Page 66 of Guitars and Cages

He was standing right next to me, one hand on my arm, the other one trying to get me to look at him. I could hear the concern in the way he said my name. I didn’t deserve his concern, or anyone else’s for that matter, nor did I want him touching me and being so goddamned nice. I jerked away when all I really wanted was to hug him and accept his kindness and comfort.

“I’m fine,” I told him, taking a deep breath and pulling myself together. I met his eyes, even as I knew that was lie number two I was gonna have to write down. “I need a shower.”

He sighed, and his eyes looked tired and sad.

“Go ahead. But I want to talk to you after closing.”

I opened my mouth to argue, and he silenced me with a look.

“Yeah, okay, fine. I’ll be down to help out as soon as I’m clean.”

He nodded and I turned away, but I could feel his eyes on me all the way up the hall. A part of me wondered what he was thinking, but another part of me was glad I’d never know.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Isat at a table at the end of the night, waiting for Morgan to finish locking the doors. When he came back without glasses and a bottle, or even a couple of beers, I knew this wasn’t gonna be good. He sat down across from me, watching me like a hawk ready to pounce on a rabbit, and I squirmed in the chair and tore my eyes away from him, looking over to the silent jukebox. No music, either? What the hell kind of talk was this gonna be?

“I don’t want you going with Cole when he leaves.”

“I know; you’ve made that clear, but I’m going with him anyway. He’s my brother; I’m not gonna leave him out there alone.”

“He’s been alone down in Mexico a long damned time, Asher. What the hell makes you think he needs you with him?”

I raised my head to look at Morgan and frowned, because it dawned on me that Cole hadn’t had a chance to tell him about the woman, or what she’d meant to him. “If he didn’t want me with him, he wouldn’t have said I was goin’.”

Morgan slammed his hands down on the table. Damn, I’d never seen him so edgy. “The only goddamned reason he said you were going with him was because he’s disgusted with Alexia and is trying to isolate her, and you’re playing right into his hand.”

“You don’t think I know that?” I said. “But I also know how much it sucks to be out there by yourself. Alexia isn’t gonna be alone; she’ll be here with you and Rory, and it’s not like me and Cole are goin’ far. Like I told Rory, I’ll still be here to work every night, as long as you’re still okay with me working here.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” he snapped.

“I don’t know. You’ve got Alexia working here now, so you don’t need me.”

“Alexia works in the kitchen; you’re still tending bar and bouncing, as long as you plan to stick around. You go with Cole, though, and I don’t expect you boys to stay in the city long.”

“Why?”

“Like I said to you in the hall, Colton’s been talking about leaving the city all night. To hear him tell it, he’s already got a route planned out.”

“Oh.”

“That all you have to say, boy, just ‘oh’?”

“I don’t know what else to say, Morgan. He didn’t say anything to me. I can’t ride yet; I’d have to cut off the cast to be able to hang on to the bike, and even then, I don’t think I’d have much control over it. And then there’s Ghost; I can’t take her on a bike.”

“Yeah, well, I tried telling that to the stubborn bastard, too, but he seems of the mindset that you can ride with him and leave your bike here until you’ve healed up and you boys can come back for it. Didn’t mention the cat, though; you’ll have to talk to him about that. Now, I’ll keep the bike safe for you, you know that, but you leaving with Colton is not a good idea.”

I swallowed and stared down at the tabletop without a goddamned clue what to say. I heard footsteps coming down the stairs, so at least for the moment I was saved from saying anything.

“I figured you’d pull this bullshit, Morgan!”

I groaned. It was Cole. Of course.

“And what bullshit would that be, the part where I give him choices instead of orders?”

“If Blaze didn’t want to come with me, he’d have said so.”

I looked up and grinned at hearing that old nickname come from him. At least he wasn’t still upset with me. And yeah, maybe a part of me was gonna follow him just to be sure he didn’t hate me for staying behind.