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I sense she has a story to tell, but again, I don’t think it’s polite to ask, especially considering I’d rather keep my own story to myself.
Pulling my hands into the sleeves of my hoodie, I grip the ends with my fingers and stand. Mac follows suit and tilts her head toward the Starbucks to our right. Every now and then, I get the sense she’s communicating with someone else because she doesn’t always make eye contact, but maybe that’s her thing? I don’t know her well enough to figure her out yet.
What I do know is that she’s been constantly kind, funny, and comfortable to be around. She even encouraged me to link my arm through hers as we walked around before lunch, so I don’t think twice about doing it again.
“Thank you for today, Mac. I really can’t tell you how amazing it is what you’re doing for me.” We head toward the exit and the lot where she parked her huge truck.
“It’s not all me, ya know.” She chuckles again and shakes her head lightly, glancing behind her briefly as we walk.
Then she stops moving altogether, her eyes wide and full of confusion, and I slowly turn my head away from staring at her to find a man I’ve never seen before, but I think I know who senthim. It’s in the way he holds himself, the way he sneers when I make eye contact, and his scent reminds me ofthem.
He’s tall, and as much as I want to keep my eyes on his, I can’t. I’m not strong enough. Not yet. I need more time. My breaths come in faster with every passing second and something close to anger mixed with a lot of fear begins to grow from the pit of my stomach. I may not be able to hold eye contact, but I do notice how his bald head reflects the fluorescent lights, shining off the almost orange surface of his skin and making him look patchy.
My back is straight, frozen in a state of fear, and I don’t know what I’m going to do here, but I can’t let him take me away. His sneer turns into a snarl, then a sly smile stretches across his face before he speaks.
“You need to go home, Athena. Mommy and Daddy are very angry with you.”
Chapter Nine
Bear
“So, this is our new norm then?” I don’t know why I asked Psycho to come with me. Oh, right. I didn’t.
“No one forced you to be here,Aleko.” Now I’m just trying to get him riled up.
“Oh, shit! You just first-named me. Them are fightin’ words, brother.”
“Why the fuck am I even here? I’m just as bored now as I was when Prez made us go to a mechanics conference in Raleigh.” And yes, Grinder is here, too.
“Nobody fucking forced you either, brother.” I don’t even bother looking back at him, my gaze hyper focused on Athena as she walks around, proud as a goose in her brand new boots. I can’t explain the sense of satisfaction I got when I watched her throw away her old raggedy boots. There’s just something about being the reason she feels better that does something visceral to me.
“Oh, shit! I remember that. You got so high during one of the demonstrations that security had to take you outside when you asked the guy if you could add your tool to his box.” Psycho is belly laughing, his black hair a lot longer than it was last year as it shakes from side to side.
“Not my fault he was hot. But seriously, when I agreed—”
“No one asked you,” I repeat, fighting the urge to laugh at this fool because no one is immune to Grinder’s special kind of humor.
“—to accompany you on this outing, I was thinking we’d be riding and basically putting our lives in danger for the cause.” Grinder barely pauses, just barrels on through with his grievances.
Goddammit, now I’m curious. “What the fuck cause needs us to put our lives in danger?” This time, I do tear my gaze away from Athena, who’s got her fingers wrapped around Mac’s bicep, smiling and talking and generally having a good time.
Grinder smirks, like getting my undivided attention was his goal all along. “Entertaining the good citizens of Rockford Beach, of course.” Christ, this guy.
“Well, there is that. They do love a little SOK show once in a while.” Psycho takes out his phone and I don’t need to see the screen to know he’s texting his wife. She’s literally in front of us and it’s still not close enough.
I want that.
Observing her profile and the wide grin that takes up his entire face, I realize that I really do want that. I want someone to make my entire mouth curve up with happiness.
“Uh, guys?” Psycho and I both turn back to look at Grinder, but his gaze is fixed straight ahead. “Who’s that?” At the urgency of his question, we both snap our heads back around, but instead of seeing my girl and Mac on the sidewalk, carefree and happy, the opposite is happening.
Before I can understand just how wrong this whole fucking picture is, Psycho has jumped off his bike and is sprinting like a madman across the street, slapping his palm on a red car that came way too close to running him down.
This whole thing may be new to me but my ass is right behind him, stopping traffic as I follow him to the other side of the road. By the time I reach the girls, Psycho is already there, one fist cocked back while the other clutches the asshole’s shirt. The first punch sprays my best friend’s chest with blood, the guy’s nose no doubt broken from the hit. The second and third punches crack his jaw and the unmistakable sound of molars falling to the pavement gives me surprising satisfaction.
Next thing we know, the dude’s out like a fucking light and I’m fighting the frustration of not getting a single hit in.
In a nanosecond, I’m standing in front of Athena while Psycho is patting Mac down as if she somehow got hurt. “You okay, Cherry baby?”