And there was no money in the world that would get me to wear one of my skirts when I was stuck riding on the back of Dex’s bike.
So my short shorts it was.
By the length of time it took Dex to stop looking at my—thankfully—shaved legs, I’d gone from being flattered to uncomfortable. The only time people stared at me that intently were when they were looking at my arm. An arm that I'd thankfully managed to subconsciously pack smartly enough for by grabbing a handful of elbow-length cardigans. “I’m ready,” I repeated.
“Right.” He stood up, huffing under his breath while turning off the television, and then striding toward the door. He gave me another sidelong glance. "You might wanna take that sweater off. It'll be pretty hot outside in no time on my bike."
Shoot. I hadn't even thought of that. I only had a tank top beneath the cardigan and...yeah. I'd rather have pit stains than pitiful looks. "I'll be fine."
Dex looked like he wanted to argue with me but luckily he dropped the issue.
The ride back into town was silent, and I got to appreciate the scenery of what was outside the Austin city limits. Except for traffic and pollution, and the feel of Dex’s bare bicep and forearm touching my knee every few minutes, the ride back was fine.
“Where are we going?” I asked him at a stoplight once we were back in the city.
He tilted his head to the side, talking loudly over the roar of the bike. “Luther’s place,” he answered. “You remember him?”
I nodded, reminded of the time I’d taken thepackageover to him and the night I’d caught him fondling up a twenty-something. Yet again, still friggin’ gross.
We pulled into a large two story red brick home in an upper middle class neighborhood. The same truck we’d taken to Austin was parked in the driveway alongside a Harley that looked differently than Sonny and Dex’s. As soon as he’d gotten off the bike and helped me off too, knocking on it so loud I’m sure the neighbors heard.
The door opened up much quicker than I would have expected with a disheveled looking Luther standing there bare-chested and bleary-eyed.
“Jesus, Dex,you know it’s my day off,it’s too early for this shit.”
Dex’s broad shoulders shifted tightly beneath the plain white tee he had on. Someone was on the verge of being a grumpy butt. “Sonny took off last night.”
Luther let out a long and drawn out sigh from between his lips before waving Dex—and me by default—inside. “What do you mean he took off?"
"He's goin' to look for Curt, Lu. Took Trip with him."
The older man's features tightened, his jaw locking right before he rubbed a big palm over it roughly. "Fuck."
"What do you expect? You saw him at Seton. You know what those pieces of shit will do if they don't get paid."
It didn't escape me that they both glanced at me as Dex spoke the last sentence.
I might have flinched just a little inside.
Luther groaned again, scrubbing both hands over his face. When he dropped his palms, he slowly turned to look at me. It hit me right then that the older man had the same sky blue eyes Trip did. Huh.
"Honey, don't go anywhere without one of the club members with you."
The second time in my life that the "Prez" had spoken to me and he was warning me. The urge to go visit Lanie was right smack on my forehead, but I knew I shouldn't.
Dex let out a long sigh. “I got this. Don’t worry about it,” he assured the older man.
I, on the other hand, had a really bad feeling about this.
~ * ~
“Who are those guys?” I asked Dex over breakfast.
After we left Luther’s house, we’d loaded back on the bike and made our way over to a diner nearby. We squeezed into a booth across from each other and ordered breakfast in a murmur of low requests.
Dex looked up at me as he shoveled half of a breakfast sausage into his mouth. “What guys?” He even had the nerve to look around the diner like I’d be asking about any other guys besides the ones who had taken Sonny.
“The guys at thebar. The ones my dad owes money to,” I explained, eyeing the dark circles under his radiant blue eyes. Dex had some seriously thick eyelashes.
