Page 24 of Jackal

Hawk chuckled. “Nevermind. I see you’re preoccupied.” He stood and took one last drag off his cigarette then flicked it. “They look chummy,” he said as he looked in their direction. “I’m going to shoot some darts. If you get bored watching the show, come on in and we’ll have a game.”

“Show?”

Hawk leaned down, smacked his hand on my shoulder, and said, “The show she’s putting on for you.”

I looked at him and then looked over at her. “I’ll see you later, Prez.”

He patted my shoulder then walked off. I stayed with Squatch and Rooster as they finished, but I stared at her the whole time.

“You alright, man?” Squatch asked as he sucked grease off his fingers.

“Yeah, why?”

“You’re grinding your teeth so hard I can hear it,” he said with a laugh.

My jaw relaxed. I hadn’t even realized I was doing that. But my gaze went right back to her. They were no longer sitting. Instead, they had gotten up and were headed inside the clubhouse…and he had his hand on the small of her back.

Before I knew it, I was flying from my seat and storming toward them.

Chapter 14

Shivana

After having a couple of beers during the movie earlier, and another with dinner, I was feeling a little loose. Even though I had a quick recovery method, I didn’t think shots would be a good idea again.

Daisy and Lacy were enjoying a meal with their guys, so I had sat at a table with a few men I’d seen around, since there was room for one more. For a bunch of tough bikers, they were very fun and attentive.

Had I been watching Jackal most of the time?Maybe. But he was too busy ignoring me and finding new ways to push me aside, so he wouldn’t have noticed. A couple of the guys excused themselves when they were done eating, but one stayed behind.

He was cute. A little young for my taste, but there was no harm in talking. In fact, we chatted so long, the sun was sinking.

“I need something sweet,” I said with a sigh.

Coop, the tall drink of water that was working on holding my attention, stood up and held his hand out. “C’mon. I know where Mama Hen keeps the desserts while everyone is eating. She hides them from Falcon.”

Giggling, I took his hand to stand then we grabbed our plates to throw them away as we headed inside. His hand was at the small of my back, guiding me to the door. We dropped our plates in the large trash bin, then he pulled the door open and waved me inside. “Ladies first.”

“Well, thank you, sir.”

“You like that,” he said as he leaned in my ear. “Looking for a sir?”

I was trying to think of something witty to say when a familiar deep voice interrupted my delayed train of thought.

“Grow some hair on your balls before you try to act like a dom, Coop. Can you excuse us?”

Coop kept his head up, but the tension in his body was screaming tail between his legs. “You bet, Jackal. Nice talking with ya, Shiv.”

“Bye, Coop,” I said with sweetness dripping off my words. Turning, I crossed my arms. “That was rude.”

“Lil Bird, what are you doing?”

“Me?” I asked, poking at my chest. “I was having a lovely and engaging conversation with that gentleman until you ran him off. You shouldn’t abuse your power. Especially ifyouaren’t going to engage with me. It’s not like you have the right to scare off all the other guys. We aren’t a thing,” I said as my hands went to my hips. “Atall, as you’ve made so painfully clear since I’ve been here.”

Before I could continue on my rant, I was being dragged to the hall that led to the officer’s rooms by the crook of my arm.

“Hey, what are you doing?” I asked as I tried to pull my arm free to no avail.

He didn’t answer me, instead kept dragging me through the hall.

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