Page 85 of Filthy Hot

I bite the corner of my lip as my gaze flicks to him moving around the back of the bar, then I swing my attention back to meet hers.

“You don’t see it?” I ask.

She stares at me, blinking a few times, and then she lets out an exhale that seems as if it comes from deep within her belly.

“Dennis?” Bren asks. “And me?”

“He’s into you,” I state. She stares at me, her eyes wide and her lips parted. “He’s into you, Bren.”

She frowns, and her gaze flicks to her feet. “I’m a stripper, Kyle.”

“And?”

“And I’m a stripper. No decent guy is going to want me, and Dennis is decent.”

Her confidence is shot, and I hate that for her because I felt the exact same way before Rider came bursting into my life. He’s given me something that I don’t think I’ve ever had before. It’s not just orgasms.

It’s so much more.

I can’t even describe it, but I know whatever it is… everyone deserves it, especially Bren.

“You aren’t just some stripper, Bren. You’re the kindest and brightest ray of sunshine I’ve ever met. You made me feel comfortable the instant I met you. You’re special. You are the sun,” I say.

Bren lifts her hand again, wiping more tears away. Then she lets out a shaky breath. “Dennis,” she whispers.

I shrug a shoulder. “Give it a try. Maybe it’ll be something. Maybe it won’t. But you won’t know unless you try.”

I don’t know if I said something wrong, but I want Bren to be happy. She deserves it, every single ounce of it. She leaves the bar and heads back toward the strip club part of the building, but stops before she disappears down the hall, and I watch as she shifts her attention toward Dennis. She watches him for a moment before she slips to the back to work.

Turning my head, I look over my shoulder at Rider, who has been watching me this entire time. He shakes his head once, laughing as he does.

“You’re trouble, Kyle,” he calls out.

Giving him a smirk, I shrug my shoulder. “You like it,” I say.

He winks, then looks down at his phone. Rider stays in the same spot the entire shift. He doesn’t take his gaze off me for more than a few seconds the whole evening. I know that my being in his view twenty-four seven is a trauma response, but it’s still sexy as shit.

Seriously sexy.

CHAPTER

THIRTY-THREE

GNAW

Kyle sleepson the sofa in Atomic’s office, and I know I should take her to my room, lock her inside, and be content with the fact that she’s safe. But I wasn’t joking when I said that I would not be able to let her out of my sight. I need to be able to see her no matter where we are or what we’re doing.

Thankfully, Atomic doesn’t say anything to me, although I can tell he isn’t happy about her being in the room. I don’t give much of a fuck, though. He could try to tell me to make her leave, but I wouldn’t—couldn’t.

There is no way in fuck I could function right now if I didn’t have her in my sights. She was taken from this clubhouse by a man who I thought was a brother. I can trust nobody. Not a single fucking person.

Atomic shoves his cell in his pocket and lifts his gaze to meet mine. “Albert is almost here. He won’t want her in the room, even if she’s asleep.”

I press my lips together, rolling them a few times before I speak. As much as I want to tell him to fuck off, I know weneed to play nice with Albert until we find out how much of this shit he was involved in, because according to Xavier, he’s been involved in all of this since the jump.

“I can’t take my eye off of her,” I say.

Atomic dips his chin. "How about we meet in the conference room? If she’s in the bar, you can face the window and see her the whole time." It’s a compromise that most men would probably not have a fucking thing to do with. I’m lucky that this is a complete brotherhood.

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