Fight(9)

I walked Harlan to the door and he left. I shut the door and locked it. I put my forehead against the door and wanted to cry. But I had too much adrenaline running through my body to cry.

“Hey.”

I cried out and jumped.

I turned and had my back against the door.

Tripp was right there, inches from me.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “It’s just a lot at once. That’s all.”

Tripp slowly reached forward and pulled at a loose strand of my hair. It clung between my lips, annoying me. He tucked it behind my ear.

“I’m here now,” he whispered. “I’m going to protect you.”

I nodded.

I believed Tripp. I almost instantly trusted him.

Maybe because I was just so alone. And not because Rocky was dead. I had been alone long before that. Of course, all of this Tripp didn’t know about.

Yet.



~



The hot water hit my body. I needed a shower so badly. Truth was that half the reason I just wanted to get away from Tripp for a few minutes.

I shut my eyes and pretended for a few seconds that I was in a waterfall. Letting my mind slip away, I felt every droplet of water hit my skin. Through my hair, down my back. Down the front of my body. Then something happened.

My body started to react. The water that touched my breasts, trickled over my nipples, made me tingle. Down my stomach and between my legs, it was like something had been unleashed. Yet I was alone in the shower.

But Tripp was out there.

I stepped out of the water and shook my head.

I needed to cool off.

Right now.

I finished showering and grabbed a towel. I dried off and wrapped the towel around my body. I walked to the mirror and wiped away the steam. I stared at myself. My hair looked really dark when it was wet. And it got curly. Which was weird because when it dried the curls went away and a more blonde color showed.

I had no idea how long Tripp was going to be here or how bad things were going to get. If Stoney and the Red Aces could track down whoever shot Rocky, then it wouldn’t be all that long. But nobody seemed confident in that. Normally when shit hit the fan with the MC they had a plan in place. They went out and started wars to say they could. This time was different. It was darker, slower, everyone still processing that their VP was gunned down and taken out.

When I opened the bathroom door, I let out yet another shriek.

Tripp was sitting right there, against the wall, one leg bent, the other outstretched across the open doorway.

He looked up at me. “Feel better?”

“Shit. You scared me.”

I started to blush, remembering I was in nothing but a towel.

I clutched the towel tighter to my body, but even still, my arms and shoulders were exposed. The towel covered most of my chest but not all. The towel ended above my ankles and Tripp made no effort to get out of my way. So I had to step over his leg to get by. My body was on fire in a way that it shouldn’t have been. This was pure temptation.

I resisted the urge to look back at him as I walked toward my bedroom.

“Where are you going now?” he asked.

I stopped but still didn’t look back. “Going to get changed. Do you want to watch me?”

Tripp didn’t reply.

Although, I wished he would have said yes.





7.


(Tripp)



She was f*cking killing me.

Did I need to sit outside the bathroom while she showered? Hell no. Did I need to make comments at her as she strutted by me, that nice ass pressing against her towel? Not a chance.

But I did it anyway.

When she came out of her bedroom, dressed, she looked even prettier. Her hair all messy and wet. A t-shirt that hugged in all the right places. Jeans that did her hips sexy justice. And then pink socks. Freaking pink socks.

I opened her fridge and saw that she lived as poor as I did.

“Yeah, help yourself,” she said.

“I’m checking for bad guys.” I looked back and grinned. “And beer.”

“I haven’t been here in a long time,” Winter said. “Sorry I didn’t go shopping.”

“No worries, darling. Where can we grab some food and beer?”

She called and ordered burgers, fries, and told me that the place had a cooler with six packs. That was the best thing I’d heard all day.

She was pissed that I made her come with me to get the food and beer. She was even more pissed when I escorted her into the dive bar to get our order. Funny though, she didn’t seem all that mad when I paid.

Back in the car, she had the food on her lap, the beer on the floor between her feet.

“You don’t like me up your ass, do you?” I asked.

“Doesn’t really matter. You’re here. I’m here.”

“At least we have something to eat and drink.”

Winter half smiled. She looked at my hands again. She touched my right knuckles and said, “You have to tell me about this.”

“I already did. I’m a fighter.”

“I don’t know what that means.”

“None of the guys in the MC fight?”

“You mean… drunk and fight?”

“No. I mean for money.”