Start a War (Saint View Psychos #1)(37)

I could take away that pain before they even felt it.

“I’m in,” I told Nash, knowing there was no other real option. “I’m one of you.”





14





NASH





“Put your eyes back in your head, Boss Man.”

Rebel nudged me with her elbow as she collected our empty glasses. Bliss had announced she was going to the bathroom, and I’d watched her walk every step of the way, her rounded ass swaying as she strode away.

“Huh?”

“Don’t play dumb. I’m standing right in front of you with my tits out and see-through panties, but all you have eyes for is Disney. I could literally shake my tatas right in front of your face right now and you wouldn’t have even noticed.”

“Please don’t do that.”

She snorted on her laughter. “Admit it. You like her.”

“Of course I like her. She’s a good kid.”

She huffed on a laugh. “She’s not a kid, Nash. She’s twenty-five.”

“Exactly. She’s a kid.”

“Just because you act like you’re eighty doesn’t actually mean you are, you know? You aren’t that much older than her.”

“I’m nearly forty. I was having sex before she was even born.”

“Don’t blame her because you’re a slut!”

I sniggered.

“I’ve got to get these glasses back to the bar. But if you don’t want her realizing you’ve got the hots for her curves, then you might want to stop panting over her like a slobbery dog. And for fuck’s sake, do something about the boner.”

I rolled my eyes. “We’re at a sex club. Everybody has a boner.”

“Yeah, but yours basically leans in her direction every time she’s near you.”

“Why haven’t I fired you yet?”

“Because you love my tiny tits?”

Right now, I wasn’t interested in anyone’s tits. I wasn’t looking to date. I wasn’t even really looking for a fuck, though that would probably come soon enough.

But it wouldn’t be with Bliss.

Axel wouldn’t have stood for it. And even though he wasn’t here now, I would respect that.

She might have agreed to join our crew and keep our doors open, and for that I was grateful. If she’d sold the place, I would have been out of a job that earned me more money than I’d ever make anywhere else, and so would my team. Rebel and the rest of them were the only family I’d ever had. And I was going to do everything in my power to make sure they all had roofs over their heads, money in their wallets, and food on their tables.

A big body dropped into Bliss’s empty seat and draped and arm over the back of the couch.

I glanced over at him. “War.”

“Nash.”

His jean-clad leg skimmed mine. There was plenty of couch on the other side of him, but he made no move to shuffle over.

I didn’t comment on it. “How’s the MC? Your dad talked you into running the place yet?”

He grinned. “Nope. And he won’t. Being VP is a lot more fun than being pres. All the power, none of the responsibility, you know?”

I didn’t really, because despite knowing War for several years, I’d never had any interest in joining his motorcycle club. I only had a vague idea how the hierarchy worked, but enough to know that with his old man as president, War was next in line for the Saint View Slayers’ throne.

Except he’d never wanted it, much to his old man’s dismay. They’d all been coming to Psychos for as long as I could remember, and you picked up snippets of conversation here and there. You could learn a lot about people by listening to what they said in front of bartenders.

“How’s business? I heard about Axel. That’s a tough blow, man. I’d like to come to his funeral.”

I nodded. “He would have appreciated that. Can’t do much on that front ’til the cops release his body though.”

War nodded solemnly, but then a wide grin spread across his face. “So, who’s the hottie you’ve been following all around the club like you’re as attached as her shadow?”

“She’s Axel’s sister. She owns the place now. Giving her the grand tour.”

He raised an eyebrow. “No fucking shit?”

“No fucking shit.”

“So…you can’t go there. Bro code and all that. But there’s nothing stopping me, right?”

I ground my molars. I liked War. I liked everyone really, and people liked me. It paid to be easygoing sometimes. But I wasn’t sure I wanted him anywhere near Bliss.

I didn’t feel very easygoing when I thought about her with another man. Even though I knew she had a fiancé, he was just some nameless, faceless idea that could easily be ignored. War was right there in front of me, with his shit-eating grin that ladies loved and biceps that could crack walnuts.

I was also well aware it wasn’t my place to make decisions for her. And that while I was fifteen years older, I wasn’t her father.

So when she came back from the bathroom, even though I didn’t like it, I introduced her to the man who’d stolen her seat.

“War, this is Bliss. Bliss, War. War is VP of the local motorcycle club.”