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Chapter Fourteen

Sawyer

Earlier on Wednesday…

“Dude, you need to make sure you’re still in their front of mind, but not clingy-like, you know?” Mouse’s voice stirred me out of a restless sleep.

“What the fuck are you talking about, and what the hell are you doing in my house? What are you doing in my goddamn bedroom?”

It wasn’t even six in the fucking morning and I was in my bed, trying to get some sleep. My morning wood was crying for me to show it some love because Fitz was the center of my thoughts.

Mouse, the sweet guy who handled our IT needs, was sitting on the side of my bed with his laptop, and I was completely shocked. He’d been the shy guy in the clubhouse, and here he was sitting next to me while I was in my birthday suit.

“I’m talking about whoever you’re trying to get with. I know it’s none of the hangarounds at the clubhouse, so it’s gotta be someone else, and based on your mood of late, you’re not having any luck.

“Here’s a website I found. I’m guessing that a relationship between two people is the same whether it’s two men, two women, or a man and a woman.” Mouse flipped the laptop around, but I couldn’t see the words.

I needed to get my eyes checked, or maybe it was because the fucking sun wasn’t up yet and the room was dark. Maybe it was because my eyes were still closed?

“Number one. What’s the rule about showing up in my house uninvited?”

Mouse chuckled. “Only if it’s an emergency, and this is an emergency, Bones. You’re not yourself lately. You didn’t come to Tiny’s party, and I get the feeling he was offended that you didn’t show.”

“I needed to have time to myself, Mouse. Number two. My sex life is none of anyone’s business.”

Mouse gasped “Oh, this is about so much more than your sex life, Bones. You don’t care about anyone you have sex with, and even that’s been quite a while ago, hasn’t it? Your mood turns sour when you haven’t gotten laid in a while, and we all know it.

“It’s been speculated that you care about someone but you’re afraid to bring them into our world. Personally, I think that’s bullshit, because we’re not doing anything illegal at the moment. As far as I’ve heard, there are no current plans in that direction. I’d say now is as good a time as any to introduce your person to the club. That’s why I did the research.” I opened my left eye to see the kid had a serious expression.

Mouse was generally a quiet, introverted guy. He was cute with his spikey red hair and big brown eyes. He was on the slender side, but I could see he’d been working out. His arms had some bulk that was new, and since I really liked the kid, I could let it slide that he’d broken into my house.

I sat up, pulling the sheet to cover my naked body, and I took his laptop to read whatever crap he’d uncovered that he seemed so damn sure I should know. Lord, help me, it was an article on a website LoveTricks.com .

I started reading their little hints to get someone interested in dating, and I wanted to laugh.

Ask for favors.

Keep eye contact just a little longer than usual when you’re together.

Mirror their gestures—laugh with them; empathize with them; smile when they smile.

I read the rest of their tips, and when I got to number eight, I took it to heart.

8. Turn them down from time to time. Let them know you’re worth their interest, but you’re not waiting for them to give you their attention. They’ll come to desire your attention and return it even more.

That was followed by another good one.

9. Do something for them to show that you care. Make it something they wouldn’t expect.

That one I could do easily. The back gate had been bothering me, so replacing the lock was a no-brainer.

After I kicked Mouse out of my place, I showered and dressed, heading to the home improvement store near Summerlin to find a decent lock that required a key. I picked up a few tools necessary for the job, placing them in my saddlebag. I headed to the rental house and went to work, installing the new lock on the back gate.

I gave Fitz both keys to show I wasn’t trying to take advantage of him by having a key to let myself in without being invited. I hoped he saw how much I cared about him. Then, I did the hardest thing I’d ever done…

“You, uh, you didn’t have to do it. I could have put a new one on. To be honest, I’ve mostly focused on the inside of the house and haven’t been home enough to worry about the backyard. You got time for a beer?”

It was damn hard to say the words, but I forced them out. “Thanks, but I’ll get out of your hair.” I hopped on the bike and left, cursing myself the whole way home.

I went to my house, turned on some music, grabbed a bottle of Jack, and I sat alone in the dark so nobody at the clubhouse decided to come down. I wasn’t sure what the fuck to do about Fitz, but if those fucking rules that Mouse had shown me worked at all, I’d swallow my pride and give them a try.

On Halloween morning, I went to The Roundup, finding Hobie and Ders at a table in the back. “Do we have candy to give to the members’ kids? Where are we on finding out whether the body was Boyd’s?”

The executive committee had taken the ride out to North Las Vegas to the home where Boyd and his wife, Leanne, had lived for thirty years. My parents used to go there on Fridays for game nights with the Townsends because they were all best friends. When Leanne wasn’t there, and the home was a shambles with all their clothes and personal items missing, I had no idea what the fuck to think. Something more was going on.

We rode back to the clubhouse without a word. I didn’t express my feelings on the matter, but when I caught Hobie’s eye, he nodded that it was fucking fishy. Was the dead body Boyd? I had my doubts at the time, and now I believed Leanne had left their home to join her husband, wherever he’d gone.

If I ever found Boyd Townsend alive, I’d do worse to him than was done to the poor soul who had taken his place. And the Scorpions would know the Steel Cowboys were the wrong club to piss off.

Gilly skipped into the dining room with a tray of coffee cups. “Good morning, guys. Coffee?”

We all nodded and accepted the mugs he gave us. “Are we having a Halloween party this year?” Gilly’s expression seemed hopeful.

I laughed. “If you wanna get some stuff together, we can have a little party for the kids. We’ll need candy. I’ll get Spider to call the guys and have them bring their families. Make it cute for them. I wish we’d thought of it sooner.”

I handed the kid my credit card, but Gilly pushed it away with a grin. “I’ve already taken care of it, prez, and Arlo gave me money to do it. I’ll get it all set up for the kids. Can I make a haunted house here? I’ll put it up and take it down, I swear.”

I chuckled. “Get Mouse to help you set it up. We’ll take it down tomorrow. Don’t make it too scary.”

Hobie reached for his phone and hit the contact list. “Mouse, let me treat you to breakfast. Bones wants to talk to you, anyway.”

When Hobie ended the call, he smirked. “He’s on his way.”

I took a sip of my coffee and wondered if there was any way to get Fitz to come to the party. According to Mouse’s rules, I shouldn’t seek him out, so how would that work?

“What’s wrong?” I glanced up to see Hobie staring at me.

“Nothing.”

Hobie smirked. “There will be plenty of hangarounds for you to get laid. You used to like Krystle.”

I didn’t give a shit about Krystle. She was down to fuck and didn’t want romance. She’d worked at Cowpokes on North Woodchips before she left to become a hair stylist, and she still came to every party she was invited to. I’d enjoyed her attention back then, but I wanted nothing to do with her—or anyone else—now.

“Yeah, well, it’s time for a change.”

I sipped my coffee and thought about Fitz. His laugh. His cutting wit. His sexy swagger. The way his hands felt when he touched me the one night we’d been together. I couldn’t get him out of my head, no matter how hard I tried.

“What kind of change, prez?”

I turned to Hobie. “Don’t worry about it. I got stuff to do. See ya.”

Hopping on my bike, I drove to the CVS near my rental house. I went inside and walked down the Halloween aisle, seeing cute little candy bags and stuffed pumpkins. I couldn’t imagine any of it would be appealing to Fitz.

In the gift aisle, I found a stuffed skeleton with a red heart in its chest cavity. I picked it up and carried it to the candy aisle. I tried like hell to remember if he’d ever mentioned any kind of favorite candy. I couldn’t.

I grabbed a bag of peanut butter cups, a bag of chocolate coconut mints, and a bag of dark chocolate ghosts. There was a plastic pumpkin, and a bag of strawberry licorice. Everyone liked that stuff, didn’t they?

After I paid for everything, I drove to the parking lot of a gas station and put the gift together. I took the little card that came with the pumpkin and drew a heart. I signed it Sawyer and added my phone number in case he’d deleted it when I was being an asshole.

After I had everything together, I put the pumpkin in my saddlebag and drove to the house on Windmill. Fitz wasn’t home, so I put the plastic pumpkin behind a cactus by the garage entrance. He would see it when he walked out of the garage, but none of the little kids roaming the neighborhood could see it from the street.

Instead of going back to the clubhouse, I drove to a bar not far from the Windmill house. If Fitz called me, I wanted to be able to get back to the house quickly before he changed his mind.

I pulled into the parking lot of The Mountain Lodge, which was just up the block from the rental where he lived. I parked my bike and went in through the side door, helmet in hand. What I didn’t expect to see was Fitz at the bar playing video poker.

I slid next to him and placed my helmet on the bar with a loud thunk . When he glanced my way, I grinned. “What a happy coincidence.”

Fitz chuckled before he sipped his draft beer. “Happy Halloween, Sawyer.”

“Were you saving this seat for someone?” I hoped to fuck not.

Sawyer turned his warm smile toward me. “No. Not at all.”

I sat down and slid a hundred into the video poker machine. I picked Jacks or Better and played max on a quarter game. I never won at video poker or slots, but it was worth it to sit next to Fitz.

The bartender approached with a smile. “What can I get you?”

I was reminded of our one and only date, and I smirked. “I’ll have what he’s having.”

“So, what brings you here? This isn’t close to Pahrump.” Fitz pushed the button on the video poker machine to deal the cards again.

“I was in the neighborhood and in no rush to get back to the clubhouse. They’re having a Halloween party for the kids, and Gilly wanted to create a haunted house at our restaurant. How about you? What brings you out tonight?”

Fitz turned his chair to face me. “It’s a shitty thing to say, but I hate this holiday. I didn’t buy any candy, and I didn’t want the kids egging my house because they know I’m home and not giving out anything.”

I was taking a drink of my draft, and when he said he wasn’t a fan of Halloween, I spit beer all over my poker machine before I started hacking up a lung. How ironic was it that I’d stewed over what to put in a plastic pumpkin for him when he hated the damn holiday?

Fitz banged on my back while I tried to recover. “You okay there, cowboy?”

I nodded as I continued to cough. Once I finally got control of myself and cleaned off the poker machine with the wet towel the bartender handed me, I swiveled my chair to face Fitz. “Ignore the plastic pumpkin behind the cactus next to the garage. I have no idea where it came from.”

Of course I was teasing, but when his cheeks turned a little pink, I was pleasantly surprised. He was so fucking handsome I nearly swallowed my tongue.

“Excuse me while I pull my big foot out of my mouth. I don’t hate candy and presents—just the expectation that I’m going to give them to kids who don’t even say hi to me when they see me putting my trash can out by the curb.” He winked at me as he ordered two more beers for us since I’d inhaled and spewed most of mine.

“Well, don’t get your hopes up. It’s a peace offering for my asshole behavior. I’m praying you’ll forgive me for being a dick.” That was the most truthful thing I’d said in a long time.

Fitz put his hand out and squeezed my right bicep. “Forgiven. I needed to talk to you about something anyway.”

“Sure. What’s wrong? Something with the house?”

“No. The house is great. It’s about TJ Middleton. How’s he doing?”

I was caught off guard. “TJ? What about TJ? Did he get arrested again?”

If he had, I was gonna kick his ass. After the robbery at Tumbleweeds, we needed that kind of attention on the club like we needed a hole in our heads.

He chuckled. “No. I mean, not that I know. I asked our IT guy to do a little digging into TJ because the arrest didn’t make sense to me. When I talked to TJ, he seemed like a responsible guy. I couldn’t see him beating the hell out of a john. Here.”

Fitz pulled out his phone and pecked a few things before he placed the device on the screen of my poker machine. “Take a look at this.”

After Fitz touched the screen, I saw TJ outside the Blue Diamond Casino. He was talking to a guy in a leather studded jacket. I touched the screen to pause it. “Who’s that guy?”

“Jimmy Germaine. Apparently, he’s a lower-level fight promoter. He works at Boxed In where TJ spars on occasion.” Fitz touched the screen again and the video continued.

Jimmy Germaine sounded familiar, but I couldn’t immediately come up with how I knew the name. I watched the whole fucking mess that got TJ arrested. How the cops had taken him to jail and how the guy he’d beaten the fuck out of was carted off to the hospital. When I saw Ricky Marlow, I stopped the video again.

“What’s wrong?” Fitz’s face showed concern.

“That’s one of my club brothers. Ricky Marlow. He came to me a few days ago about TJ fighting in a match at Ace of Spades Casino in Green Valley. He mentioned Jimmy Germaine. What the fuck is going on?”

“I’m not sure, Sawyer. What I think happened at the Blue Diamond and what really happened could be miles apart. We identified Jimmy Germaine and the colors on the back of the cuts. One is your guy and one is a Scorpion. The faces and the names we couldn’t figure out.

“I was planning to reach out on Friday. My guy at Sparks says it might be a scam—maybe TJ agreed to take a dive, or Romero Garza is going to, but I’m worried about what will happen to the kid if he doesn’t do as they say.”

He was earnest in his assessment, which fueled my concerns. “Did you find out anything else you’d like to share?”

“TJ’s grandfather lives in Mesquite.”

Mesquite? Fucking Mesquite? That was Viper Kings’ turf. They were a Dominican club that had set up shop in Mesquite on the Arizona line to run drugs for the Corsican Cartel. All those motherfuckers were ruthless.

“Fuck. That’s not good. I need to talk to TJ again. I have a feeling that’s what he meant when he said they’d hurt someone he cares about.”

I should have known there was more to it than that shit Ricky said about the club betting on him to make a bunch of money. Ricky was up to something, and I didn’t have any faith that it was something I’d support.

“Do you know when the fight is? I’ll go with you to Mesquite to talk to the grandfather if you want.” Fitz’s steady gaze let me know he was sincere.

He meant that he’d go with me, and I wasn’t sure why. “Why would you do that?”

Fitz sighed. “Look, Sawyer, I really like you, and I don’t want to see you or your club hurt by some bullshit arrangement made behind your back. How well do you know the guy who was at the Blue Diamond when your worker was arrested?”

“Clearly, not well enough. I’ll have to ask some questions around the clubhouse.”

“You wanna move over to a table and get something to eat?” Fitz wore an eager expression.

With Mouse’s rules in the forefront of my mind, I almost said no, but I’d already said no to him once, and I wasn’t about to give him the impression I wasn’t interested since I’d finally pulled my head out of my ass. “Yeah, sure.”

We both cashed out our tickets, tipped the bartender, and moved over to a table for two. A plucky young lady with a big smile brought us menus. “Anything to drink?” We ordered sodas. I had a long ride out to Pahrump, so I couldn’t drink anymore beer.

After we ordered wings to share, the server walked away. Fitz grinned. “So, you didn’t want to go to the party tonight?”

I laughed. “Not at all. Kids are cute… as long as they’re not mine. I’ll happily pay for any party I don’t have to attend.”

Fitz’s deep laugh lit my insides. God, I wanted to take him somewhere and kiss every inch of him. He was temptation on two long legs, and I was ready to crawl across a field of cactus to get him to go out with me.

“I found out the fight at the Ace of Spades is November 22. That gives us a few weeks to check into things and keep your employee from making a grave mistake. You got time on Sunday to take the ride across the state?” Please say yes…

Fitz’s smile was intoxicating as his gaze settled on mine. At this point, I wasn’t above begging him to come with me.

The server delivered our food and we dug in. After we finished, Fitz insisted on paying the bill. For some odd reason, I liked it. He grinned as he put cash in the folder and handed it to the server. “You okay to drive home? You can come to my place and sleep if you’d like.”

It wasn’t exactly the invitation I’d hoped for, but it was sweet. “I appreciate the offer, but I’m fine to get home. Call me about taking the drive to Mesquite.” I left the tip and followed him out.

I walked Fitz to his shiny truck and stood next to him as he fished out the keys. “Thanks for whatever surprise I have waiting for me. I enjoyed spending time with you tonight. Our shared disdain for Halloween is funny. I’ll call you about Sunday. It was good to see you, Sawyer.” I nodded, surprised when Fitz stepped closer and kissed my cheek.

“Thanks. Be safe.” I opened the door for him, and after he got in, I closed it and walked over to my bike.

Was that my way of turning him down? Maybe, just maybe, he’d call me and we could actually kick something off?