Page 100 of Toxic

“There’s a lot more to tell,” Dani admitted with a sheepish smile.

“But not today,” Seek said. “Instead let’s enjoy the time together. We don’t need to be talking about this stuff while the guys are gone.”

I sat back, digesting the information they’d given me. They were right, it wasn’t my place to judge any of the men. They’d been nothing but kind to me. And I couldn’t even explain how grateful I was for their help. Without them, I might be dead by now. And my grandpa too. It borderline horrified me to think that any of them thought that I wasn’t appreciative. I’d just been so secluded out on my ranch, this all seemed out of the realm of reality. But it was sinking in fast. Especially now that Toxic had left and was heading toward danger.

We sat and talked for hours before Ricochet came into the clubhouse. “Hey,” he said, smiling at all of us. His eyes landed on me. “I’m heading out to the ranch. I can come back and pick you up once you’re ready-”

“No, I’m ready now,” I said, hopping up. I didn’t want him to have to make another trip back to get me. Frowning, I watched as he wrapped Jordan up in a hug. “Warrant and Daryl are out at the ranch. You could always stay here.” Splitting him and Jordan up seemed wrong.

“There’s plenty of men here to watch over the families,” Ricochet explained. “We don’t want to leave any of you short-handed out at the ranch.”

The women all gave me hugs goodbye and I smiled at Dani as she squeezed me tight. “I’m so happy for you,” she said. “Toxicis a good guy. And Keely’s going to be thrilled once she hears. You’d better call her soon or you’ll never hear the end of it.”

“I will,” I said with a laugh. “Thanks, Dani.”

Leaving with Ricochet, I thought about the talk that I’d had with Toxic yesterday, then the shock of him practically throwing me into the truck today, so he could haul ass over here to meet the others before heading to Phoenix. I hadn’t asked a lot of questions as Toxic explained to me how their club worked, but they were there. I just needed to sit with the information for a bit before I asked him more.

The drive back to the ranch was fairly quiet. I was lost in my thoughts and Ricochet seemed to realize I needed to sit in silence. He and Warrant immediately started talking once we got out of the truck.

Daryl was inside the house and he looked up as I walked in. He was sitting at the table, reading a newspaper. I paused, blinking, because it was such a familiar scene, yet one I hadn’t seen in my home in a very long time.

“Everything okay?” he asked, looking worried.

“Yeah, sorry.” I didn’t want to tell him that my father used to do the same thing at lunch. That seeing him there had brought back memories like a blow to my heart. “I’m going to go groom Hank if you need anything.” I’d already told him and Warrant to treat my home as their own, and was happy to see that they were.

“Okay, Darlin’,” he said, eyes dropping back down to his paper.

Escaping out to the barn, I stepped into Hank’s stall and began brushing him. Eris trotted in beside me, then sat on her haunches and watched. After a couple minutes I reached down, and ran the brush over her a couple times.

She spun in a circle as I brushed her, snapping her teeth at the brush. I laughed and shook my head, focusing back on theanimal that appreciated the grooming. Eris wasn’t a fan of baths or brushing.

I wasn’t sure how long I stood in the silence, thinking about how drastically my life had changed over the last year, when someone clearing their throat startled me. Turning my head, I looked over my shoulder.

Warrant gave a respectful nod. He was wearing a cowboy hat and the same thing most ranch hands did, jeans, boots, and a t-shirt, but I’d seen him the other night dressed as a biker. It reminded me of how Toxic flowed into either role as needed. Which reminded me that Toxic was doing God knew what right now and could potentially be in danger. It was a lot of emotion that rushed through me all at once.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Warrant said.

“It’s okay, you’re not. I just needed something to do,” I gave him a rueful look, “since you’re as bad as Toxic and won’t let me do my own chores.”

He chuckled. “Better you’re bored than me, trust me.”

“Maybe I’ll go for a ride.”

He shook his head. “Not a good idea. Too much area out here where someone up to no good could get at you. And I don’t want to split up our numbers in case someone’s ballsy enough to come by the house.”

“Oh,” I said, mentally smacking myself in the forehead. “I didn’t even think of that.” I gave a huff of amused disbelief.

“What’s banging around inside your head?”

I looked over at him again. He was leaning against the stall door with a friendly look on his face. “You’re in a motorcycle club too, right?” I knew he was. He’d been wearing a cut. But this was my way of giving him an out if he didn’t want to talk about it.

“Yeah. The Berserker’s Rage, up in Sentinel, Wyoming.”

I frowned. “Centennial?”

He chuckled. “No, though we get that a lot. Sentinel is a smaller town. Couple hours west of Centennial.”

“Oh…” I said, trailing off.

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