“Yeah,” I agreed.
I grumbled my way back to Kat and Maddox. Apparently, my detective skills needed some serious help.
******
“Brake! Christ, babe,” Axel half chuckled half groaned.
“I’m braking,” I replied impatiently. “You’re not very good at this. For such a badass, you’re kind of a pussy,” I taunted before I had to bite back a laugh as he shot me a glare.
We’d dropped Mad off at Scarlet and Cole’s for our date. Axel had insisted we start with a driving lesson, which is how we’d found ourselves in an abandoned parking lot in his F-150. His giant F-150.
“Couldn’t I learn in Kat’s old Corolla or something? This is ridiculous,” I complained. “I feel like I’m driving a small country.”
“You’ll need an SUV for getting up the mountain in the winter, and anything after this will feel like a piece of cake.”
I shot him a glare. “Is this how you’re gonna teach Mad everything? The hardest way possible first?”
He shrugged. “Maybe.”
“Great,” I muttered.
“Let’s practice parking,” he suggested warily.
By the time we got to the restaurant, I was ready for a drink. He decided on a steakhouse just outside of town that Scar had mentioned more than once was amazing.
We sat at the bar while we waited for our table. I ordered a cosmopolitan while he sipped at a beer.
“I gotta head out of town later this week.” He looked over at me with an appraising stare as though gauging my reaction.
“What? Why?” I asked with a mixture of disappointment at being away from him and straight anxiety about him being gone.
He hesitated and I narrowed my eyes. “Ax, remember what I said? I want to know what’s going on.”
He sighed and ran a hand over his beard. “A few of us are riding out to take a meet with the Black Riders. Henry and a few of his guys are comin’ too. We’re trying to get to the bottom of this shit and we will.” I’ll be back as soon as I can. While I’m gone, you and Mad can stay with Sal.”
It irritated me that he hadn’t even asked me what I’d prefer.
“Actually, I’d rather not change Mad’s surroundings again so soon. He’s just starting to get used to your place and I like my sleep,” I grumbled.
“I’d rather you were in town while I’m gone. The house is too isolated,” he countered as he shook his head.
“Well, these are the types of conversations we should have before you make up your mind.” I rolled my eyes.
“I’m not going to fuck around with your safety. You can be a pain in my ass all you want,” he retorted.
“We still should talk about it first, geez!” I exclaimed. “I’ve taken orders all my life. I’m not about to do that again.”
He gave me a look like he didn’t know what the hell to do with me. He probably didn’t. It occurred to me that while he was more experienced than I was in most ways, he’d never had a relationship like this before. We both had a learning curve to climb together.
“Listen,” I began, my tone much softer. “You think I won’t do what’s best for Mad? All I’m asking is to be a part of the decision making process. I trust you to take care of us. But I need to be in charge of my own life. I need to have a say,” I told him firmly.
He looked at me for a moment longer. “Fine,” he agreed somewhat reluctantly. “Now, can we stop fucking fighting on our first date?” he demanded.
“It’s our second date,” I corrected him.
“Christ!” He threw up his hands in the air in exasperation.
I couldn’t help it, I burst out laughing.
