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“And you weren’t interested in joining them?”

“What would be the point?” Scout asked. “No one ever plays with me.”

“Did you think to ask if I wanted to?”

“For a moment, but it looked like you had your hands full.”

“Not by choice.”

“Okay.”

“That’s all you have to say?” Kong asked.

“What else is there?” Scout asked as the weight of the whole fucked-up day came crashing down around him. “And what would be the point? Maybe it’s a good thing that I’m finally learning how to keep my mouth shut. Should have figured it out sooner.”

“And if I don’t want you to stay silent about whatever it is that’s got you all twisted up right now?” Kong said, stopping Scout cold.

Before he could blink, the big man had one hand wrapped around Scout’s upper arm, preventing him from storming away.

Not that he’d bother.

Kong knew what cabin he stayed in.

Besides, those long legs of his would make it impossible to outrun him.

“I heard you were in the gas station this afternoon when a couple of idiots tried to rob it,” Kong said, the abrupt shift in subject matter adding to the swirling mess of thoughts cluttering his head. “You didn’t get hurt, did you?”

“No.”

“Creature said there was blood on you when he saw you and that you saved a woman’s life.”

“That was the EMT’s.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Kinda fucked up, them turning on one another like that,” Kong said, the shadows keeping his eyes hooded.

Scout wished they were facing the other direction so he could see the moonlight reflected in Kong’s honey-hued gaze and whatever expression was hidden in them.

“You wouldn’t have happened to instigate that by any chance? ”

There had been instigation.

And he had taken part.

“That’s what I figured,” Kong said, reading his silence as reluctance to own up to what he’d done, which was actually perfect. “You could have gotten yourself killed with a stunt like that.”

“Could have gotten killed with the way they were waving their guns around like idiots, too, but I’m still standing.”

“It’s a good thing you know when to duck.”

“Had lots of practice.”

“With the Hounds?” Kong asked.

Scout shrugged, despite the hold Kong still had on his arm. “Just, everywhere.”

“Some of the guys really like the way you jump in and do whatever is needed around the place.”

“I promised Ms. Kat I would when she hired me. I intend to honor that as long as she lets me work here.”

“So you wanna stay?”

“It's kinda nice, only having to walk a couple hundred feet from my door to my job.”

“Ya know,” Kong said. “It confuses people how willing you are to stay in Kat’s good graces when you’re here, and yet you take off and leave the compound whenever you aren’t on the clock.”

“Why is that confusing? I’ve got shit to do.”

“An awful lot of shit to do for someone who claims to be new to the area.”

“You do know that working in the clubhouse isn’t the only thing I do for the club, right?”

“Yeah, another thing that has drawn a great deal of scrutiny your way,” Kong pointed out. “It’s pretty convenient how easily you’ve been able to fill the parts requests and all from the same place.”

“I’ve got an in.”

“Obviously.”

“If you want to accuse me of something, just say it.”

“Alright, I will, since they’ve already been scanned for bugs and trackers and turned out clean,” Kong replied.

“What the fuck? I’d never do that shit.”

“Maybe you wouldn’t, but you’re not working alone, are you?”

“No.”

Kong snorted but said nothing while Scout shuffled from one foot to the other, hating the silence that filled the space between them.

“What, did you think I’d lie to you about that?” Scout asked when the silence finally got to be too much.

“I wasn’t sure what to think when I listened to some of the guys talk about your comings and goings.”

“Yeah, well, you should hear some of the shit they say about you.”

“I’m aware of exactly what is said and why they're saying it,” Kong replied. “Some is truth and some is exaggeration. If you’ve got specific questions, just ask ‘em. I won’t lie to you.”

“There’s nothing I need to know,” Scout said. “You don’t owe me anything just ‘cause we spent the night together. If one and done is your thing, it’s your thing. If you decide you want another night with me, I’m fine with that too. Otherwise, you do you.”

“And if what I want is to know the absolute truth about what you’ve got going on with those parts and how you came to be in this town in the first place, what will you say then?”

“That I came for a job, but rent was too expensive, so I started staying at the campground. I ran into Teddy at the grocery store where I was picking up supplies. He saw me checking out the help wanted section on the bulletin board and brought me here. Mark saw my bike and started asking questions about it, and when he found out that I’d built it with my brother and my old man, he wanted to know where I got the parts.

I told him I knew a place, and if he had a parts list, I’d find out if they had them. ”

“But you wouldn’t tell him where it was.”

“No, and I won’t tell you.”

“Why?”

“That’s my business.”

“Then there’s no reason to keep wondering why people are suspicious; that’s your answer right there.”

“It’s my source; why should I have to share it?”

“’Cause you ain’t a member of the press, boy, and around here, there is no my, there’s only ours,” Kong said. “Until you figure that out, not a damn person is gonna trust you.”

“Including you?”

“Including me,” Kong said, finally letting go of Scout’s arm. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to spend time with you.”

“Then what does it mean?”

“That you can’t expect my protection or my loyalty until you tell me everything that’s going on, including the parts you left out about today.”

“H-how….” Scout stammered, taking a few steps back as Kong began to chuckle.

“You just told me.”