Page 9 of Joyride
“I can’t, Sketch.” Her eyes are pleading with me. I brush my thumb across her cheek, causing her eyes to flutter closed. A tear falls down her cheek and I pull her into me, enveloping her in my arms.
“I only want to keep you safe, Wren,” I whisper into her hair.
She pulls away enough so she can look at me. “And I want to keep you safe, which is why I can’t tell you.”
“You shouldn’t have to worry about keeping me safe,” I tell her. My eyes fall to her lips, then back to her eyes. I instantly know it was the wrong move.
“I should go get some sleep.” She pulls out of my arms and turns her back to me.
“Wren.” She stops but doesn’t face me. “You might be fresh off a break-up, but I’m here when you’re ready. I’m not going anywhere.”
She walks away without a response. Zack did something to her, I know he did. I’m going to find out what and fuck his world up. I open the fridge, grab a beer, and walk into the living room.
“Everything okay, brother,” Kicks asks.
“Yeah, everything’s good,” I reply. I sit in a recliner and observe everyone. Clutch seems to be into Aria quite a bit. I have yet to see him indulge in a deep conversation with a chick before tonight. He’s one that typically avoids conversations with women. He doesn’t even try to sleep with Aria when she goes to bed.
We end up crashing in their living room. Diesel on the couch, Clutch and I each in a recliner and Kicks on the floor.
* * *
The next day,I’m awake before anyone else. I head out to the back deck to get some fresh air. I spent most of the night wracking my brain about what Wren could be running from. Why she wouldn’t come to Shade or me for help. I decide to text Tech.
To Tech:Were you able to dig up any information about Zack?
It’s still pretty early, so I’m sure I won’t get a response for a while. We’ll be meeting with Gator later today. They’re having a BBQ this afternoon so we can get to know the guys wanting to join the MC. Once we get an idea of the guys, we’ll check in with Bull and set something up for them to come out to Texas to meet him.
My stomach growls, letting me know how hungry I am. I’m looking at my phone as I walk inside for some water to hold me over.
“Holy shit! Where did you come from,” Wren asks. Her hair is half up in a bun and half down. Her face is clean of make-up, and I notice some bruises I didn’t see last night.
“Is that why you had so much make-up on last night?” I growl out. “What the hell happened, Wren?”
“Nothing that concerns you,” she snaps out at me and stomps out of the room. I clench my fists and release them, taking a deep breath.
Clutch walks into the kitchen, rubbing his face. “What the fuck just happened?”
“Are you the only one awake?” I avoid his question, ready to get out of this house and give Wren some space.
“Diesel was stirring. He might be awake now,” he says. “Kicks sleeps through everything.”
“Let’s wake him up. I’m fucking starving.”
“On it.” He goes back into the living room to get them up. I search for a pen and some paper to write Wren a quick note.
“They gotta have a junk drawer.” I open a couple more drawers before I find what I’m looking for. I scribble a note, fold it and stand it up so she’ll see it when she comes back in here.
I walk into the living room. “Y’all ready?”
“What the fuck time is it?” Kicks stands and stretches.
“Time for you to get your lazy ass up so we can go get breakfast,” I tell him.
7
Wren
The front dooropens and closes. I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. I didn’t know they were going to stay here last night or I would have covered my bruises. I’m not ready to explain them to Sketch. I don’t want him going after Zack and ending up hurt or killed.
