Page 23 of Dusty and Dented
“Tell me what you want, and I’ll do my best to make sure you have it.”He meant it too.If she wanted corndogs and champaign, he’d do his best to give it to her just to see her smile.
Chapter Seventeen
Andy looked aroundthe room Dagger had led her to once they’d reached the clubhouse.She hadn’t bothered to tell him how much it hurt her to be there.He’d meant it when he told her it was the best place to keep her safe, she knew that, but even though she could see the logic, it didn’t make the ache in her stomach any less because she knew that they were making the place safter because of Travis’s death.
She’d meant it earlier today when she’d been determined not to come back here, but sometimes things happened and circumstances changed.She could admit this was better than her brother’s room.Not that she’d seen his room here, but she’d shared living spaces with him enough to know that cleaning his room was a job she didn’t want, and not just because of the memories.
There were some things a sister just didn’t need to know.How many thongs, aka trophies, he’d taken off what he called ‘wild pussy’ was on that list.Besides, Travis had always been more than a little messy.She stood in the middle of Dagger’s room and wondered if he kept it himself or if one of the women she’d seen downstairs took care of it for him.
“Before you ask, you’re the only woman in this room in years.I might take advantage of the mamas once in a while, but I don’t do it in here.This is my space and I don’t let very many people in here.”
“But you’ll let me stay?Are you sure you want to do that?”She turned and looked at the room with renewed interest.It was masculine, the Harley posters and black bedspread and sheets, she suspected, were just the top of it.There was an oversized recliner in one corner, angled so he could sit there and watch the large TV mounted on the wall at the foot of the bed, as easily as he could watch it from in bed.There were a couple of doors leading from the room, aside from the one behind Dagger.One was clearly a closet, and she briefly wondered where the other went.
“I’m sure,” Dagger’s voice behind her was low and reassuring.“I want you to make yourself at home.There’s a bathroom through there,” he motioned to the door she had been wondering about, “and there’s a kitchen downstairs.You’ll be safe here.If one of the guys says anything that makes you uncomfortable, tell them you’re Panther’s sister or that you’re with me.But no one should bother you.All the guys should recognize you and know better than to say something stupid.If they do, take note of who it is.We all wear our names here.”He poked the patch on his right shoulder that said Dagger.“If there’s no name patch, they’re either a prospect or not one of us.Either way, whether they have a name patch or not, if you have to tell someone to back off, note who it is and let me or Raven know.”
She turned and stared at him a moment.Was she really going to worry about men harassing her here?How was this better than her place, where she could at least have her place to herself?She just had to worry about going outside there, and who she opened the door to.What she was thinking must have shown on her face.
“No one should bother you.I said that.I just want you prepared, just in case.Taylynn will be watching out, too, just in case.On top of that, I plan on spending as much time with you as I can.”
“But?”she said, saying what it felt like was hanging unsaid.
“But I do have things I need to get done, both for the club and to make sure I can pay bills.Still, I don’t want you to worry.I’ll do what I can here, with you.At least until we can get this figured out and you can go home and be and feel safe there.”
Some of the anxiety that had her stomach doing summersaults calmed, leaving her feeling drained and exhausted.
“How about we gather a few snacks, then we can curl up on the bed and watch the next movie,” he waved toward the king size bed with one hand, as he watched her, waiting for her answer.“It’s late and we’re both tired but I don’t know about you, I need to unwind a little before I can sleep.The movie will let us do that.”
“I can’t sleep yet either.And the movie sounds really good.”What she didn’t say was that she was so tired, she likely wouldn’t make it through the whole movie.Not that she minded, because she loved these movies and could watch them every day if someone would sit down with her.She liked that he was willing to do that, even if they were just silly kid’s movies.
“Great.What snacks do you want?I’ll go get them while you get settled in and download the right app to the TV.The remote’s next to the bed.When I get back, I’ll log in and get us up and going, sound good?”
She nodded, told him what snacks she wanted, and waited until he was gone before she set her bag on the bed and went investigating.The bathroom was as clean as the bedroom, but that didn’t surprise her after he’d said he didn’t let many people in his space.Once she knew he cleaned his room, it only followed that he would keep the bathroom just as clean.
Snooping done, she decided she wanted a shower.It had only been a few hours since Dagger had pushed her into taking one that she could admit, at least to herself, had made her feel ten times better.Now, though, she didn’t know what had been in that van before her, but she was sore and achy from being tossed around and she couldn’t think of much that sounded better in that moment than a shower.So she pulled what she would need from the backpack and headed into the attached bathroom.Dagger had told her to make herself at home after all.
