“No shit?” My eyes widened. “I’m happy for you,” I said as I smacked his arm. “It’s not you he’s angry with. It’s me,” I tried to explain, but nothing made sense. “Cactus is mad at me because I ghosted him. Well—not him. His texts.” I shook my head. “Nothing’s going on.”
“Is that right?” Doc raised an eyebrow. “He looks like he doesn’t fuck around.”
“What is he doing?” I asked. I didn’t want to whip my head around, obviously searching for him.
Doc’s hand tightened around mine, closing the distance between us. “You’re not over whatever is going on, but you need to play this cool. Take a deep breath and pretend he’s not walking this way.”
“Go.” I tried to step away from him, but he didn’t release me. “I’m serious. I’ll be okay, and you’ll be safer on the opposite side of the room.” We were friends, and I didn’t want him directly in the eye of a pissed-off biker.
Doc looked over my head, eyes narrowing as if he was debating leaving.
“Please,” I begged. “Go.”
He tipped his head in Cactus’s direction, slipping into the crowd.
“Asshole,” I muttered. It wasn’t Doc I was mad at.
“Who was that?”
“A friend.” He wasn’t touching me, but I could feel the heat from his body, and I imagined the flare of his nostrils as his breath danced over the skin between my neck and shoulder. “Promise me you’ll leave him alone.”
Cactus didn’t respond as he wrapped his arm around my waist, holding me against him. He wouldn’t ask questions as he removed threats.
“Promise me. He’s just a friend.”
His grip flexed around my waist, and I turned to face him. Cactus’s face was blank, but fire burned behind his eyes. I could see the danger, the violence, underneath the surface. “Why him?”
We’d never held hands. Never kissed. I should have walked away, reminding myself why this could never happen. I tried to break his hold, but he only tightened his arm around me. “You want to be angry with me, fine. I’m not thrilled with you either. You don’t get to hunt me down just to mark your territory. I’m nobody’s property.”
Cactus hummed, not saying a word, and it made me angrier. I wanted to push him into a fight, knowing I could let the words out and he wouldn’t hold them against me. Yet, he remained silent.
“I don’t understand you. You said you wouldn’t have fought for me, so why are you now playing the jealous lover?”
He was about ready to respond when the music died. The lights came up, forcing most people to close their eyes at the sudden brightness. There were groans rising from the crowd, resembling the hangovers most of them would have tomorrow.
A fight had broken out at the bar, and just like that, the night had caught fire.
Chapter nineteen
Bleeding Hearts
Roxy
“What the fuck were you thinking?” Scorpion yelled at Angelica, yanking her up from the barstool. The bar was full of patrons, but no one stepped in to help her as she stumbled.
“I was thinking with my dick. You’re familiar with that,” she shot back, regaining her balance.
I knew from experience that no one wanted to be on Scorpion’s radar. He made snap decisions, not giving a fuck who he hurt. Yet, it didn’t stop most of the women in the room from wanting a taste. Angelica was an exception. She stood toe-to-toe with him, not giving an inch. Rage surrounded them, tangible, as he screamed more insults directly into her face in the middle of the barn.
“Are you done?” she asked calmly. I thought Scorpion was going to hit her, and my feet shuffled a few steps forward. When I realized I was the only one moving towards the bar, I turned slightly, motioning for Cactus to do something. Angelica was his sister, and with how close they were, he should have been standing in front of her. Instead, his feet never left the dance floor.
“She can handle him.” He held me by my elbow, but when I pushed against him to free myself, his grip tightened. “If I get involved, he’ll swing faster,” he whispered.
I made a face at him. “She’s your sister,” I pleaded.
“Trust me, he may back down now if I defend her, but that won’t be the end. He will play emotional games, using Bri against her, until he thinks she’s paid enough. There’s no telling how long that will last, and he’ll send me out of town as punishment.”
A protector wouldn’t stand by when he could deflect the situation. Cactus might have been right, but I hated standing next to him when all I craved was for him to do something. Anything. Somewhere underneath the logic was a man who was alright with letting his sister take the hits.What did that mean for me?
