“He’s beat to—”
“What the fuck’s goin’ on?” Aero stumbled into the room with nothing on but the tape around his ribs.
Sundance grinned, averting his eyes. “Just checkin’ in on you.”
“I’m good,” Aero said. “Why the fuck’s Letti cryin’?”
“Because my dad beat the crap out of you!” I bellowed.
“Shhh.” He waved his hand, grinning like an idiot. “Too loud, baby.”
“Why the hell are you smiling?” I squeaked.
“Because I feel good.”
“You are both insane. I’m going home,” I threatened.
“You’re not goin’ anywhere,” Aero said. “Your dad’s leavin’ and I’m gonna get my other prize.”
“Okay, man, I seriously didn’t need to hear that,” Dad said with a groan. “I’m outta here.”
“I’m coming with you.”
“You want to leave with your dad?” Aero challenged. “Instead of takin’ care of your man?”
“I’m gonna leave you here,” Dad said, and nodded to Aero without looking at him.
“So much for protection,” I grumbled, and Dad spun to face me, leaning down to get eye-to-eye.
“You need protection, baby girl?” he growled.
“No.”
“Then don’t pull that shit.”
“Watch your tone, Pres,” Aero warned.
Dad swung a hand behind him. “You are not in this.”
“I am fuckin’ in this,” Aero countered. “You need to watch your tone with my woman.”
I groaned, dropping my face in my hands. My man was verbally sparring with my dad buck naked in the middle of his apartment.
“I’m gonna chalk this up to you bein’ a little hyped up, a lot drunk, and wet behind the ears,” Dad threatened. “Unless you wanna be the quickest member in Howlers’ history to lose his badge.”
“Dad!” I snapped.
Aero raised an eyebrow. “You can chalk it up to whatever you need to, and I didn’t mean any disrespect, but you and I are gonna have to come to an understanding about who the go-to man is on the subject of Letti protection.”
Dad crossed his giant arms. “Yeah, well, I’ll always be her dad, you may or may not be around forever.”
“Are you fuck—”
“Stop!” I bellowed. “Both of you need to take a big mother may I, back the fuck up, moment. I am chief of Letti protection. Neither of you get to have that job because it belongs to me.”
“Babe—”
“And, furthermore, I am done with all this alpha male, head bashing nonsense. I am my own woman, not some fucking damsel in distress.” I turned to Aero. “I hope you didn’t hurt your right hand in your little fight tonight, because you’re gonna need to take care of yourself until I decide I no longer want to kill you.” Turning to my dad, I hissed, “Stop being a dick to my boyfriend. You might be my dad forever, but he’s not going anywhere until I say so, so you need to wrap your head around that.” I pulled out my phone. “Now, I’m going to call a car and head over to Everly’s. I’m done with both of you.”
