Page 23 of Tex's Angel

“Oh, I plan to. Any brother would consider himself lucky to end up with me for the night. At one time, spending the night with me was the highlight of your week.”

My head involuntarily turns to look at Tex. I mumble awkwardly, “You’ve slept with Brittany?”

Brittany answers for him. “Of course he has, a bunch of times. Tex has a voracious appetite for sex. He’s fucked almost every club girl at the clubhouse.”

Tex doesn’t deny it. Instead, he just glares at her.

Leaning sideways, she asks, “Who’s that stud standing behind you?”

Tex’s voice turns cold. “It’s my friend Wade. He’s not here to get wild with club girls. We have important business to attend to.”

“Why don’t you introduce me and let him decide for himself?”

Tex takes a threatening step forward. “Y’all need to walk the fuck away before I lose my patience with you.”

His voice sends a chill up my spine. Even Brittany snaps to attention and begins backing away. I sneak a glance at Tex, wondering what him losing his patience would look like. I’d always thought of him as my grumpy neighbor. Now, I can clearly see that he has some darkness deep inside, darkness that scares me a little. It’s right there in the tone of his voice.

“Now, Brit,” he practically growls.

She freezes for a second before turning and literally running away from him. Nick’s voice drifts to our ears from the bar. “I warned her about messing with your friend and stirring up shit tonight, Tex. Of course she didn’t listen, like always.”

Tex’s head turns to look at Nick and his expression softens, “It’s not your fault that Siege is too soft-hearted to sling her out. Brittany is nothing but trouble.”

“Wanna grab a table. I’ll bring you some food and drinks so you can decompress a bit. How about that?”

“That’s real nice of you, Nick. We’ll be in the back.”

When I step closer, Tex wraps his arm around me and I can feel his hand against the small of my back, guiding me towards the back of the bar. I whisper, “Sorry about saying we’re together when we’re not.”

He shoots me indulgent look. “Don’t worry about it, honey pie. I know y’all did it to keep her from trying to gether claws in me again. You’re pretty and protective in your own way.”

When we all sit down, I notice that Wade looks better. I wouldn’t go as far as to describe him as a stud like Brittany had, but he looks good. He’d showered and put on clean clothing. I can see he’s a bit shell-shocked to be here trying to get his head around the Savage Legion’s clubhouse, just like I had been a few minutes before attracting Brittany’s attention.

I look to where his gaze is going and see several women wander up to the bar. They’re all wearing jeans and a black leather cut that says ‘property of’ over their shirts. Instead of stripper heels, they’re wearing more sensible looking footwear, either sneakers or boots. One has some cute ballet pumps in blush pink which is a contrast to the tough leather vest. It suddenly hits me, that these are the wives and partners of the male members of this club. They’re not playing sex kitten games or trying to get noticed. They’re strong, confident women wrapped up in their own conversation.

I ask Tex, “Did you find Levi?”

One side of his mouth quirks up. “Yeah, he’s on the back patio eating and playing chess with Evan. Both Evan’s parents are back there giving Levi pointers. He’s having a high old time.”

“That’s nice,” I tell him before glancing away. I’m upset and don’t even know why. Actually I do, it’s because of that club girl saying she’s slept with him. I have no right to be jealous, but for some reason I am. I fix him a glare, and say perhaps more tersely than I mean, “Have you really slept with all the club girls?”

Tex leans across the table and states quietly, “We’re not actually dating, so I’m having a hard time imagining exactly why y’all are upset that I fucked my way through all the club girls. You were married and happily banging away with that cheatin’ husband of yours, remember?”

Suddenly, my heart is pounding in my chest. It feels like all the oxygen has been sucked from the room. I feel hot all over and my palms are sweating. I’m having a panic attack. I’ve had them before, and it’s Wade who jumps into action.

“God damn it, leave her the fuck alone!” He takes my hand and pulls me up from my seat and starts walking towards the door. I’m gasping for air and there’s a lump in my throat that won’t go down. Once we’re outside, Wade shoves me down into a chair and kneels down beside me. “Clara, look at me.” When I don’t, he lifts my chin until I’m looking into his eyes. “You’re hyperventilating and need to slow your breathing. Count to three between breaths just like your doctor taught you.”

I try to silently count between breaths. The first couple of times I only get to two, but after that I get to three. The lightheadedness clears and the breeze cools my face.

I glance up at him, thoroughly embarrassed. “I’m sorry, I lost it in there. I didn’t mean to embarrass you or Tex.”

Wade moves back to give me space. “I’m not embarrassed by you, Clara. I’ve always thought of you as the kid sister I never had. Nothing you could do would embarrass me.”

I scan the area for Tex and don’t see him. “After that fiasco, we might be investigating this thing on our own, Wade.” I meant for the comment to be funny but it kind of hangs there, feeling more true than not.

“You know that man’s crushing pretty hard on you, don’t you?”

“He’s my grumpy neighbor. He’s only helping because someone’s been setting off my car alarm in the middle of the night and waking him up. I’m pretty sure he’d rather be doing just about anything else than helping me.”

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