“Help me? You think that’s what I’m worried about right now? You almost died yesterday, Willa.” His voice is low and lethal.
“I’m not your problem. I can take care of myself.”
“Maybe with horses and cattle. But guns are my territory, and you’re not going anywhere until I know you’re safe.”
“Why?”
“Because they could have shot you.” He steps close, his voice cracking ever so slightly at the end.
He’s angry. But underneath his irritation is something else. Fear, like the hint of what flashed in his eyes in the motel room when we were being showered with bullets. Not fear for his life, but mine.
Dean drags his hand over his face, closing his eyes and taking a breath. When he looks down at me again, he’s washed the tension from his expression, but I still feel it.
“Come on.” He motions for me to follow.
“Where are you taking me?” I tug my bag up my shoulder, hurrying to keep up.
“You still drink coffee?” He glances back long enough for me to nod my answer. “Good. I need some caffeine to deal with your stubborn ass.”
“My ass is no more stubborn than yours.”
“Don’t I fucking know it, princess.” Dean leads me back into the clubhouse, and even if I saw it last night, it’s different in the light of morning.
No one is fucking on random surfaces. The tables and bars have been wiped down. A nice morning breeze sweeps through the open windows, and fans move the air around. Something floral wafts in the air.
Now that I think about it, even last night, it didn’t smell like smoke as you’d expect from a biker bar.
Dean pulls out a barstool for me, a little too close to his. I pull it back an inch before taking my seat, but our legs still brush when he sits.
My eyebrows pinch as I sweep the room again. “This place isn’t what I expected.”
“What did you expect?”
“Drugs, booze, sex… I guess that part I saw some of last night. But still…” I wipe my hand on the bar, and it’s not the least bit sticky. “It’s cleaner than Ransack in here.”
“I forgot about that place.” Dean’s eyes scrunch like his thoughts are back in time. “Tony still working behind the bar?”
“Until the day he dies.” I smile. “It’s a little more run down than you probably remember, but it’s all still there and mostly in one piece. The karaoke machine broke a couple of years back, but they fixed it recently.”
“You used to torture us all with that thing.” He chuckles.
“Hey.” I shove his arm. “I have a beautiful voice.”
“For scaring sheep and cattle.”
I roll my eyes, and Dean laughs. It’s so easy to fall back into a version of us that no longer exists. Into a friendship neither of us wants anymore.
Our smiles slip away, and I sense he thought something similar as he turns toward the bar and rests his arms on it. He waves down a stunning redhead, who walks from the other end with a coffee pot and two mugs in her hand.
She’s beautiful. All curves and flawless skin. Bright cheeks and even brighter eyes. Her red hair draws out the rivers of green in her gaze.
“Good morning.” She sets Dean’s mug down first and fills it, her eyes flitting from the coffee to him.
I’ve never seen such long, full eyelashes.
“Morning, Wren.” Dean juts his thumb at me. “This is Willa.”
Wren offers me a tight smile. “You’re a friend of Chaos’s?”
