Tex didn’t answer right away; instead, he walked over to the small fridge in the corner and pulled out a bottle of water and he handed it to me.
“People are complicated,” he said.
I twisted the cap off and took a sip. “You’re saying my parents were drug runners but still good people?”
“I’m saying that the world isn’t always as simple as you want it to be. It’s not always black and white.”
That wasn’t exactly comforting either.
Silence stretched between us again and I decided to change the subject. Talking about my parents was making me feel sick to my stomach.
“Can I ask you something without you being weird?”
He raised an eyebrow. “No promises.”
“This is a weird question and completely off topic, I guess, but where are all the women?” I asked.
Tex blinked and then chuckled. “What?”
“In the bar, downstairs,” I said. “I didn’t see any women. I thought there would be women everywhere, draping themselves across all of you or whatever. That’s what everyone in town says it’s like in here, anyway. Are they all wrong? I mean, I feel like I’ve been wrong about a lot of things recently.”
He rubbed the back of his neck, a grin on his face. It made him look handsome, maybe even sweet. “You’re not wrong. The women, they’ll show up later.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means,” he said carefully, “that clubhouse life gets real busy at night.”
I stared at him. “You’re telling me this place turns into some kind of biker stripper bar?” I guffawed, feeling strangely embarrassed, though I had never been a prude.
“Somethin’ like that, sweetheart.”
I let out a long breath and willed my heated cheeks to go away. “Well that’s fantastic.”
His brow lifted. “Why? You plannin’ on joining the party?”
“Hard pass.”
That earned another quiet chuckle from him and the sound surprised me.
For a moment the tension in the room eased. Then the weight of the day settled back over me again. So much had happened in such little time. I had been worried about paying bills and finding the money to feed the animals, and now I was worried for my life and wondering who the hell had actually raised me.
I was beyond exhausted, both physically and mentally, and my thoughts were becoming sluggish. I didn’t think I would be able to sleep with all the new knowledge I had inside of me, and yet I knew once my head hit the pillow I would be out of it. My eyelids felt heavy and Tex must have noticed.
“You should sleep.”
“I don’t think I can.”
“Try anyway,” he said, his voice a deep, low rumble.
I stretched out slowly on the bed, still wearing my jeans and boots.
The mattress smelled faintly of soap and leather and I buried my face into the neck of the hoodie, feeling safe and warm.
Tex moved toward the door.
“Tex?” I said softly.
He paused. “Yeah?”
