I’m not used to contact so freely given. My mom loved me—beyond doubt. But she didn’t often show physical affection. No hugs. No gentle touches to my face. Whether that was a conditioning of her upbringing or a result of her role at the Devil’s Breed, I don’t know. All I do know is that she passed that cool detachment on to me. And now, all it’s taken is a hand-hold from Kathy, the same from Molly, and now a friendly touch from Jezabel to absolutely unravel me.
I focus on the characters sweeping around a timber cabin on the screen, frown hard, and really do my best to take in every detail as they narrate the story. But the prickling intensifies and, to my horror, a single tear escapes. I smoosh my chin down into the cushion. Hopefully, if nobody sees, I can contain the riot of emotion wanting to break free.
Damn it.I thought I got this out of my system yesterday. I thought my epic meltdown in front of Fang would have been enough.
But shit, if I can be wrong about everything else in my life, then why not be wrong about this too, huh?
Loki enters the room and drops heavily into the chair by the front window. I study the man in my periphery while he thumbs through his phone, shoulders tense and one heel tapping the floor, knee bouncing.
Jezabel tilts her head to glance his way as well. “You’re distracting.”
He lifts his gaze and seemingly takes in the scene before him as though he hadn’t even realized we were here. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Of course you would,” she mutters, returning to the movie.
Chaos strides past the open doorway, exiting onto the porch. I tense, senses on high alert while I wait for any indication of where Fang heads next. Laughter bubbles from the movie, a sigh escaping Loki. My heart rate picks up, and I swallow hard.Whydoes it matter where Fang is?He’s an asshole. A hypocritical asshole who wants me to submit to his will so he can get what he wants from me. He doesn’t genuinely care about my situation—fuck no. He was tasked with monitoring me, shadowing me, and reporting his findings to his president.So, why then have you not seen him until now?Where has he been all day?
I sense his eyes on me before I see him, subtly entering the room from the kitchen/dining room behind us. I catch a glimpse of his boot, a slash of his dark denim jeans. The hairs on my nape prickle. I can’t fully look at the man without twisting my body around, and I think he knows it. Why else circumvent the room to enter from the far side?
Painful minutes pass, the bunch of us either genuinely intrigued with the movie playing on the screen, or doing our damndest to pretend we are. Jezabel shifts, lifting her head off my leg to then move forward and offer Anna a pillow to save craning her neck. I take the opportunity to move myself sideways to where I can lean against the front of a chair, turning slightly so I can see Fang.
He watches me, stoic and unwavering.
Maybe we weren’t all watching the TV, after all.
“What?”I mouth.
He draws a deep breath, shoulders rising and a muscle feathering along his jaw.
I look away. But it doesn’t matter how chaotic the story on the screen is; I can’t get it to hold my focus.
I glance toward Fang.
His gaze grows lazy, clearly shifting over me before he pushes off the doorframe and disappears toward the kitchen.
I sneak a sideways glance at Loki and find him gone.Jesus, Jenna.Distracted by the darkly handsome biker, much? Jezabel has repositioned herself between the girls, all three of them on their stomachs with their backs to me. I take a deep breath,check the empty doorway, and then rise to my feet.What are you doing, dipshit?Something that surely promises trouble.
As I suspected, Fang loiters in the kitchen when I enter the adjacent room, almost as though he expected me to follow.
“You do it yet?” he asks.
I eye the way he casually leans his ass against the counter, the nonchalant way his legs are crossed at the ankle. His arms are folded, yet he fidgets with something in his right hand, obscured by his left arm overtop.
“If you mean call my father, then yes, I did.”
“What did he say?”
“That Chaos can stick his invite up his ass.”
I catch the faint twitch of a smile, yet he dismisses it with a sweep of his right hand before resuming his previous stance. “You’re gonna need to try harder, then.”
“Yeah, thanks, Captain Obvious.” I drag my gaze the length of the man. At first glance, he seems angry and detached, yet there’s a lingering exhaustion to the way he holds himself. To the slight delay in his words when he answers. “Where have you been?”
Fang’s focus snaps to my face. “Miss me?”
“Thought you were supposed to watch over me, is all. You don’t seem as though you’re very good at your job.”
“Maybe I’m too good. Maybe I was there all along, but you didn’t see me.”
