Page 7 of Reaper and Ruin

Whip raised an eyebrow in his direction. “Uh, no?”

X pointed at him. “Wrong! I’m going to try out. I think it’s my destiny.”

“Do you even skate?”

X shrugged and flapped his hand around. “Details, details, Whip. I survived! I can do anything!”

Violet rolled her window down. “I’ll try to get him to rest. I’m sure he’ll calm down once he’s had a hot shower and some sleep.”

I doubted it. But I strode to the side of the van and pressed my lips against hers. “Watch him. I don’t know how long he was underwater for, and his behavior is erratic.”

She glanced over at X, who was flipping through radio stations and singing a few lines of the song on each before moving on again. “His behavior is always kind of erratic though.”

She had a point.

“Call me if you need me.”

She nodded, kissing me back. “I love you.”

I couldn’t help but grin. “Love you too.”

“Get Whip home safely.”

I promised I would, though my words were probably lost to her in the spin of the ice cream truck’s tires. X had clearly grown tired of waiting and decided our conversation was over.

Or he’d heard her say she loved me and was deliberately trying to kick mud up into my face.

Both could have been true.

I wiped the flecks of dirt from my cheeks, thanked my brothers from the club for coming, even though it had all been over by the time they’d gotten here, and made my way to Bliss’s car.

Whip already sat in the passenger seat waiting for me, his arms wrapped around himself. A violent shiver racked his body.

I turned on the engine and then the car heater, cold to the bone as well after being in that freezing ocean for who knew how long.

The bluffs weren’t far from the club grounds, and it was less than ten minutes before we were following the convoy of bikes down the dirt road that led to the Slayers’ gates.

It was only then Whip seemed to notice where we were. “I need to go home.”

I shook my head. “You need to see a fucking doctor.”

“I’m fine. Just take me home.”

I eyed the stubborn prick. “Why? So you can dry drown in the privacy of your own bedroom with no one watching?”

“What the hell is dry drowning?”

I huffed out an impatient sigh. “Something you’re not going to die from because you’re coming back to the clubhouse where it just so happens a doctor lives. And so I can keep an eye on you.”

Whip went back to staring out the window. “Fine.”

I gripped the steering wheel and nodded. “Fine.”

The warm air from the heater hadn’t helped much by the time I was parking Bliss’s car within the Slayers compound. If anything, it just burned my cold, wind-chapped skin painfully.

Grayson stood at the door, nodding at each of the guys as they walked through into the bar and communal area. Whip and I were the last to get there. I eagerly anticipated a bourbon with my name on it.

Gray stepped in front of us before we could enter. “What the hell happened out there tonight?”