But then that leaves me alone with Grizzly again.
His hands move up my leg and I rub his back.
“Are you sure you’re all right? Nobody would blame you if you weren’t.”
“I know that what you know about my personal life is minimal, but I’ve been through hell. There’s not a lot that would traumatize me for too long. I’m fine. Plus, you guys saved me. I can’t imagine what those other girls are facing right now, but that’s not me. Thank you.”
Grizzly slowly lets go of the tension in his body and turns around to face me again. He leans in close, and I swear if he comes any closer I’m going to kiss him. There’s just this magnetism between us that I’ve never felt before.
Maybe it’s been there before, but I haven’t seen much of him lately. He’s been too busy, and so have I.
We pull away from each other when we hear Dart and Trap coming down the hall, loud as ever.
They enter the room with eggs, an English muffin with butter, and coffee. On the tray they’ve also set packets of sugar and some cream.
“We didn’t know how you like it, so we figured you could fix it yourself,” Dart says.
I sit back and let them set the tray over my lap, and smile up at them. “Thank you. This really is sweet.”
I go back and forth between enjoying my meal and trying to tell them every detail so they have enough information to do something about this. I’m not stupid. I know this isn’t just about me. Anything I know could be used against the Russians in order to go after them. I’m sure they have every intent to do it too, even if the idea makes my stomach stomach roil with fear for them. And for Harlow, because even though she’s not really a member of the MC I get the feeling that she’d never let them go for revenge without going with them.
They hover over me as I tell my story, and they react strongly to the news about my father. They seem pissed about that, and I don’t blame them. Especially from an outside perspective, I would be livid to hear that someone had to go through all that just because of their completely idiotic drunk asshole of a dad. But I guess I thought nothing of it until now, because I’m so used to it.
When I’m done with my food and the hovering is getting to me—too many eyes on me without me doing anything—I get up.
I look around and try to figure out how the hell I’m going to get out of here and also look like a normal human. I’m not really ready to broach the subject of spending the night in Grizzly’s bed with his daughter, who’s also my best friend.
Plus, nothing happened. But I need to look like nothing happened.
“I can get you some clothes from one of the girls’ rooms. Something that belongs to one of the club whores or something. I’m sure they’ve got something that’s better than what we’ve got,” Grizzly says.
I bite my lower lip, unsure if I want to impose upon them like that. But I do need something, and even if I hadn’t shredded and thrown away the clothes from last night, I’d never wear them again.
“I hate to do this, but I don’t think I have much of a choice. If you could, please?”
Grizzly leans over and kisses me on the forehead. “Sure thing, be right back, darlin’.”
His words and the kiss send a chill down my spine.
I finger-brush through my hair again, trying to make sure I’ve gotten all the knots out while I wait for the clothes. While I do, Trap looks at me. “Be sure you let your family know you’re okay. I’m sure they’re pretty worried about you.”
Of course, Trap wouldn’t know much about my history or the fact that my dad is pretty much my whole family. But I can’t help but break out in a burst of cackling laughter.
12
TRAP
The laughter catches me off guard. I don’t know much about this girl, other than the fact that she faced the unthinkable last night and came out like this. I’m sure she went through some kind of shock, which was the reason that Grizzly was watching over her. Or at least part of the reason. But she seems far removed from it now.
But I don’t know her personal story. I don’t have any damn context for whatever this cackling is that’s going on. “Tough crowd.” I give her a smile and she turns to me as Grizzly comes in bearing the gift of clothes. It’s a shame, though, because she does kind of look good in Grizzly’s. I’d love to get her in mine too.
“I don’t mean to laugh. It’s just that, and you wouldn’t know this, but I really don’t have a family. Not in the traditional sense. It’s just my dad, and well…judging from the way this all turned out”—she swirls her finger around the room for emphasis—“I’m sure you can imagine the kind of person he is and whether he gives a shit. My mom’s gone. I don’t have anyone else. No one else except for Harlow and our other friend.”
I nod my head, trying to empathize with her. I kind of get it, because obviously, the MC is my family. Always has been.
“I’m sorry to hear that, though I’m sure you’ve been dealing with it just fine. There must be someone you want to talk to about this. Maybe Harlow?”
She takes a moment as she gathers the clothes that Grizzly brought for her. Then, she nods, and adds, “Could I maybe borrow a laptop to check my email? I don’t have my phone anymore, and I want to make sure I haven’t missed any messages from my dad.”