Page 112 of Torn In Two

Kyle was a deer caught in the headlights, trying to follow the conversation.

I wondered if that’s how naïve I’d looked when I’d first come here.

I was probably worse.

“Come on, Kyle.” I touched his arm gently. “I’ll take you down to the cabin so you can get settled.”

Kyle picked up his bag, adding it to the pile of belongings in his arms.

Hawk jerked his head at Amber. “Go with them.”

“Aw, but the food!”

Hawk’s tone was no-nonsense and shut Amber up immediately.

I knew better than to argue with Hawk when he was just trying to keep me safe. He was putting a huge deal of trust in Kyle and our gut feelings about him. But if Kyle had to walk around with a shadow the entire time he was here, then that was fair enough.

Trust had to be earned in this club.

So did forgiveness.

The kiss with Grayson played over in my mind. I’d all but forgotten it in all the ensuing drama.

How on earth was I going to tell Hayden and Hawk without one of them, probably Hawk, killing him? Or maybe he wouldn’t care? He’d been all for it at Sinners, boldly whispering in my ear to go ask Grayson to…

My cheeks heated at the thought.

“Are you okay?” Kyle asked as I opened the cabin door for him, Amber a few steps behind, smoking a cigarette at the bottom of the steps.

“Of course.” But all I could think about was Grayson and Hawk up in the clubhouse, Hayden getting home from the restaurant, and what they would be talking about.

Oh God. I wasn’t ready for that conversation.

“Um, bedroom here. Bathroom there. There’s not likely to be any food down here, so make sure you come back up to the clubhouse when you’re hungry. I’ll leave you to it.” I jogged back out of the cabin, leaving Kyle with a bewildered and abandoned expression.

Guilt settled in the pit of my stomach, but I rationalized it away, telling myself I wasn’t his mother.

And that Hawk and Hayden were probably quizzing Grayson like he was a contestant on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

Amber chuckled as she followed me back up to the main house. “I’d run back too, if I had those three men fighting over me.”

I threw the other woman a look over my shoulder. “They aren’t fighting over me. They’re…”

“Lining up nicely to plow your pussy?”

Irritation crept up my spine. I didn’t want to make an enemy out of her. I wanted to be friends. “You know, where I come from, all the men take multiple wives. Why shouldn’t a woman?”

She took a drag on her cigarette. “You know where I come from, we just call that being a slut.”

I turned away, reminding myself her words came from a place of hurt and said more about her than me.

But it was hard not to take them to heart.

I wanted Hawk and Hayden.

I’d kissed Grayson.

People would talk behind my back. Call me names. Maybe not here, where they were used to Bliss and Rebel and their men.

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