Krampus.”
