“I fuckin’ love Wren.She’s not afraid of you and couldn’t give two fucks about pleasin’ you.Why the fuck wouldn’t you want her in your life, Bray?”he questions me as she makes her way back over with two coffees and the glass of water.
“Here you go, Death.I’ll give you a few minutes to figure out what you want to eat,” she states before turning to walk away again but I reach out and grab her hand before she can take a step away from me.
“Talk to me, Wren.Don’t ignore me.I bet if Tristan or Zach were here, you’d have no problem talkin’ to them.Or spendin’ time with the two of them while they ate.I don’t want you spendin’ time with them again,” I tell her as she turns fully toward me and leans down with her hands on the table in front of her.
“I havenothingto say to you, Judge.I’m nothing more than a hole you used to get off and I deserve so much more than that.I might not be good enough for you or most men I meet daily, but I know I’m also better than being used for sex with nothing in return.If you don’t want me to kick your ass out, I suggest you leave me the hell alone to do my job,” she tells me before walking away and not looking back.
“You’re fucked,” Death says as if I don’t already know that.“I’m gonna have the bacon cheeseburger and fries with a sundae for dessert.You haven’t even looked at the menu.”
“I’ll have the same as you without the sundae,” I tell him as I keep my eyes on Wren.
While her smile is fake, the genuine warmth she gives each table of customers isn’t.She makes sure their food is what they want, everything tastes good, and the drinks are refilled in a timely manner despite how busy she is.If a child is at the table, she takes a few minutes to spend with them if they talk to her and gets down on their level.This woman earns the adoration of everyone around her because of who she is as a person.I don’t know if anyone can spend a second near her and not want to have her in their life.Wren won’t allow that to happen though.Her circle is small and I have a feeling she intends on keeping things that way.
“Bray, when are you gonna admit how you truly feel about that woman?I can see it written all over your face that you want her and aren’t ready to let her go.I don’t think you’ll ever be ready to let her go because she’s yours.You knew it the second you first saw her and I wasn’t even there to witness that moment.She’s gotten under your skin in a way no one ever has before.Wren didn’t have to try to breach the boundaries you’ve set, it simply happened like it did with Kelsey and me.That shit sneaks up on you and there isn’t a weapon in this world that will fight it,” my brother tells me as he looks at me with his hands folded on the table in front of him.
“Nolan, we’re not havin’ this fuckin’ conversation.And we’re especially not havin’ it here where a bunch of strangers can overhear us,” I state as Wren makes her way back over to us to take our order.
“Are you ready to order?”she asks, looking at my brother while continuing to ignore me.
“I’ll have a bacon cheeseburger, medium, with fries.Asshole will have the same,” my brother tells her as she gives him that same fake as hell smile.“So, where ya stayin’ now, Wren?”
“I’m staying here.Leah gave me an apartment when I stopped in to go to the bathroom after being on the road for longer than I anticipated.I won’t be here long, though,” she says, giving more information away then I thought she would with me sitting here.“I’ll be back soon with your food.”
Wren walks away without another word and I continue to watch her move around the diner.The only time she comes to our table is to deliver our food.She doesn’t check on us the way she does the other customers.Wren leaves Death and me alone to eat our food.I’ll admit it’s the best I’ve ever had in a diner.Whoever the cook is here knows what they’re doing.Death and I talk about nonsense while we enjoy our meal and then he orders his sundae and eats it.I’ll admit it looks really good and I almost cave and order one for myself.Instead, I don’t say a word and sit back while watching Wren work.I can tell she’s exhausted and shouldn’t be on her feet.At one point, an older woman walked in from the back and made her sit down at the counter with a meal and shake.Wren did so with a smile.A real smile for the first time since I saw her here today.When Death and I are done eating, we pay the bill and leave a large tip on the table for Wren.I know she’ll hate the amount of money we left her, but I don’t care.It’s the only way she’ll take it from me.
Before leaving the diner, I walk up to the apartment and check it out.When I push on the door hard enough, it pops right open.The deadbolt is clearly locked when I inspect the door as Death looks over my shoulder.I’m pissed as hell because this place isn’t safe at all for Wren.Someone can get right inside and she’d have no chance to defend herself.I mean, I saw what she did to Diamond that day, but it’s different when you’re going up against a man.If anyone else were to come up here, they wouldn’t hesitate to take advantage of her and none of us would be close enough to help her.We don’t even have allies in this area to send around and keep an eye on Wren.This is bullshit.I close the door again and the locked deadbolt doesn’t stop the door from closing all the way.Wren needs somewhere safer than where she’s currently living.
Chapter Nineteen
Wren
JUDGE AND DEATH showingup at the diner when I was working is the last thing I expected to see a few days ago.They ate, I spoke to Death a little bit, and then they left.When I cleaned the table and saw the tip they left behind, I was ready to throttle them.Well, I was ready to hit Judge because I know it was him.He left me five hundred dollars for a bill that might have been a little over twenty dollars.I wanted to give it back to them, but I knew they already left because I heard their bikes roar from the diner and down the road as I continued to work.Leah could tell something was going on and that’s why she made me sit down to eat.She knows I rarely take a break if she doesn’t force me to and with how upset I was because of Judge being here, Leah didn’t hesitate to make me sit down and relax for a few minutes.I’m glad she did because I wasn’t at the table when they left.I didn’t have to see Judge again and realize just how sexy he truly is.
Judge was wearing a pair of jeans that clung to his thighs and the standard boots I’ve seen him wear every single day.He was wearing a black tank top that showed off his arms and his cut was on over that.Even though he looked exhausted and ready to collapse, Judge still looked really good.I don’t think that man could ever look horrible if I’m being honest.It looked as if he hasn’t been sleeping for some reason and I wonder what’s going on at the clubhouse.Or maybe he’s just been fucking too much to get proper sleep.That wouldn’t surprise me.I mean I didn’t see another woman go in or out of his room while I was at the clubhouse, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t with anyone else.After all, I’m nothing more than a hole for him to get off in.Yeah, I won’t be forgetting that anytime soon.
My thoughts turned to Tristan and Zach when I allowed myself not to focus on work.If something is going on at the clubhouse, I want to make sure they’re okay, but I don’t want to call them yet.I’m still too close and I know they’ll show up if given the chance.Tristan and Zach won’t be able to focus if they think I’m upset or something is wrong with me.Zach pretty much said that before I left the clubhouse during one of our many conversations.He told me that for the last five years, he’d been so thoroughly worried about me that there were days he couldn’t focus on anything other than how I was doing or what I was up to.I’m surprised we never ran into one another over the previous five years considering we were still in the same town.Briar Glen isn’t that big and we should have seen one another over the years.I guess I just stayed away from the locations they frequented.