“Yep,” I answer, adding salsa to my fajita.
“Told you he’d just move on.”
“Yeah, you did, but I have to worry. Going from the whole ‘you have to stay with me’ to absolutely nothing? Is he plotting my demise?”
Layla laughs, still unaware of what I saw. She’s adamant she doesn’t want to know.
“Sean knows the club can trust you, I’m sure he’s told Wolfe that. My guess? They’re keeping an eye on you to make sure you’re trustworthy.”
The rider across from my work flashes through my mind and it makes sense. That’s what I thought too.
“They’re not in the habit of holding people prisoner,” Layla says, dotting her mouth with her napkin.
I nod.
“Can I be straight with you?” she asks.
I sip my iced tea. “Of course.”
“You seem like you want to see him. You know, Mr. Not-my-type,” Layla says in her best impression of me.
I scoff, my mind drifting back to my attic less than a week ago. I shut it out, locking it away. “I didn’t expect to understand him or like him. But I could tell, that night in my house, the way he looked at me before he left, he doesn’t want me to understand him. I could tell he regretted telling me as much as he did.”
I look out the picture window behind her. “Doesn’t matter anyway. He’s probably had ten other women by now. It’s been five days.”
“Sean says he’s barely seen him. He’s working on two bikes right now, one for some NBA star and the other for a Kentucky fire chief.”
“I’m going to the club tomorrow night. Come with me. If there is anything between you two, you’ll know the first moment you see him.”
I shrug as my phone lights up on the table. “I don’t know.”
Dell
The siding guy is here early for your meeting.
I’m done anyway. Want anything?
“Is that my brother?” Layla asks as she scarfs down her last bite.
“Yes, he’s been great at showing me the ropes.”
She giggles. “I think he always had a crush on you.”
I smile back. “Not a chance.”
“It’s true, he used to ask me every day after school, ‘is Brinley coming over tonight?’” Layla laughs. “I swear, he was a little lovesick teenager our senior year of high school,” she adds, taking her last drink and finishing it with a little slurping sound.
Dell
Nah I’m good, but thanks for thinking of me. Take your time, I’ve got you covered.
Layla reads it from my lock screen and laughs “He’s got you covered.” She winks
“Shut up,” I say, tossing my napkin at her.
When we round the corner on Main, the bike with the red flames is back right across the street from my work.
Layla spots him at the same time as I do and stops dead in her tracks.