I gasped. “You did?”
He gave me a bloody smile. “I sure fuckin’ did.”
“Keep that towel on your lip,” I ordered.
“I think the bleeding’s stopped,” he said, standing and making his way to the kitchen sink where he rinsed his mouth out. “Yeah, it’s stopped. I’m good.”
I grabbed a tray of ice cubes from the freezer and wrapped them in some saran wrap. “Sit down so I can ice your eye,” I ordered. “We need to call the police.”
“My dad’ll just lie and tell them I fell,” Kam said.
I let out a frustrated squeak. “Well, you can’t go back there! It’s not safe.”
“We could hide him here,” Billy said.
“How are we going to do that?” I asked.
Billy shrugged. “Haven’t figured that part out yet.”
* * *
Rooster arrived at five-fifty-nine, and I took afew deep breaths before pulling open the door. I probably should have given myself a few extra breaths, because good god, he looked good.
Dark jeans, straight cut, hugging every delicious inch of his long legs, a black henley, black beat-up motorcycle boots, and his leather cut under his leather jacket instantly made me want to peel him out of everything and taste what was underneath. He held his helmet in one hand and a bag of what I assumed was our food in the other.
“Hey, baby.”
“I thought you weren’t supposed to wear your colors when riding alone.”
“My jacket’s got nothing on it. My bike’s just a Harley. We’re all good.”
I bit my lip, then nodded. “Come on in,” I said, stepping back so he could walk inside. “Can I take anything?”
He smiled. “I got it.”
I locked up behind him and led him into the kitchen. He set everything on the island and his gaze swept the room. “Nice place.”
“Thanks.”
“You bought it a few years ago, huh?”
“Yeah,” I said, then demanded, “Wait, how did you know that?”
He smiled. “Getting right into it, then.”
“Absolutely.” I cocked my head. “Who has been feeding you information?”
“You really can’t guess?”
“No one close to me would betray me like that.”
“You see it as a betrayal, Katie?” he challenged. “Really?”
“Ah, yes! Wouldn’t you?”
He crossed his arms and leaned against the counter. “Well, considering he’s known me as long as you have, no.”
“Billy,” I breathed out. “I should have known. I’m going to murder him in the face.”
