Page 46 of Stray
Dominik had a tendency to be detached. He didn’t often show much emotion other than anger and violence. I didn’t take anything he said personally. I knew better than that.
“What can I say? We’re not all stone-cold emotionless dicks. I’ll leave that to you.” I checked my side mirror, keeping an eye on the vehicle that had come up behind me. When it passed in the other lane without incident, I relaxed.
“I’m not entirely emotionless,” Dom said, scratching a hand over the side of his head where his brown hair was shaved into a fade. “I’m just not the type to act like an idiot over a woman.”
With a snicker, I said, “No. You’ll just lose your mind over anything Noah says or does instead.”
Dom stiffened. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
Maybe I shouldn’t have said that. Even though Dom had hooked up with women on occasion, he didn’t show much interest in them overall. I’d suspected for a while that maybe his interests lie elsewhere. The way Noah seemed to so easily set him off made me wonder if there was an attraction there Dom wasn’t ready to admit.
“Not a damn thing. It’s none of my business. Forget I said anything.” I braced myself in case he punched me in the side of the head.
Dom’s cold stare fixed on me. He stared so hard and long I started to think I should pull over and ready myself for a fight. Finally, he relaxed. “Even if I was interested in dick, it sure as hell wouldn’t be Noah Cunningham’s.”
“Because it’s really my cock that you fantasize about when you’re jerking it in the shower. Am I right? It’s cool. This is asafe space. Tell me all about it.” I wiggled my brows playfully, shooting him a flirtatious glance.
“You would just love that, wouldn’t you?” Dom laughed. “Sorry, Stray, you’re not my type. I’m not into hard-core flirts who laugh at their own jokes.”
My hand crept across the console between us and onto his seat before sliding onto his thigh. “I can change. Anything for you, baby.”
I was ready for it when he grabbed one of my fingers and bent it backwards. Still hurt like a motherfucker though.
“Stop embarrassing yourself. Stick with Codie Edwards. She seems to like your bullshit enough to keep you around.” Grim amusement laced Dominik’s tone.
The mention of Codie left me bitter, chasing away my good humor. “I don’t know about that. I made the mistake of taking her on a date. That blew up in my face.”
I felt Dom watching me as I drove. After several moments of thoughtful silence he said, “Her loss, dude. Maybe she’s not the one. If she is, you’ll figure it out. You’ll be all blissful and disgustingly happy like Rebel.”
Knowing that it wasn’t in his nature to comfort others, I appreciated his attempt. I did my best to steer the conversation away from women or relationships of any kind. Too touchy.
We made it to Forest Heights in time to meet our buyer. We pulled up to the address we’d been given to find half a dozen bikers waiting outside a warehouse. This particular MC had been buying from us for over a year now. I didn’t expect any trouble.
They took the bags from the back of the SUV and handed me an envelope filled with cash. Done deal. I loved when shit was simple.
“Same time next month?” asked the MC president. A burly guy covered in tattoos.
“Sounds good. Let us know if anything changes.” I passed the envelope off to Dom and got the hell out of there. Counting the cash in front of the bikers wasn’t a good look and would possibly lead to bad blood.
Dom went through the money while I got us back on the highway headed for home. Hopefully he’d forget about his taco stop. I wasn’t in the mood. He looked up after a minute and said, “All good.”
“Nice.” I relaxed in my seat, eyes on the road as I prepared for an easy drive home.
My mistake.
The highway was relatively empty. We only came across the occasional car. I definitely wasn’t expecting to have a lifted truck come up on our ass out of nowhere. It seemed to have come from one of the side roads as we passed, sliding in right behind us, speeding up to ride our bumper.
“Looks like we have trouble,” I observed, eyeing the truck in the rearview mirror. Since it was dark, I couldn’t get a good look at the occupants.
Dom turned around in his seat to stare out the back window. “Who the fuck is that?”
I shrugged, hitting the gas to speed up and put some distance between us and the vehicle that followed. “Not a clue. I have a feeling they know exactly who we are.”
“No way it’s the bikers.” Dom reached down, grabbing the handgun he had tucked into the side door pocket. “Should I try to blow out their tire?”
Damn this guy was so quick to resort to violence. There was always a time and place for that kind of thing. Dom was the jump in feet first type.
“Not yet. Maybe they’ll back off. If we start shooting, they might too. Better to play it safe for now.” As I increased my speed, the truck behind me had no problem keeping up. I didn’trecognize the vehicle itself. There was no telling who was on our asses.
