“I’m going to talk to one of my guys, and then we’re going to leave. I’ll take you to breakfast and then take you home, okay?”
I smile softly. “Okay.”
Kolter’s fingers intertwine with mine, sending my heart skipping a beat like I’m a lovesick teenager and we’re walking the school halls for the first time as an official couple. How stupid am I?
When Kolter pulls the door open, the air around us instantly shifts, like the safe, warm cocoon we’ve been wrapped in for thelast few hours has been snatched away, leaving us cast adrift in the early-morning chill.
In just a few feet, we’re through the hallway and into the main bar area, which means it takes no time to have what feels like a hundred pairs of eyes on us. Okay, that’s a gross exaggeration; there are maybe twenty people in the place. Still, though—the feeling instantly puts me on edge and has me wanting to shrink behind Kolter.
He seems to sense my unease and stands a little taller, blocking me from the onlookers.
“Got a new toy, Blade?” a man calls over. Half of his teeth are missing, and the other half are rotted black.
The way he smiles at me sends goosebumps running up and down my spine, but they’re quickly chased away by Kolter’s snarl.
“I’ll pluck your goddamn eyes from your head if you look at her again—that’s a fucking promise.”
The man seems to take his threat seriously, quickly averting his gaze to the beer in front of him as Kolter begins moving forward, keeping his hand in mine.
We stop at a table with a tall, wide man maybe ten years older than Kolter and a woman. She has long hair and more tattoos and piercings than I can count. She also has an extremely kind smile—a knowing one like she understands how… uncomfortable this situation is for me.
“Stay with her. I’ll be a minute,” Kolter says.
The woman smiles and nods, scooting over to make room for me in the booth. I glance up at Kolter cautiously, and he gives me a quick, encouraging nod.
Slowly, I take a seat beside the woman, and the man stands up, moving to sit on the other side of me. I jolt in surprise, but he lifts his hands in the air to demonstrate his innocence.
“Easy, darlin’. I’m just sitting here so one of these pukes don’t,” he says, jutting his chin towards the room full of men who are still watching me like I’m a steak dinner.
“He looks like a big brute, and he is, but he’ll keep you safe. Boss’s orders and all,” the woman beside me teases.
“Kolter is the boss?” I ask, turning towards her.
“Blade?” she asks. “I mean, sort of. He’s the boss’s son, the future heir and all that, and he’s got a nasty temper.”
I furrow my brows and look over to Kolter, who’s now in the corner with a familiar-looking guy. It takes me a moment to place him before I realize he’s the guy who guarded my door last night; who was with Kolter in the club that first night. The way they’re talking, they’re clearly friends. Both of their faces are pinched and serious, though, and the guy occasionally glances towards me, putting me instantly on edge.
“So, where did you meet Blade?” the woman asks.
I tear my gaze away from Kolter and turn to her. “What?”
She smiles patiently. “Where did you meet him? You don’t look like a typical cut slut.”
Her eyes rake over me, but not in a judgmental way—more like she’s appraising me. Understandable considering I’m drowning in Kolter’s clothes.
“Uh, we grew up together,” I say, hoping that’s okay to say.
It’s not the full truth, but it’s not a lie either. We did grow up together.
Just in the same house.
“Really? That’s cool. Brick and I have been together since I was in high school.”
He nods. “That’s right.”
“Yep, I jumped on the back of his bike and never looked back. I mean, after I found out how hung he was.”
A choked laugh escapes Brick, and my eyes widen in surprise.