“Lenni—”
I flapped my hand in Rae’s face to shush her before she could say something I didn’t want to hear. “Don’t shoot it down right away. At least think about it. What if I gave you permission to makeallthe decisions for the rest of my life?” My smile probably looked deranged. “Just think of all that power.”
“Rae, no.” Merritt sounded almost scolding, wiping the eager expression right off of her face. Clearly my sister-in-law was a fan of being in charge. “We’re all grownups here. That means we all have to be responsible for our own lives.”
Rae and I both pouted.
“As much fun as I think it would be to make all the decisions for you, Merritt’s right. This is one of those grownup conundrums you’ll have to figure out yourself. But if you’re asking for advice, I’d say you two definitely need to talk. It sounds like there is a whole mess of unresolved feelings floating around between the two of you, and until you get it straight, it’s only going to get uglier.”
The mature, responsible side of me knew she was right. But I didn’t want to be mature or responsible. I wanted to be reckless and mad and... chaotic. But mostly, I wanted to stop hurting.
Chapter Fifteen
Raylan
My vision narrowed as my eyelids lowered farther. I wasn’t sure my glower could get more intense, and if my face pinched any more than it already had, I risked swallowing myself whole.
The guy I’d been glaring daggers at finally felt the vibes I was directing his way. He dragged his attention from where he’d been staring at Lennix’s tits across the bar to me before quickly spinning his stool back around to face forward when he saw the promise of violence written on my face.
“Yeah, that’s right, shit for brains,” I muttered to myself. “Keep your eyes to yourself and we won’t have any problems.”
Havoc stirred and I instinctively brought up a hand to scratch the top of his head as soon as he popped it out of the top of the carrier. Together, we scanned the space for any potential threats. “What do you think, buddy? You sense any of these assholes giving off creeper energy?”
He stretched his little body as long as it would go and let out a groan before shaking himself fully awake. I chose to think ofthat as a sound of agreement. “Yeah, you’re right. Bet they’re all a bunch of sickos.”
There was no telling what some of the people in this very room got up to when nobody was looking. And Lennix was right here, day after day, in the middle of it all. The thought of her being so exposed to any potential danger made me uncomfortably itchy, like my skin was being stretched too tight over my bones.
She had Zeke—who looked like he could crush a pumpkin with his thighs—which was good. But he was only one guy. He couldn’t be expected to be everywhere at once if something major went down. Of course, The Tap Room had security and cameras, but the system was outdated—one her father had installed back during his time at Alpha Omega. It should have been replaced years ago.
I made a mental note to talk to Rhodes about getting her some of the top-of-the-line shit that they used on their installs now. They were pricey as hell, but they were the best on the market. The best was the only thing worthy of Lennix, and there wasn’t anything I wouldn’t pay to ensure my Chaos’s safety. One of the pros of living like a college-aged bachelor was I brought in a hell of a lot more than what went out. I’d saved plenty over the past several years and could more than afford it.
Hell, even if I couldn’t, I would have gladly taken out a loan to cover the cost if that’s what it took. She spent so many nights here by herself...toomany. But none of that would matter if she didn’t start taking her own safety more seriously. When I went out earlier to have a look around the parking lot, I noticed that Lennix parked her SUV out of the range of the cameras that covered the back lot, so even if she’d let me check her security footage, there wouldn’t have been anything to see. That was an argument we would definitely be having later today.
I’d been so caught up in making sure there were no potential threats to Lennix—and occasionally spying on her while she had some girl time with Merritt and Rae—that I didn’t feel someone approaching until they spoke.
“That puppy is so cute, I can’t even.”
I cast a distracted glance toward the brunette just as her hand came up to pet Havoc. “I wouldn’t—” I’d only gotten out half my sentence when Havoc bared his little razor fangs and chomped down on the woman’s finger.
She yelped and yanked her hand back, her momentary look of surprise morphing into an angry scowl before she caught herself and pulled it back, pasting a seductive, flirty grin in its place.
“Sorry. He tends to nip first and ask forgiveness later.”
She tossed her hair over her shoulder and rested her palm on her chest to draw attention to her cleavage. She was good, I’d give her that. Smooth and practiced. Beautiful. If this had been a couple months ago, I would have eagerly joined in on the little game. I enjoyed a good flirt as much as the next person—especially when it was leading to something even more fun. But some kind of internal switch had been flipped, and I couldn’t remember the last time I looked at a woman—who wasn’t Lennix—with any kind of interest. I allowed myself a brief moment to take stock of my body’s reaction, and there wasn’t so much as a stirring. If my blood didn’t feel like it was electrically charged every time Lennix was nearby, I might have worried that my dick was broken. But it didn’t seem to have any issues springing to life for her.
“Oh, that’s all right. He’s so cute he can get away with anything. Aren’t you, little guy?” she baby-talked. “Yeah, you’re just the cutest thing ever.”
She didn’t have a very good poker face, because I could read her dislike for animals clear as day as she grimaced at Havoc ina way that was probably meant to be a smile. To be honest, I wasn’t a real big fan of her touching Lennix’s and my dog, but my mind was too busy with trying to find out who was stalking the addictive pain in my ass to pay her much mind. This woman was an unwanted distraction, to say the least.
I needed to shut her down in the fastest way that wouldn’t cause any drama, so I did the only thing I could think. “Yeah, he’s great. Especially if you can look past the fleas.”
Her eyes shot up to mine, her hand frozen midair. “Fleas?”
“Yeah, but it’s the worms that are the real problem.”
She jerked back like she’d just been shocked, unable to hide her disgust for another second. “Worms?”
I glanced at her and arched a brow. “That a problem?”
