“We don’t make the rules,” Rotor said with an exaggerated shrug.
“The fuck you don’t,” I told them. “Those are made up rules. We don’t always call Ainsley “Sheriff” just because that’s Warrant’s nickname for her.”
“We don’t,” Rotor agreed. “Butifwe use a nickname for her it’s always Sheriff.”
“I fucking hate you,” I grumbled, shrugging Jury’s arm off my shoulder. “Just go home.”
“We’re not about to miss this,” Jury told me.
“Yeah, this is way more fun,” Rotor said.
Ignoring them, I headed in Rae’s direction. She turned, caught my gaze, and blinked at us a couple times as though she was trying to figure out where we came from and why we were there without having to ask the questions. She looked overher shoulder at the closed door, but didn’t go back inside. She squared her shoulders and faced us as though she didn’t have a care in the world.
I wished I could read her mind. Her expression was serene and there was a smile on her face, but her eyes were a storm of emotion and I wanted to know what she was thinking. “Hey.”
Her beautiful brown eyes were like amber in the sunlight. “H-hi, Pyre. Jury, Rotor,” she said, sounding a little breathless. There was a pink blush spreading over her cheeks.
She’d didn’t seem thrilled to be standing there talking with me. Probably because I took a week after nearly kissing her to come speak to her. I was a deliberate man. I didn’t make up my mind in a split second the way Warrant did. Considering outcomes was as integral to me as breathing. But now I’d decided to make Rae mine. I watched her shuffle restlessly as my brothers greeted her. This was going to be fun.
CHAPTER 9
Raeleen
Ihadn’t lied to my friends. The plan was to give Pyre a chance if that was what he wanted. Now here he was standing in front of me. I’d gone about my week under the assumption that he wasn’t as interested as everyone thought. Each day that went by and I didn’t hear from him just solidified that opinion.
Shuffling my feet, I gave the men tentative smiles as I greeted them. I’d come to the conclusion that Pyre and I would go our separate ways, no harm, no foul. But here he was, standing in front of me. People were already looking our way. The men of the MC always got a lot of attention wherever they went.
“Need some help with that?” Jury asked.
“Oh no, I’ve-”
He was already taking the box out of my hands before I could get the words out. He flipped open the flaps. “Whatcha got in here?” Then he frowned at the contents.
“What is it?” Rotor asked. “Better not be a fucking snake. Hate those bastards.” He moved over to peer down into the box. “Why the fuck do you have a bunch of bugs in there?” He looked up at me. “Who the fuck walks around with cockroaches in a box?”
It wasn’t just cockroaches. There were other bugs, over-ripe fruit that I’d picked up from the grocery store, vegetables, eggs, and a few other odds and ends. “They’re for my pet,” I explained.
Penny had a varied diet and I tried to meet all her nutritional needs. It was important to me that she stayed as healthy as possible. She ate better than most people, minus the bugs of course.
“Not any weirder than what he has in the box in his room,” Jury said, nodding at Pyre with his chin.
I glanced over at Pyre with raised eyebrows. He had a resigned look on his face. “You have a…box?”
“Ignore them,” he told me. He stared down at me with those gorgeous blue eyes and I realized how easy it would be to get lost in them. “Do you-”
“What kind of pet?” Rotor asked, interrupting whatever Pyre had been about to ask me.
I blinked over at Rotor, frowning as I tried to pull myself out of the daze Pyre had me in and figure out what his question had been. Right. Penny. “Oh. She’s an opossum.”
Now they were all staring at me in surprise, even Pyre.
“You have an opossum as a pet?” Jury asked.
“I would’ve guessed a crow,” Rotor muttered. “Or a snake. Oof!”
Pyre had reached out and punched him in the gut. Not hard, just enough to knock the wind out of him.
I nodded at Jury’s question, ignoring Rotor as my eyes drifted back to Pyre. He didn’t look disgusted. That was a good sign. Penny was a sweet girl, but some people had an objectionto opossums. A lot of people assumed they had rabies, or other diseases. It was extremely rare because of their low body temperature compared to other mammals. Opossums were a part of nature’s cleanup crew. They ate just about everything and helped keep things clean and sanitary. Which was why I provided her with so many different things to eat on a daily basis. And since they naturally designated a “latrine” spot, they could be litter box trained.
