Page 31 of Hawke

I shouldn’t have appeared so eager to see him. Maybe, I could backtrack some.

“Actually, I do.” He looked around again, but this time, I kept my gaze pinned on him. When he either saw, or perhaps didn’t see, what he wanted, Ryder touched my arm. I might’ve yanked it away, but he motioned with his head toward a quiet spot in the corner.

I followed him over there. “What is it?” Another thought occurred to me, and regret instantly consumed me. I didn’t even need for him to tell me. I now suspected he’d left town, and likely for good. “Has he left Denver?”

Ryder smirked, and it was then I realized how handsome he was. He was at least six-foot-two. That I knew simply because my brother was six-foot-one, and Ryder was at least Chase’s height. He also had the most piercing blue eyes I had ever seen. Unlike my own lighter ones, his were a deeper shade. I could also make out the hint of ink creeping out from behind his dark T-shirt.

Hawke also had a lot of tattoos, but even I couldn’t be sure exactly how many since I had only seen him dressed. He’d had the benefit of seeing every inch of me, but I wasn’t given the same in return. And now, I wondered if I ever would. Clearing my throat, I tried to keep the inevitable sadness from my voice as I repeated my earlier question.

“No, it’s not why I asked,” he answered, which did set my mind at a small bit of ease.

“Then, why did you?” I shifted nervously on my feet. I had worn six-inch heels to the club this evening, and I wobbled slightly on them.

“Have you ever heard about how Hawke likes his submissives?”

Oh, have I ever.

I wasn’t sure how much Hawke had told him about me if anything, so I decided to be very vague in my response. “I’ve heard the rumors.”

There! It isn’t a complete lie. I did hear about him in Washington, D.C., last year.

“He has some weird hang-ups,” he offered, but I wanted to know more.

“Such as?” I knew what was coming, but waited for him to explain.

“He doesn’t like to hear or see them.” Again, it was something I was well aware of at this point, but I let him continue. “Hawke likes his submissives to be bound and gagged before he ever walks into the room.”

It was exactly what I’d been told at The Box. “Okay.”

I wasn’t sure if he meant for me to do that or not. For all I knew, he could be trying to scare me away from his friend. That’d be a very Hawke thing to do, so I wouldn’t put that past him. Anger still rose within me. “Did he send you over here to tell me that, hoping I’d go away?”

Ryder chuckled.

“What’s so damn funny?”

His face became serious once more. “Your leaving is the last thing he wants. I’m only telling you this because he’s sent me out here to find him a submissive for the night.”

Can he not find his own piece of ass?

The sarcastic question almost slipped from my lips, but I managed to keep it inside. “And the two of you think I might cause a scene if I see him with her?”

Now that I’d said it aloud, it was exactly what I would do. The green-eyed monster inside of me was roaring to life at the very thought of him touching another woman. My eyes welled up with tears, but I refused to let Ryder see me cry over Hawke. About to assure him I didn’t care in the slightest, his next words stopped me cold in my tracks.

“I’d like to prepare you for him.” It was said so casually as if he didn’t just insinuate he wanted to leave me vulnerable in the lion’s lair. This had to be some sort of game. That anger remained and quickly became laced with suspicion.

“Did Hawke put you up to this?” I had to ask. If he did, I didn’t understand why he wouldn’t have just asked me himself. As he had seen before, I couldn’t resist him.

“No!” he replied, simply and solemnly. “He’d actually toss me out of here so quickly if he even knew I was asking you.”

I furrowed my brows. I didn’t understand why Ryder seemed to be beating around the bush. “Is this some sort of game? I know Hawke might not want me, but—”

“He doesn’t.”

I tried not to let those two words hurt me, but it was like a sledgehammer to the chest anyway. I could barely breathe as those two words echoed in my head, but despite what these men might think, I had some pride even though it always seemed to miraculously disappear whenever I was near Hawke.

“Great. Then I’ll just go and let you find someone he does.”

I tried to step past Ryder, but he grabbed my arm, this time with enough force to make me pause.

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