Page 13 of Twice the Rivalry

Glitch and Karissa grinned wickedly, even as Scarlett buried her head in her hands and the glowering biker behind her glared at the girls with the promise of retribution. He put his hand on Scarlett’s shoulder possessively, his blue eyes hard and glittering. Scarlett and Rogue were complete opposites at first glance, and as far as she was concerned, she wasn’t sure why the sweet woman put up with the growly biker. If he was her man, she’d have probably brained him a few times by now for being an ass.

Scarlett was a stunner, with cinnamon colored hair, green eyes, and a knockout body with just the right amount of curves. Glitch could be honest enough with herself that she was jealous of those curves, but the woman was too nice to let it affect her view of her. When she finally lifted her head to look at Glitch, she gave her a small smile. “Are you sure you want to spend time here?” she asked tiredly.

Glitch grinned. “Something tells me it’s going to be entertaining,” she replied, tongue in cheek.

“Wait a minute,” Taz cried, clearly offended. “Why the hell am I not at the top of the backup list? I’d be the best new dad ever. I’m the fun one too, not growly and grumpy like this guy.” He jerked a thumb at Rogue, who was glaring daggers at him. Not that Taz cared. He was completely unfazed as he pouted dramatically for the girls.

“We think of you more like a fun uncle,” Win told him with a shrug of her shoulder. “You know, the one we call when we want to get into trouble and then need help getting out of it?”

Taz grinned, mollified by their explanation. “I can get onboard with that. Damn, we’re going to have some fun when you’re both of legal age.”

“Remind me to kill him before he leaves,” Rogue gritted out.

“Now, now, Uncle Ro-Ro,” Wren soothed. “We’ll still make sure you’re the first call if we’re in real trouble, and if we need to scare the boys away, but we are growing up and we need to spread our wings sometime.”

“Sure, and spending time with a crazy ex-mercenary is just the ticket for that,” Karissa laughed.

“I swear to God, I’m sending them to a damn convent,” Rogue told Scarlett.

Scarlett patted his hand. “It amazes me how you know they’re baiting and riling you, and yet you still fall for it every time,” she teased with a soft smile. “Besides, I don’t need a backup plan when I already have a dark, sexy biker of my own.”

Glitch and Karissa shared a look at that, but didn’t comment. Instead, they turned away when Rogue took that moment to lean down, haul her out of her chair into his arms, and kiss the life out of her. “Good to know the caveman gene is alive and well around here,” Glitch told Karissa sarcastically.

“You get used to it,” Karissa replied as she led her toward the back hall, and Glitch knew immediately who they were going to see. “Which is exactly why I’m glad you’re here, because we need to remind them of why we won’t put up with it.”

“Does that mean I get to point guns at heads again?” Glitch asked excitedly. “Oh, please, let me do it to Savage again. It would definitely set the mood for my little stay.”

Karissa snorted. “He tried to suggest banning any and all weapons while you’re here, but I’m sure you know how well that turned out.” She gave a cool smile. “As someone smartly pointed out, with our training, we don’t need weapons.”

Glitch returned her smile, completely in agreement. She might sit behind a desk, but Simba never went easy on her training. Hell, she was still convinced that he went harder on her than anyone else. He was the protective sort, and she figured it was because she wasn’t with them most of the time, which meant if shit went sideways, they wouldn’t be right there to save her, so she had to be able to save herself.

At the time, she had cursed him, but now, she definitely appreciated it.

When they reached the closed door, Glitch stopped and looked at it for a moment. She almost wanted to turn around and walk away on principle, refusing to speak to Code, but she knew that was the coward’s way out. And she was no coward.

She reached out and found the door locked. She chuckled, amused he would think that something so mundane as a lock would keep her out. She had half a mind to kick the door in, but instead, she reached into her back pocket and pulled out the spare bobby pin that she always carried, and made quick work of the simple lock. Throwing open the door, she clicked her tongue and said snidely, “If I didn’t know any better, I would think that you weren’t happy to have me here, dickface. I’m almost insulted you thought a simple lock would keep me out.”

Code turned in his chair and gave her a cool look, arching a single brow. His green eyes were blank as he held her stare. “Normally, a locked door means to please knock, and whoever is in the room will choose whether to let you enter, but I guess your parents didn’t teach you basic manners before unleashing you on the world,” he replied mockingly.

Glitch fought to keep her temper under control. Instead of snapping back at him, she retorted, “Nah, they died before we got to that lesson. Bummer for you, hey?” Code’s face lost some of its coolness at that statement, and a flash of guilt moved across his face as she made her way into the room. “Now, where am I setting up?” she asked him briskly.

They had plenty of time to get into it later, but right now, she was tired and hungry and she needed to get her things set up before she could allow herself to relax.

CHAPTEREIGHT

CODE

He couldn’t stop the scowl from forming on his face as he indicated the table they set up behind him along the opposite wall. It was the only space he was willing to concede in here, and it would also ensure that he wasn’t facing her all the time. He didn’t need her distracting him. As it was, her even being in the room would be distraction enough. She stood there with her pink hair in a sassy bob, wearing a pair of leather pants that fit her like a glove, and a black leather jacket over what looked to be a dark red shirt, but since the jacket was zipped almost all the way up, he couldn’t be certain. He could admit that she was hot as hell, but she definitely wasn’t his type.

“Right over there,” he told her with a wave of his hand at the space he cleared for her.

Glitch looked at the space with narrowed eyes before she turned and gave him a cool stare. “You think that putting me in a corner with a rickety table is putting me in my place, huh?” she sneered.

“This is a tight space as it is,” he argued, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at her. “Since you’ve insisted that you have to be in here with me, you get what I give you.”

“And you just so happen to have some brand spanking new equipment in here to prevent us from using the same layout as the last time I was here,” Glitch said snidely. “From the shine on them, I’d say it was only purchased in the last day or two. You know, if you’re trying to make it clear you don’t want me in your space, your attempts are juvenile, and only prove my point you still have some maturing to do.”

Anger burned in his gut at her words. Mostly because he didn’t appreciate her insinuations, but also because there was a small amount of truth to them. “Since you’re planning on staying and working here for an unknown length of time, I needed to ensure the capability for both of us to do our work. That meant buying some new equipment. Equipment that you’re benefiting from, might I add, at no cost to you,” he informed her stiffly. “Space in here is limited. If you had been reasonable and let us put you somewhere else, then we wouldn’t have had an issue. Care to complain about something else?”

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