Page 27 of Crow

Not that it’s hot in here. The place must have central air.

I make myself a ham and cheese sandwich, but before I can scarf it down, I glance at the stove in the far corner. Crow likes grilled cheese. I could make him a sandwich or two and wake him up to make sure he eats.

That feels an awful lot like taking care of him, which feels an awful lot like something I have no right to be doing, but I assemble the sandwiches anyway. I find a frying pan in the bottom cupboard and get grilling.

I’ve just flipped both over when a motion at the entrance to the kitchen catches my eye. I suck in a little gasp when I see a fully naked woman go streaking past the doorway. Before I can finish up at the stove and beat a fast trail back to Crow’s room, two burly men walk right in like they own the place.

Which, of course, they do.

Thank the stars, they’re dressed, but with their barrel chests, long hair, beards, tattoos, and leather vests, they look nothing short of intimidating.

I have never seen them at Patti’s before, which just fucking figures.

The first scrunches his brow like he’s seeing double and scratches the top of his head like he’s in a cartoon. The second crosses his arms so hard, his leather vest creaks. Neither of them have patches on the front denoting rank.

“Who might you be?” Arm Crosser asks, not in an unfriendly tone.

“I- uh- I’m Tarynn. I’m here with Crow.”

That makes both men frown. They eye each other dubiously. It’s clear that they don’t believe me, but they’re not going to tell me that straight to my face. They want to feel me out first, figure out why I’m lying, what I’m hiding, how I got in here, and why the ever loving tarnation I’m cooking lunch in their kitchen.

“I think I’ve seen you around somewhere,” the first man grunts. The other is still crossing his arms so hard it’s a wonder he doesn’t explode.

I swallow hard, taking the sandwiches out of the frying pan and plating them before they burn. “I work at Patterson’s. You’ve probably seen me there. I just started a month ago, though.”

He snaps his fingers. “That’s definitely where I’ve seen you.” It’s a little unnerving, since I can’t place him. “You have nice hair. It stands out.”

“Still. Doesn’t explain what you’re doing—” Arm Crosser doesn’t get to finish that sentence before he’s jerked so hard from behind he goes flying backwards through the doorway like a black hole just opened up back there and sucked him in.

The other guy spins around and immediately throws both his hands up in a gesture of pleading supplication. “Hey, chill! We found her in the kitchen. We were just trying to figure out how she got in here. She said she was with you, but we didn’t believe it. We weren’t gonna hurt her.”

The hair on the back of my neck stands on end when Crow steps into the kitchen. He looks like he did this morning facing down my father. An absolute menace.

No, not quite the same.

His eyes are different.

He doesn’t look like he’s ready for war, just ready to intervene. When his head swivels in my direction, he doesn’t look angry, but it’s easy to see the frayed annoyance on his face that I just couldn’t stay put.

Ignoring the lunch that I just made, he stalks across the room and picks up my hand. The heat of him and his calloused palm against mine nearly makes something inside my midsection explode.

“We’re leaving,” he states gruffly. He twists his head over his shoulder to pin the guy hovering in the large doorway with what has to be quite a look. I watch the way he freezes. “Tell Tyrant that I’m taking a few days off. Going for a ride. A personal one. To buy her a bike.”

“She rides?” The guy is totally incredulous.

“Right.” He turns back to me, scanning my face. Having his eyes on me that way makes me feel totally naked.

It makes me wish I was totally naked.

Uh- no. I- erm,shit.

“Fuck. We can’t ride anywhere because you don’t know how to ride, and we’ll have two bikes to bring back then. Anything we buy has to be small enough for you, so there won’t be room for two. We’ll fly… somewhere. I’ll buy you a return ticket back. I’ll ride your bike back here.”

He visibly pales after he lays that plan out for me like it’s airtight and absolutely beyond argument. Is he scared of planes?

“Where should I tell Tyrant you’re going?” The man at the doorway asks, as amused at all of this as he was shocked a few minutes ago.

Crow pulls me through the kitchen, past the guy at the door. I’m not sure where those two came from, but the other is gone and the lounge is still full of passed out bodies.

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