Page 66

Chapter Sixteen

Carly

“I can’t even imagine how terrifying that was, Hon,” I say as Ali finishes explaining her recent ordeal. We’re all sitting around a picnic table at the clubhouse while the guys gather around the fire, discussing who knows what. I was apprehensive about coming here tonight when Ali told me they were having a barbecue but I don’t think Chance has even glanced in my direction since we showed up which is a good thing.

“I’ve honestly never felt fear like that. I was frozen and I couldn’t even scream for Logan. I thought my heart was going to literally burst.”

Izzy blows out a breath and looks up at Ali. “What are we doing to end this son of a bitch?”

“Logan is handling it.”

“Well, what is he doing?”

Ali shrugs, peeking over her shoulder at Logan and I follow her gaze to find Chance’s eyes boring into me. Well, so much for that. Sucking in a subtle breath, I remind myself that I can handle this. I just need to stay away from him and then maybe I won’t give into this ache that’s been present since I decided to put space between us over two weeks ago. Not that he’s made it easy at all, though. I’ve even turned off my phone and sat in a dark apartment to avoid facing him when he dropped by without warning. That combined with my repeated unsuccessful attempts to get ahold of Ivy has made for a very stressful couple of weeks.

“I don’t know, Iz. He promised to tell me everything when it was over,” Ali says.

“And you’re okay with that?” she asks, incredulously.

Ali nods. “I am. If there is one thing I know for certain, it’s that Logan is madly in love with me. He would do whatever it takes to keep me safe, and if me being in the dark for a little bit helps him deal with this, then I’m okay with that. But he will be telling me every little detail when this is all over.”

“I don’t know how you do it,” she grumbles, and Ali laughs as the boys walk over to us.

“Ladies,” Chance says as they gather around the table, his gaze lingering on me. I can feel it like a touch across my skin, but I refuse to look at him. The guys all sit in a circle around the picnic table, some pulling up chairs while others slide down the bench seat. Logan picks Ali up and sits down in her spot, positioning her in his lap as he presses his lips to her neck. Her eyes drift closed and she smiles.

“Wait, I’m gonna need you all to tell me your names again,” Izzy says, batting her eyelashes at the guys and Ali laughs while I shake my head. As Izzy drove me here tonight, all she talked about was how badly she needed to get some tonight so this is like a buffet laid out in front of her. The guys go in a circle, each telling her their names and when it’s Moose’s turn, she holds her hands up.

“Hold on. Moose?”

His brow arches. “Yeah?”

“How in the hell did you get a name like Moose?”

All of the guys start cracking up and Smith slaps him on the back. “Yes, brother. Please tell us how you came to be known as Moose.”

“No,” he snaps, looking away from the group.

“Ah, come on, buddy. If you don’t, I will,” Kodiak says with a teasing grin on his face. Moose turns to glare at him.

“Don’t you dare.”

Kodiak smiles wider and turns to us. “It happened like this, ladies. Good old Moose here was dating this girl, a real psycho but she sucked better than a hoover.”

Izzy flashes them a wide smile as she props her chin up on her hand, already enthralled in this story.

“Anyway, Moose in his infinite wisdom recognized that this was the type of woman that would cut your balls off in your sleep and decided to end it with her. To say she didn’t take it well would be an understatement. She just didn’t want to let our sweet Moose-y go so she devised this plan to kidnap him.”

“What?” Izzy sputters out and all of the guys are snickering at this point as Moose’s cheeks burn beneath his beard.

“Right?” Kodiak asks. “Moose is a big boy. I have no idea how she was planning on getting him out of here, but we had a party one night and she showed up. She spent the night flirting with all of us but always keepin’ an eye on our boy here and when Moose went upstairs to get something, she followed him. We heard the crash and went running up there. Home girl had shot him with a tranquilizer and he was laying on the floor, moaning like a…”

“Moose!” Izzy shouts, cutting Kodiak off and the entire table erupts in laughter, nudging him as he looks away, blushing harder.

“I fucking hate you all,” he growls and Kodiak pats his head.

“Oh, no, you don’t.”

Izzy sighs and shakes her head. “Well, now I’m just more intrigued about all of your names.”