Page 7 of Bad Ruck

He grinned. "When have I not stayed safe? I should be saying that you, but you seem to be surrounded by some very large men with even larger muscles. I'm sure you'll be fine."

I glanced around, taking a moment to appreciate the view. "Sometimes it doesn't suck to be me." The guys were a fortress of muscle around me, protecting me. I hoped like hell I could protect them too.

I gave my brother another hug and hurried up the steps to Storm's SUV.

As I settled into a seat in the back, I couldn't shake the feeling we were being watched.

Chapter Three

Atlas

I'm not goingto lie. I've been to strip clubs before. Plenty of them, but not this one. I expected Flirts to be sleazy, like so many of the others. Flashing lights, dark spaces and the stink of damp and sweat.

To my surprise, the place was almost classy. Burgundy walls, leather chairs, neatly dressed staff all in black. The smell of lavender and a hint of sex lingered in the air.

The establishment was quiet at this time of day. No one was fucking or even dancing.

Instead, the staff were carefully cleaning, washing down every surface and polishing the glasses behind the bar.

We could have been in an upscale club in any major city in Australia.

That was fortunate, because if the place was full of customers who'd seen my woman naked, I'd have to punch them out. Don't get me started on what I'd do to any who fucked her. Suffice to say, it would hurt them, but not for long.

Yeah, I know, that was her life before me, but the idea of it still made me see red.

"This wasn't what I was expecting," Jay said out of the side of his mouth.

"Me neither," I agreed.

"It feels like we haven't been here in forever," Frost said.

I gave him the side eye. "Did you ever—" I glanced toward Chelsea.

"Not here," he said. "Only Dallas did. Storm paid, because he wanted to watch." He didn't seem to be judging his…were they boyfriends? Just stating a fact.

Storm, on the other hand, seemed very judged. He glared at Frost, as if he'd spilled state secrets, not the fullback's kink.

"What?" Frost shrugged. "That was what happened. Don't try to pretend we don't all like watching each other. I bet Atlas does, right Atlas?"

"I suppose," I agreed. So far, the only other person I saw fuck Chelsea was Jay. If I hung around with these guys for long enough, that would change. My cock stiffened at the thought. At the same time, it annoyed the crap out of me. Specifically, the idea of Storm with her made me stabby. She deserved better than him. So far, he hadn't given me any reason to change my mind about him.

"I do," Ramsey said.

Sometimes, it was easy to forget he was the only one who hadn't fucked her. He also hadn't gone out with her. Somehow, he'd slotted into our family, but I had no idea how Chelsea felt about him. Or vice versa, to be honest. That was something they'd have to figure out for themselves later.

"I thought you might." Frost shoved his shoulder into Ramsey's with familiarity, like they were old mates. Frost had a way of opening up and letting people in without stopping to think too much about it. He'd already accepted Ramsey as one of us, even if the rest of us hadn't yet.

I have to admit I liked that about him. He couldn't be more different from Storm. When he kissed me… let's just say between Chelsea, Jay and him, I was going to have a permanent erection.

"Yeah?" Ramsey raised his eyebrows at Frost.

"You know what they say about the quiet ones," Frost teased. "They're always the ones to watch."

"Truth," Jay said, his voice low, because he was one of those quiet ones.

Storm looked back at us and shook his head before turning to Chelsea. "Is she here?"

"She might be in the back," Chelsea said. She gestured toward a side door and headed in that direction.

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