Smoke and Steel (Wild West MC #2)(106)

“Things have just been busy. I’m usually a lot neater than this.”

“Doesn’t matter, babe.”

He sounded like it didn’t matter, but I looked at him anyway.

He looked like Core driving, not Core driving while he was ticked.

Okay, so maybe I read into that glance in the closet. I, too, would be ticked if I tripped on something he left out and it rolled onto the floor.

Then I’d get over it.

He reached a hand my way.

I put mine in his, he squeezed it, tucked it to his chest for a second and then let it go.

Yes, I’d read into it wrongly.

He was cool.

We were in CB2, and I was trying to talk Core into buying a trio of white, fluffy (as in, they were made of feathers) baby Christmas trees for table décor.

He was not feeling it.

And as such, right in that moment said, “No.”

Or I should say he repeated the word no, since he’d already said it once.

I grinned at him. “It’s perfect for a festive arrangement on the kitchen island. Maybe we could buy some candles and those little snowmen over there.”

I pointed to the snowman figurines that would go perfectly, nestled among the fluffy trees.

He looked that way and said nothing.

I leaned into his side, grabbing his hand in both of mine. “Trust me, I have a vision.”

It was then I caught the expression on his face and the fact he seemed frozen.

I turned that direction, and this time, I didn’t see the snowmen figurines.

I saw a very pretty woman, her gaze darting up and down between Core and me, and she was walking our way.

I knew who she was before she got to us and Core greeted, “Kiki.”

“Hey,” she pushed out breathily, gazing up at him like she’d been dieting all year long in order to let loose during the holiday season, and he was a life-size chocolate Santa.

Core took his hand from mine but only to slide his arm around my shoulders, holding me right where I was pressed to his side.

“This is Hellen,” he introduced.

She tore her gaze from him and looked at me.

One could say, he had a type.

She had ass, she was brunette, she was average height, but her eyes were dark brown. She was either only a few years older than me, which would be impossible if they broke up five years ago and he was with her for three, or she took care of herself. She looked twenty-five but was probably closer to thirty or even older.

Oh, and it was worth a repeat, she was really, very pretty, which would stand to reason because Core was gorgeous.

Still.

“Hi,” I said.

“Hi,” she replied, cutting that short word off so it sounded like a clipped “hiyee.”

I didn’t get ugly vibes, I got pained ones.

“You doing good?” she asked Core.

He lifted up the basket that held precisely four baubles we’d agreed on, and that was it.

“Getting ready for Christmas,” he told her.

He wasn’t rubbing it in, he was being informative.

Even so, I feared those baubles would sprout wings like a golden snitch cursed by a Slytherin and attack her, such was the way she was staring at them.

I nearly reached across Core to make him lower his arm.

“Uh, great, uh…yeah. Christmas,” she stammered.

“You good?” Core asked, finally dropping the basket.

“Yes, uh…” She pulled herself together. “Yes. Real good.”

Core’s eyes moved over her head through the store. “Where’s your man?”

In a small voice, she said, “We broke up.”

Oh boy.

This was around the time I kicked him with the toe of my boot, just a tap, but he needed to get with the program.

She was rethinking her decision of letting him go.

I wondered if she’d heard the direction the club went after what happened, and now she wished she’d stuck it out.

I wondered if he just gave good boyfriend, like he did with me, and she missed him, regardless.

I’d never know, and I was grateful for that.

“Well, I should get to it. Lots of presents to buy,” she said.

“Nice to meet you, Kiki,” I put in quickly, trying to sound low-key and genuine, not snarky.

“You too,” she replied to me, then up to Core. “Good to see you…” She swallowed. “Good to see you happy, Dusty.”

Oh man.

She called him Dusty.

Dusty, straight up, was a cool name. It was kind of cute, kind of cowboy, the first Core was only rarely (such as, when he was winning at pool), the last he just was a modern version of, considering his bike riding and vigilante ways.

I realized in that moment that I’d unconsciously vowed to myself never to use it because his mom called him that.

However, right then, I got peeved because now I couldn’t use it since that was what Kiki had called him.

“You too,” Core said.

You too?

She didn’t look happy.

I didn’t indicate that to Core in any way.

I pasted a smile on my face when she glanced at me before she walked away.

Core turned back to the fluffy Christmas trees.

He then repeated, “No,” took my hand and started to guide me to another display.