Page 34 of The Souls We Claim
I shouldn’t ask, but I can’t help myself. “Why’s it confusing?”
She shrugs and looks off down the garden. “I just left my abusive husband. You would think starting something with another man would be the last thing I need.”
“Sexual urges and finding another man are two different things. You can scratch the sex itch without a relationship. Trust me. I’m a pro at that. But I can’t be that guy for you if we’re going to look after Lola as a joint responsibility.”
“No.” But the single word sounds more like a question. “I mean no. No. You’re right. Maybe lock the door in future?”
Or maybe I won’t.
“Would you be more comfortable living at my dad’s place until it’s sold?”
She shakes her head. “I couldn’t sleep at night knowing my sister was murdered there. But I’m happy to help get things tidied up for sale. I was pretty handy at thrifting and decorating. I...”
She blows out a breath and looks at Lola, who is starting to become restless in her seat. A piece of toast is flung onto the patio.
“You what?”
She glances back at me. “One of the things Patrick used to love doing when he was mad was ruining something I’d put love and care into. He put his fist into a birthday cake I made. He smashed up a dresser I’d spent weeks sanding and refinishingtwo days after I’d finished it. Once, he even sprayed black aerosol paint over a hallway I’d decorated because he didn’t like the color I’d painted it. He sat on a stool with a beer and watched while I repainted it a color he preferred.”
“One day you’re going to have to explain to me why you stayed with the guy for so long.”
“No money. An unsupportive family. Not knowing where Mercy was. It’s a privileged thing to tell someone tojust leave. It implies access to resources and options. And speaking of that, thank you, Jax.”
Yeah, and my fucking heart needs to get with the plan—the pretty girl with big eyes who calls me Jax like I’m a hero needs to be ruthlessly shoved into the friend zone.
“For what?” I ask.
“For looking out for me. For helping me save myself, I guess.”
“You can stay here until we find you a place. I’ll work on finishing the renovation to my bathroom so we don’t have a repeat of this morning.”
She blushes at that, and I don’t miss the way her knees press together. I bite down on the temptation to pry her knees apart. I bet if I touched her panties right now, they’d be damp. She liked watching as much as I liked being watched.
I like a woman’s eyes on me.
They just can’t be Arianne’s.
When I pull up at my president’s house an hour later, he’s on his knees, a ratchet in hand, working on an old bike. He looks up at the sound of my bike, and I wave as I pull onto the driveway next to him.
I kill the engine and climb off. The ride did me some good. My mood is a little more even keel.
“Hey, Prez. Can I get some of the prospects to clean up Dad’s place? There’s still evidence of the…” I find it hard to say the word ‘murder’. Grief hits me hard. Makes me swallow deeply. Iforce it down so I can continue. “And the house is a mess and I want to speed up getting it flipped to sell it.”
“Of course,” he says. “Should have thought to offer.”
I look up the drive to the house. “Is Rae around?”
King looks at me for a moment. “What do you want with my old lady?”
“Fuck’s sake, Prez.” I’m fed up with people questioning my intentions. “What do you think I’m gonna want with your old lady? I’m hardly going to bring her out onto your porch and fuck her while you stand right there and watch. I want to ask a psychologist’s perspective on something.”
King climbs to his feet and wipes his hands on a rag he pulls from the back pocket of his jeans. “She’s having a shit day, and I’m feeling kind of protective of her. Sorry. She’s around the back in the green house.”
I glance toward the garage. “I didn’t know you built a green house.”
He shakes his head. “I didn’t. Came back from a weekend away, and it was there. Niro built it for Rae. Neither of them would tell me why, something to do with one of their weekly chats, but whatever it was made Rae cry, and she made me take her right over to his house to thank him.”
“She’s good for him.”
