“No, you will not. You need to go up there. It will be harder for her to shut you out face to face.”
I shook my head. “I’m not leaving you and Raven to drive to Devil Springs to have a door slammed in my face. She didn’t have a problem telling me to fuck off in person last time.”
“Dash, this is different and you know it. You can drop me and Raven off at Dad’s before you go. Plus, you can check on my brother for me.”
“Okay, baby,” I said and placed a soft kiss on her lips. “We’ll talk more about it in the morning. You need to sleep while you can.”
“I love you, Dash.”
“Love you, too, Ember.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
River
I woke up when my alarm went off at three o’clock. I rolled to my side to find Jonah sound asleep. Quietly climbing out of bed, I tiptoed to the door and made my way to his room so I could shower without waking him. If he’d had as little sleep as he’d said, he needed the rest.
After I showered and dressed, I went out to the kitchen and got a pot of coffee going while I started perusing the fridge and cabinets for something to eat. Once I decided on omelets and pancakes, I went back to his bathroom to blow dry my hair and put on a little makeup.
I had just started on the second omelet when someone rang the doorbell. I moved the pan off the burner and quickly ran for the door before whoever it was rang it again and woke Jonah. Without even thinking about looking, I yanked the door open to find a man I most certainly did not want to see standing on Jonah’s front porch.
Before I could slam the door in his face, Jonah appeared beside me and extended his hand. “Dash, good to see you, brother. Come on in.”
Jonah strategically moved me to the side without me even realizing what he was doing until it was too late. My brother was suddenly insidemyspace and being friendly withmyman and I couldn’t take it.
“Get out,” I said in a low and even tone.
Reed’s eyes widened, but Jonah stepped in front of me and cupped my cheeks in his hands. “You need to talk to him. Your brother is not a bad man. He wouldn’t be in the club if he was. He came here to see you; the least you could do is hear what he has to say.”
“Did you know he was coming?”
Jonah shook his head. “No, I didn’t. I never would’ve sprung something like this on you.”
I nodded and took a moment to think about what I wanted to do. Well, I knew what I wanted—to kick Reed out and devour the scrumptious breakfast I was cooking. But, what I wanted to do and what I should do were likely not one and the same.
“Okay. Let me finish cooking and I’ll hear what he has to say while I’m eating. If he starts talking while I’m hangry, things won’t end well for anyone in this house.”
“All right, lil’ ninja. Get back to cooking so we can keep your monster under control,” he said and placed a soft kiss on my lips.
With that, I returned to the kitchen while Jonah went into the living room with my brother. Instead of trying to figure out why Reed had shown up or what he could possibly want to discuss with me, I focused on the food. In fact, I was so focused on it I didn’t realize I’d made five omelets and twenty-three pancakes until Jonah stopped me from mixing up more batter. “That’s more than enough, baby. Go sit down and I’ll bring yours to you.”
I picked up my cup of coffee and took a seat at the kitchen table. A few minutes later, Jonah placed my food in front of me and returned with two more plates of food just as my brother took a seat across from me.
An awkward and uncomfortable silence surrounded us, so I began shoveling food into my mouth, not even bothering to chew it before I swallowed and shoved in another forkful.
“All right, I’ve had enough of this shit. Y’all have some things to discuss. You want me to stay or go?” Jonah asked.
To my absolute horror, Reed and I both shrugged and said, “Meh, whatever.”
Jonah snorted. “In that case, I guess I’ll stay.”
A part of me didn’t want him to stay and hear the humiliating details of my past, but another part of me wanted him to hear just how much of an asshole his beloved club brother really was. And that part was what encouraged me to get the ball rolling.
“So, what brings you to Devil Springs, brother dearest?” I asked in a chipper tone that was clearly fake.
“Our dead mother,” Reed deadpanned.
“I see. And what exactly does that have to do with me?”