Page 49 of What They Say

He knew exactly why Chase had gone quiet. The club was on high alert after the threats that had been tied to Carrie’s old enemy. Mason had made it crystal clear—no outsiders brought into the circle until the situation was handled. And Kath wasn’t even a friend of the club yet. She was just a girl Chase was falling for.

Bear rubbed a hand over his beard, guilt twisting in his gut. He hated letting her walk away knowing Chase was ghosting her. The kid was head over heels—anyone with eyes could see it. But club business came first when blood was on the line. Especially when that blood was tied to the president’s son.

He pulled out his phone and fired off a quick text to Chase.

*Kath just left the garage. She’s worried. You need to call her, son. Soon as you can.*

Bear slipped the phone back into his pocket and went back to work on the bike, but his mind stayed on the girl riding away and the quiet, decent kid who was probably tearing himself up trying to keep her safe by keeping her at a safe distance.

Some situations had no clean answers.

This felt like one of them.

***

Kath

The sun was dipping low as Kath pulled away from Bear’s garage, the blue-and-white bike rumbling comfortably beneath her.

She took the long way home, using the wind on her face and the engine’s vibration to settle the restless energy in her chest and hold the tears at bay. But halfway down the quiet stretch of road that ran parallel to the river, she had an uneasy prickle right along her spine.

A black pickup truck had been behind her for the last several miles—close enough to be noticeable, far enough back that she couldn’t make out the driver. When she slowed at a stop sign, the truck slowed too. When she turned onto the next road, it followed.

Kath’s grip tightened on the handlebars. Her heart picked up speed. She told herself it was probably just someone heading the same direction. Plenty of trucks on these back roads. But the feeling of eyes on her wouldn’t leave.

She opened the throttle a little more, taking the next turn sharper than necessary. In her mirror, the truck kept pace for another mile before finally turning off onto a side road and disappearing from view.

Kath exhaled shakily, rolling her shoulders as the house came into sight. It was nothing. Just her old instincts flaring up because things were finally going well.

Still, she couldn’t quite shake the chill that had settled between her shoulder blades.

Chapter Seventeen

Chase

Chase sat on the roof of the clubhouse, legs dangling over the edge, the cool night air doing nothing to settle the storm in his chest. Below him, the inside lights were still on. There were too many brothers still up, voices low and serious as they rotated watch shifts and ran down leads on the threat.

The threat against him.

He kept turning Mason’s words over in his mind. An old enemy tied to Carrie. Someone who saw him as unfinished business. Someone dangerous enough that the entire club had shifted into protective mode.

And Kath was out there with no idea.

He pulled out his phone for the tenth time that night and stared at their last messages. Her simple reply after the Michigan gig. He thought of his own half-finished texts that he kept deleting before sending. Every time he started typing, the same thought stopped him:

If they’re watching me, they might watch her too.

He couldn’t risk it. Not yet. Not until Mason and the club had a better handle on who this enemy was and how serious the threat actually was.

But God, he missed her.

The way she’d looked at him when they were writing together—like his music made her words feel safe. The quiet laugh she let slip when she was letting her guard down. The way she’d said, “I kinda like you, you know?” like it cost her something to admit it.

Chase rubbed a hand over his face, exhaustion and frustration warring inside him. He wanted to call her. Wanted to tell her everything. Wanted to drive over to her place right now and pull her into his arms and promise her he wasn’t disappearing.

Instead, he was up here hiding like a coward.

The door below creaked open. Bear stepped out, looked up, and spotted him.