27. Utah

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

utah

“ Y ou’re in for it tonight, hoss.”

“In for what?” I asked.

“She’s in there on the phone with Triss. Video chat, even.”

“Why?”

“Well, I don’t think it’s to discuss eye shadow choices,” Indy said and chuckled at himself. “She would’ve just asked me if it was about makeup.”

“They talk all the time,” I said, still confused by what might make this conversation with Trista any different than the others.

“Oh, you just wait.”

I shook my head. Trista was more on my side when it came to Memphis than anyone else had ever been. She wasn’t going to do anything to sabotage any chance that this night might give me.

Indy’s warning made perfect sense the moment that Memphis set foot in the kitchen with us. My dick was half-hard in record time just at the sight of her. I closed my eyes and tried to breathe in deeply through my nose. This really wasn’t supposed to be about fucking her, even if I had spent all of last night imagining that that was exactly what it was about.

She’d never been to a bar just to drink for fun. She’d never gone out for girls' nights or spent an entire day eating greasy cheeseburgers to try and recover from a hangover that she didn’t even remember drinking herself right into. She’d never been in a position where she felt safe enough to just drink until she wasn’t in control anymore because she knew the person with her would make sure she was still going to be where she belonged by the end of the night.

All of that also meant she’d never had sloppy drunk sex to further the intoxication right into euphoria.

But again, this night wasn’t supposed to be about sex.

Fuck.

“Told you,” Indy whispered and slapped me on the shoulder to bring me back to the moment.

“Is this okay for wherever we’re going?” Memphis asked and looked down the front of her own body.

Indy laughed. “You’re going to get him into a world of trouble. It’s perfect.”

“What’s that mean? Should I go change?” she asked and took a step backward, like she was about to sprint back down the hallway.

“You can wear anything you like, sugar. If I have to break a jaw or two, so be it. Don’t worry your pretty head about it. That’s why I’m going with you,” I said and motioned with my hand for her to come with me. She looked away from me in an instant when the tiniest hint of red crept up her very exposed cleavage toward her neck.

“Leave your phones on so I can keep an eye on everybody,” Indy said as I ushered Memphis toward the door. “Call me if you need a ride later.”

“We don’t have to do this if you won’t have any fun,” she said when I opened the truck door for her and held out my hand.

“Something tells me I’ll enjoy this night way more than you will.”

She glared at me for a second before she took my hand to climb up into the cab.

That tiny hand was both freezing and sweating.

And I couldn’t do shit about the smile that took over my entire face because of it. I had to put genuine effort into wiping it back off my face before I got into the truck myself.

“Indy said you were talking to Triss. How is she?”

“Jersey looks so good,” she whispered.

I spent a couple seconds wondering what I’d asked, because apparently, that wasn’t really the kind of phrase that I enjoyed hearing about other men when it came from her mouth. But she shook her head and continued anyway before I could even ask for clarification.

“I didn’t even realize how not well he looked before, because I’d only ever seen him the one way, you know? And he keeps telling me that he’ll come back here. Even if it’s for no reason other than just me wanting him here. But how could I ask him to come home when he looked that way when he was here, knowing that he looks this way now that he’s somewhere else? Somewhere better.”

“I think it’s probably his brain making the changes, angel. Not the location. Or maybe it’s Trista. Who I think is the one I was actually asking about?”

“Sorry,” she said quietly. “I know you guys don’t like each other. It was just nice to see him that way. I never did in person. I guess I just?—”

“You miss him,” I finished for her.

She looked over at me for just a split second before she looked back down to her lap. The world of hurt in those green eyes cut right through me in a way that wasn’t going to let me forget about it until I’d found a way to take that pain right the fuck away from her.

“Things just felt easier when he was here,” she said.

“Did they?” I asked with a laugh. “I don’t feel like I remember anything but tension and fighting and threats aimed pretty squarely at Indy and me.”

“I mean, I know there were still issues,” she said and giggled a little. “There were just different kinds of problems. It was easier to focus on him. Just telling him what to do all the time, working all the time. It didn’t leave much room for worrying about anything else.”

“ Anything else ,” I repeated. “What is it that bothers you now? You still seem to do a fine job at bossing the rest of us around.”

She smiled at me that time.

A real smile.

The same emotion that had those flawless teeth on display sparkled right through her eyes too.

And the whole fucking truck about ended up right in a ditch because of it.

I was lucky to have survived the rest of the drive to that bar. It wasn’t an upscale establishment. It wasn’t even a club. It definitely wasn’t the kind of place you brought a woman that you wanted to impress, but hopefully with a little more luck, it would be a quiet kind of place. The kind where no one would happen to recognize two people who walked around with massive contracts for their return, dead or alive. Judging from the parking lot, it would still be crowded inside. I just hoped it would be a laid-back kind of place that matched the feel of the rest of this weird state. That way, Memphis would feel safe enough to do pretty much anything she pleased while we were here and there wouldn’t be issues with anyone else.

I knew better than to believe that after the bouncer waved us right through the door, though. I had my wallet out to hand him cash for both of us, but rather than taking it from my hand, he looked at the tiny woman behind me. His eyes roamed over every inch of her before he decided he didn’t want the cover fee.

“You come here a lot?” Memphis nearly yelled to be sure I heard her over the music.

“What? I’ve never been here?”

“Do you know that guy? Why’d he let you in for free?”

That had to be the cutest shit I’d ever witnessed in real life.

I put my hand on her lower back to push her toward the bar ahead of me, but I leaned down to her ear so I wouldn’t have to yell for her to hear me.

“He let you in here for free, sugar. I’m just the guy who happened to walk in with you.”

“What?” she asked with a nervous laugh. “I don’t know him.”

So fucking cute that it hurt me.

“Means you’re the prettiest thing in here tonight, angel. Enjoy it.”

When she stopped dead in her tracks to turn just her head to look up at me over her shoulder, it took every bit of restraint that I possessed to not kiss her. The little sparkle that drifted through her eyes when she’d smiled earlier didn’t even fucking compare to the pure glow radiating from them in this moment. Convincing my brain and my dick that she hadn’t actually wanted that just then was the feat of a lifetime. Further convincing myself that she hadn’t actually leaned back ever so slightly so that the back of her body just barely brushed against the front of mine was even more complicated. I was so fucking focused on her face that I couldn’t even force myself to pay attention to the rest of her. It was way easier to just decide that my brain was playing games to try to help my dick get his way. I’d imagined that part. Just like I’d imagined that she stood there that way longer than would’ve ever been necessary for any reason.

I wasn’t supposed to be thinking about sex tonight.

Fuck. Again.