“Should I get dressed and come with you?”
“It’s club business until someone tells me it isn’t. I’ll be fine on my own, sweetheart.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“Too gendered?”
Wren smirks as they shake their head and kneel on the edge of the bed. “Too sweet. Makes my teeth hurt.”
I kiss their forehead. “I’ll come up with something different.”
“Can I use your shower while you’re gone?”
I tip my chin towards the closet by the door to the bathroom. “There are towels in there. Feel free to use any of my stuff. I’m a boxer brief guy, and there are clean ones in the top drawer of the dresser.”
I love the way Wren’s very short boxer briefs hug their hips and rise over the cheeks of their ass as they move. Makes me wonder if they’ll let me grip them in my hand and move them to one side while I fuck them.
“Thank you.”
“Urgh. I gotta go. Bye.” I walk out the door and close it before I completely ignore the request from Atom, and act on my thoughts.
When I reach the kitchen, Grudge is sitting at the counter, nursing a mug of coffee. And Atom is standing with his back against the fridge, arms folded across his chest.
“Are you fucking Wren?” Grudge says.
“Do I ask you when you last fucked Lucy? No. So don’t be asking me about my sex life.”
Grudge puts his mug down on the counter and stands. Atom looks concerned about the closing distance between the two of us.
“Just answer the question,” Grudge says.
I rub a hand over my jaw as I consider my options. “No, I’m notfuckingWren.” I mean, there was no penetration, so I don’t feel too bad about lying. “I’m protecting them from a list ofpeople. And at the moment, that list looks a lot like the people who are actually after them, plus you.”
Grudge’s shoulders drop from his ears. “Thank God.”
“For the record, Grudge. It isneverany of your business who I’m fucking. But I took them a cup of coffee this morning. Slept in one of the guest rooms last night.”
Grudge blows out a harsh breath. “We’ve got one job. To protect Wren.”
I put my hands on my hips. “Can I give you some unsolicited advice?”
The look on Grudge’s face is one of suspicion. “Yeah. What’s that?”
“We don’tjust have one job. We have a lot of fucking jobs. We have a club charter to live up to. We have a strategy to build for next year. We have members to utilize to our best advantage. We have folks like Big Daddy, who we have an opportunity to build businesses with over the winter so we can reap the benefits in spring. The reason you’re so strung out about Wren is because you’re so far up King’s ass, you can’t see anything else.”
Grudge steps even closer, but I don’t budge. “What the?—”
Atom steps between us. “Enough.”
Grudge shakes his head. “It’s not even close to enough.”
I stand my ground, don’t back down for a second. “King wanted us to protect Wren. To keep them safe and whole. And for some reason, King wanted that so badly, he was willing to use a fucking private jet to get them here. The club owed Wren. And for some fucking reason, you’re treating them like an inconvenience, but something you’ve mistakenly decided your future as president rests on. You’re being a dick, and I’m calling you on it because you’re usually a much better guy than this.”
Grudge looks to Atom. “Move out of the way.”
Atom shakes his head. “No can do, Prez. Because I kinda agree with what Catfish is saying.”
Realization hits Grudge’s face. “What?”
