Page 53 of Frisco

Seeing him again. The pull of him. The feel of him.

My motel room.

God. How he’d talked to Foley for me.

I wasn’t in a position to put up a fight about whether I was his or not. And I didn’t know how I felt about it anyway, if I were being honest.

Rash led us to the other barn, where I recognized a few of Shane’s guys, including Corvette from the grocery store, who stopped and stared at me. Hard.

Shane noticed, growling, “Eyes away.”

Corvette turned immediately.

One of the other guys who had ridden behind us was coming down a set of stairs, and he jerked his chin toward Shane. “Up here, VP.”

Rash stepped aside, but he didn’t say anything. He just watched us go up the stairs. I looked back once we hit the second floor, and I saw a few of Shane’s club members almost herding Rash out of the barn.

What the what?

But we were walking fast, and I turned my attention to the barn itself. It was a renovated horse barn. The middle section had couches at one end and a kitchen at the other, with tables in between. The stalls had been walled in with doors. A few were open, and I saw beds inside. We were on the second level of bedrooms now, and a walkway attached both sides in the middle, creating a loft over a large table below. In a way, this place was cozy and cool. On the other hand, it was scary too because I was only seeing bikers everywhere.

No. Wait.

I saw two women in the kitchen. One was setting up some coffee, and the other was cooking.

The biker—I didn’t know his name—led us down to another set of stairs at the far end. These led up to a third floor that expanded over half of the barn. It was a gigantic room, and as we went up and inside, I saw a private porch, set away from the main house. I could only imagine what that view would look like in the morning.

The guy motioned around the place. “Got your own apartment up here, it looks like.” His eyes found me, lingering a bit before moving on. “Thought you’d like privacy, and…” He motioned to the patio. “There’s stairs going down for an exit, if you need it.”

The guy was young—younger than us—but his eyes weren’t. They were very, very old.

He had dark hair, cut short, and he was bulked out, but still lean. He would’ve been pretty if he hadn’t seemed so haunted.

Shane nodded toward him. “This is Stripes.”

Stripes gave a nod, but he didn’t extend his hand for a shake.

“I’m Kali.”

“Nice to meet you.”

Shane looked around the place. “You good here?” he asked me.

“Uh…”

“I got some business to handle.”

Right. So the whole explanation would come later?

But he didn’t wait for a response. Stripes was already leaving, and Shane went behind him.

He stopped, reaching for the door. “Don’t open this for anyone except me, or if I send Stripes for me. Got it?”

I moved toward him, and as he shut the door, I grabbed the handle, holding it in place. I stepped close and lowered my voice. “You wanna explain what the hell I’m doing here? Or you’re just taking off until who the fuck knows when?”

His eyes hardened, but he let out a soft sigh. “Some shit went south. You’re here because I want you close. Now, I gotta go handle said shit before even more shit happens because of it. Listen, the guys in my charter are fine, but I don’t know the other guys. Stay here. Don’t tell anyone where you are, because that could make them not safe. Got me?”

Was he serious? “No!”

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