Page 46 of I Should Hate You-but I Don't

River belonged to him, and he wasn't sharing.

He wanted the other guys to stay away.

He wanted to protect her.

Every day, he wanted to walk away from the favor asked of him. But in his world, that would get him killed. It would get those he loved killed. There were no aspects of his life that were untouchable.

Tom Pruitt had people. Those people would come after River, and he wouldn't allow that.

He was in too deep.

It took twenty minutes to ride into town. That was twenty minutes he had to change his mind, turn around, and take River home.

Yet, when he arrived at the Wildberry Bar, he parked his Harley and helped River off the motorcycle.

She shook her head, untangling her hair. "What are we doing here?"

"We're going to eat."

"Did we have plans to have dinner together?" She pursed her lips.

He didn't indulge her by giving her an answer. She knew there were no plans. There never were, even when she begged him to come to the house.

Tonight, he'd acted without thinking. He saw Snake talking to her, and it pissed him off.

He put his arm across her shoulders, resting it on her backpack. "We have to eat. Might as well try someone else's food, huh?"

She glanced at him, frowning. "I suppose."

Nothing got past her. The last time he'd spent time with her, he was half drunk and ready to take what was always freely offered to him. But he'd never use River that way.

He walked inside with her and led her to a vacant table near the back of the bar. After the waitress took their order, he watched as River wiggled her arms out of her backpack and put it under the table, no doubt between her legs for safekeeping.

The bags have changed over the years. When he first saw her, she had a bright pink pack with yellow flowers. When she hit her teen years, she had a black one, probably to match the way her clothes changed from pastels to black. He wouldn't have known the backpacks meant so much to her because kids were always packing their books, clothes, and whatnot around. But for River, the backpack was a security blanket.

She was ready at any given time to move or be taken away, and she feared losing the few things she still carried from her past, when she had a mom, dad, and sister.

Nobody had a right to take that from her. She'd already lost a lot.

"What's wrong?" she whispered across the table.

He stopped rubbing his forehead. "Rough day."

"Did something more happen besides the campfire getting out of control?"

Within Gem Haven, he sheltered her. When she worked in the kitchen, her problems centered around the bar. Now that she worked at the campground, she focused on the campers.

The club's problems wouldn't touch her unless Valdone Motorcycle Club got ahold of Gem Haven. He'd lose the family compound and everything it contained, including the men and the women.

As much as he wanted to protect River from the ugliness of his life, his need to keep her safe overrode everything.

"I found out the men responsible for fires popping up around us are members of Valdone Motorcycle Club." He kept his voice low, not wanting the information to leak out. "In the past, they've wanted to take Gem Haven away from us."

She whispered, "Can the sheriff arrest them?"

He wasn't going to volunteer any information to the sheriff. If Valdone wanted war, he'd have war. But he wasn't a snitch, and he wouldn't bring more trouble down on him for identifying the arsonists.

"The sheriff's department can do their job without my help. The members will be watching and standing guard. Nobody is going to take Gem Haven away from us."

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