Page 23 of All Our Ghosts

My eyes flicker up and out into the shop. From here at the desk, I have a good view of each bay, including where Holden sits hunched over a motorcycle frame. He’s kept his distance and never comes into the office unless he has to, which hasn’t been lately. He never asks for a work order or requests to order parts, but he’s always working on that motorcycle.

I shouldn’t care that we have this weird bubble between us, but every once in a while, our eyes will meet from across the shop, making it feel like I’m getting sucked into a black hole I can’tlook away from. I hate it and the exhaustion that lingers deep in my bones sucks.

Sleep still hasn’t come easy. It’s not for a lack of trying but I’m sure my coffee intake doesn’t help. Neither does the sound of revving motorcycle engines long past midnight. I know I just have to get used to the noises of being in a new place even with the constant feeling of someone watching me. And the worst part of it all? I’m running out of clean clothes.

I glance up from the shop to look at the clock and see that it’s about time to close up. Most of the guys have left to drink at the clubhouse, but not Holden. I stand with a deep breath and step out onto the shop floor. “Holden?”

His shoulders tense and it takes him a good moment to look up at me. There’s a smear of grease on his cheek and it only brightens the blue in his eyes. It throws me off and I don’t realize he hasn’t said anything to me until his brow raises, expecting me to continue.

The fact that he doesn’t say anything only digs at my nerves. “I’m closing the office.”

“Good for you, Princess,” he mutters and goes back to twisting whatever bolt is more important than having a normal conversation.

The frown on my face deepens as I smack the button next to the door, watching as the big bay doors start to creak and slide closed. He looks up at me with narrowed blue eyes.

“The hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Closing. Like I said.” I bite. “Have a good night.”

Before he can protest or snap back, I shut the office door behind me and grab my phone to leave. I hear the clanging of metal and him cursing as I shut the door to the main building, grinning to myself at the small victory as I bound up the stairs towards the apartment.

Cole had said to reach out if I needed anything and, since I haven’t seen him all day, I send him a quick text asking if I could use the clubhouse’s washer and dryer. Once he gives me the okay, I gather my clothes in one of my suitcases and make my way back down to the clubhouse.

As soon as I open the door the smell of cigarettes and beer floods me, along with a musk I can’t quite nail down. Motor oil? There’s also various colognes and a tiny hint of body odor. I make my way through the group of men, smiling at Scottie as I pass by him.

“Oi! Lass, where you goin’ with that suitcase?” He grins, the scars on his cheeks stretching with his smile.

“Need to do some laundry,” I call back with a laugh.

“Join us for a drink!” Another man yells behind him, and when he leans around Scottie, I see that it’s Quinn. He gives me a smile but it’s not quite as warm as Scottie’s. It makes my skin crawl with unease, almost like he’s trying to force it past whatever thoughts he’s having.

Scottie gives him a soft shove. “Leave the girl alone Quinn. She’ll join us if she wants.”

“Maybe when all this is done,” I say, backing away from them with the best smile I can muster.

Scottie nods once but Quinn’s eyes narrow as he takes a swig from his beer. I swallow down the nerves and turn to head down the hallway. I want to be able to ignore the unease, to not second guess every male that comes near me because I can’t tell anymore who is who. Who is actually good and who is just putting a sticky sweet front on to cover their monsters. So far Cole and Scottie seem genuinely good. Holden… he’s... I don’t know what he is anymore.

I find the door that’s labeledLaundryand push it open to find a small room barely big enough for the washer and dryer in it. I’m shocked to find actual soap and dryer sheets set neatly ona shelf, grateful for whoever put them there. I start to sort my clothes when footsteps thud down the hall. Not thinking much of it I focus on my task until a throat clears behind me.

When I turn my heart sinks and that unease creeps up my ankles in angry vines holding me in place. Quinn smirks back at me. His sandy brown hair and green eyes at first make him seem harmless, but there’s something in that smirk I don’t like and yet it feels familiar. The underlying threat that hides beneath the toothy grin.

“You find everything okay?” He asks, taking a step towards me.

Taking the same step back, I nod. “Yeah, uhm… I’m good.”

Quinn nods and I don’t miss the way his eyes drag down my body before they crawl back up to mine.

“You’re real pretty, ya know that?” He chuckles lowly, moving to reach for a strand of my hair. Swallowing hard, I step back into the edge of the dryer, leaving his hand hanging in the air and that’s when I see it. That flicker of annoyance and self-entitlement for something he’s not owed flashes in his eyes before he recovers with that creepy smile. “You don’t gotta be like that.”

“The answer is no,” I say through clenched teeth and a white-knuckled grip on the clothes in my hand.

“I didn’t ask,” he says, coming towards me again. The distance between us is eaten up by his frame and the amount of space I have to run is disappearing with the air from my lungs. “Ya know, if you want to be a Luna of this club you have to make yourself…useful.” He pauses moving to touch me again. I can’t go anywhere. He’s got me cornered against the dryer and all I can do is lean away from him.

“Get away from me, Quinn.”

He leans with me and the smell of whiskey and hops on his breath fans across my cheek. “No.”

“Hey, Princess!” Holden’s voice booms down the hallway, forcing Quinn back a step as Holden’s frame fills the doorway. I couldn’t care less about the pissed off look on his face as he glances between Quinn and I, but something shifts as his gaze settles on me. His head tilts slightly. “You good?”

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