Page 35 of From the Ashes

“Walker? Are you back?” Jonas’s voice rings through the camper.

“Yeah,” I grumble, annoyed by him and his terrible timing now more than ever.

“We need to talk,” he says in a somber tone.

No shit.“I’ll be out in a minute.”

It’s going to take a while to process Alexis’s message, but she’ll know I read it, so I try to choose my words carefully as I offer a response.

I scrub my left hand down my face. What a fucking day. Opening the door of the bedroom, I steel myself for whatever Jonas is about to throw at me. He probably wants to leave at first light tomorrow morning, and I’m sure he has a bunch more shit to say about Phoenix—which I absolutely cannot handle right now.

“You in pain?” he asks, looking up as I come into the main portion of the camper.

More than you know,I answer in my head even as I shake it to tell him no. “I’m fine.”

“Alright, well, look, I don’t know how to say this, but I talked to your dad before you came back and I’m going to uh…”

He trails off and is silent for so long I finally say, “Spit it out, Jonas.”

“I’m joining Jackson White’s team for the remainder of the season.”

My eyes go wide. “I appreciate your loyalty,” I say sarcastically. I’m mad, but honestly, with everything else I’m dealing with, this doesn’t even register as more than a two on theshit-in-my-life-that’s-completely-fuckedscale.

“Look, Walker, you’re down for the season and I?—”

“It’s fine, Jonas, really.”

Trying to make me feel good about his choice he continues, but it only makes me angrier.

“It could be good. I’ll work with him, learn his style, and bring that knowledge back to you so we can incorporate what he does well.”

“You seem to be forgettingI’mranked number one,” I bite out. “What’s stopping you from givingmystyle andmysecrets to him?”

“I wouldn’t hurt you or jeopardize your career like that,” he argues, but honestly, it’s weak and makes me wonder if hewoulddo that to Jackson. And then the fucker adds, “Unlike Phoenix.”

“God, Jonas, get your panties out of a wad. What the fuck do you have against Phoenix? You don’t even know him,” I point out.

“I don’t like the way he looks at you,” Jonas answers with a shrug.

“And how exactly does he look at me?”

“I don’t know,” he says automatically, even though clearly,hedoesknow. Shifting uncomfortably, he finds me waiting, and blows out a breath. “Okay, fine. He looks at you like he’s trying to stop himself from tearing into you with his teeth. Sometimes he looks like a predator and sometimes he just looks broken, but either way, it’s inappropriate, especially given your…attraction to him.”

His words rock me.Phoenix looks at me like that?When I see him looking at me, all I see are fury and hurt in his eyes. My mind begins to race with what this could mean for us.

“Don’t go there, Walker,” Jonas warns.

“You now work for the enemy, so you’ll excuse me if I don’t take your advice anymore.”

“So what? You’re just going to go profess your love for this guy? Phoenix isstraight, Walker. Just like you should be. Being anything else is dangerous in our world.”

I laugh. “I just rolled off the back of a thousand-pound horse while it continued to buck above me. My entirelifeis dangerous.”And you don’t know a goddamn thing about Phoenix.

Jonas shakes his head. “C’mon, man. You’re pissed the season’s over, but that doesn’t mean you have to do dumb shit.”

“What I do or don’t do is no longer your concern. When you signed on with Jackson without talking to me first, you made your fucking choice.”

“Yeah, well at least I won’t have to worry about walking in the camper to find Jackson taking it in the ass!” Jonas yells, not bothering to pull any punches.