Then he shakes his head. “You’re fucking stupid.”
No arguments there.
“Was it worth it? A fucking headache from hell, a body that needs to be properly disposed of and your father’s fist down your throat, all for a quick lay?”
He’s goading me, I know it, but as tempting as it is to react, I remain quiet—though my jaw clenches with such force my teeth might crack.
Bones shakes his head again as he looks down at his phone. “You know there’s only so much we can keep from him, Kolt. If he finds out you killed some random over a woman?”
“She’s not just any woman.”
“Clearly—anyone with a pair of eyes can see the way you care about her. So, for the life of me, I can’t understand why the fuck you thought it was a good idea to bring her here of all places? You could have taken her to your apartment, to her house, a fucking motel for Christ’s sake. Here, though? Where damn near the entire fucking club has not only seen her but watched you with her?”
“It was a heat-of-the-moment thing,” I reply, though it’s a shitty defense. “I wasn’t thinking clearly, could hardly fucking see straight. I knew I needed help with the clean-up, and I didn’t know if she was gonna run to the cops after what she saw.”
Bones lifts an eyebrow. “You killed the guy in front of her?”
I nod.
He scoffs. “How’d a suburban girl like her handle that?”
Oddly well. Took even me by surprise.
“I know who she is, Kolt,” Bones sighs instead of waiting for my answer. His words are heavy, like it’s a personal burden to know anything at all.
Bones’ eyes come to mine then, a steady promise in them. “I don’t know what you got in your head about that girl, but let me tell you one thing. If you care for her, you’ll never speak to her again. If you don’t, well, I still don’t want to see her around here. We got enough damn problems, and I don’t have time to deal with your pops shooting that poor girl dead in our bar.”
His words chill me to the bone. Mainly because it’s the truth. If my dad finds out about last night, he’ll kick the shit out of me. If he finds out it was over a woman, a possible distraction, he’ll kill her before I can even blink.
I should take Bones’ advice. I should let her go, just like I did before. If I loved her the way I claim to, I would. I made a promise, though—to her, and I think to myself too. I’m not letting her go again, ever. I just have to be smarter from now on, and I will be. She’s too important for me to make mistakes.
“Get the fuck out of here. Lie low before Snakes comes in. If he brings it up, I won’t lie to him, but… I won’t bring up the girl.”
Sometimes, I wish Bones was my dad. He’s been more of one to me than my own father ever has, and that right there, saying he’ll go against the prez to protect me, or, more importantly, my girl… he’s putting his life on the line for me, and I don’t take that lightly.
“Thank you. And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. I just… lost it.”
Bones snorts, pulling a cigarette out of his pocket and lighting it up. “Yeah, well, you better fucking find it.”
I nod my agreement, and he dismisses me with a simple wave, so I turn on my heel, make my way out the door and head down the hall. Several eyes move to me, curiously, as if I’m about to sit down and tell them everything we just discussed. Swear tofuck, these men are worse than a bunch of schoolgirls when it comes to gossip.
Fire Crotch attempts to leap into my arms, but when I don’t bother to catch her, she stumbles several steps then tries to recover with what’s supposed to be a seductive smile.
“Where are you off to? I was thinking we could have a little fun this morning.”
I don’t even look at her, and I sure as fuck don’t speak to her. Instead, I keep walking, pretending she’s nothing more than a gnat in my way, though gnat is generous in this case.
Outside, I fire up my bike and take off down the road. First stop is my apartment for some fresh clothes and maybe a real shower. Then, despite Bones’ warning, I’m off to where it really matters.
Chapter Nineteen
Naomi
Like he promised, Kolter came over for dinner. Well, it was more like lunch honestly, and that turned into dinner. We spent the whole day together. We watched movies with Mom; made meals. Mom and I even swindled him into a game of UNO, which he lost pathetically.
On the couch, I snuggled beneath a blanket, and Kolter’s hand found its way beneath. He held my thigh the entire time, slowly teasing the apex of my legs. If Mom hadn’t been there, I’d have jumped straight into his lap and… well, let’s be honest, he would have talked me through it, but I wouldn’t have minded. I swear, losing your virginity is something else. It’s like once you finally experience what you’ve been missing all this time, suddenly you’re addicted. Maybe that’s just me, though, and it probably has everything to do with who I lost it to.
After Kolter left, Mom was on cloud nine. She smiled and sang while she did the dishes, talking about how good it felt to have her lost son back. I smiled too, agreeing, even if her calling Kolter her son had me feeling more than a little… ashamed? No, that’s not right. I definitely have minimal shame for what Kolter and I share. Whatever it is, it’s… different for sure. I mean, it’s not every day you start dating your adopted brother after hekills the man who was going to take your virginity and takes it himself.