Page 75 of Shattered Skull

“I know what you think you saw,” I said, shaking my head. For the first time in my life, I was explaining myself. “But, we were the good guys.”

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. “Right. That’s exactly what it looked like.”

Still, she didn’t turn my way or stop walking.

“The girl you saw was Saint’s cousin. She got herself mixed up with The Border Lords and had been smoking so much meth she didn’t even recognize him when he got there.”

With those words, she stopped and turned toward me.

“His aunt called him and asked him to go get her. The place was a meth house, which was why I didn’t want you to go inside. The guys started it and refused to let her leave. Not that she wanted to. She was so geeked out she didn’t know which way was up. I only pulled my gun because I had to. I’m not going to apologize for keeping my boys safe.”

She didn’t respond at first. Instead, she stared back at me with her wounded eyes. She looked exhausted. There were dark circles under her eyes, and she was swaying as if she was barely staying on her feet. She was wearing a jacket that hid her body, but I could tell by her face that she had lost more weight.

I didn’t like that.

Finally, the side of her mouth tilted up, and a small grin formed on her perfect lips. My chest grew tight with her smile, and I found that I liked it when she was happy with me.

“Do you always carry a gun?” she asked.

When I didn’t answer right away, she said, “And be honest.”

I was always honest, whether it hurt someone’s feelings or not, but I hated the look in her eyes when she was upset with me. It was a revelation on my part since usually, I didn’t give a fuck what others thought of me. It was different with Everly. Everything was different with her.

“Yes,” I answered honestly.

She nodded, accepting my answer.

“So, you’re carrying a gun right now?” she asked.

I nodded. “Like I said, I’m always packing.”

“Why are you here, Aiken?”

She was probably the only person other than my brother, who called me by my real name. I liked it on her lips. Skull was my street name—the person I had become when I had no other choice—the person I was trying to leave behind.

“Saint’s drunk. You need a ride home.”

She shook her head and tried not to smile.

“Fine, but only because I pulled a double today, and I’m dead on my feet.”

Relief filled me when she stepped up next to my bike and took the helmet I was holding out for her. She pushed it down on her head and latched it before throwing her leg over the back of my bike and climbing on.

Her small frame pushed up against my back, and she wrapped her arms around me. I reached down and laid my hand over hers without thinking. I liked having her close to me.

“Have you eaten yet?” I asked.

“If I say no, are you going to take me to Waffle House again?”

That was no.

I fired up my engine and pulled away from the side of the road. Instead of taking her back to Zada’s, we drove through town until we reached the only restaurant open after midnight—Waffle House.

We didn’t talk much as we ate. Thankfully, the place was packed full of drunk people stopping to get their grease fix, so there was no awkward silence. When we left, I held the door open for her so I could get a view of her perfect ass when she walked out ahead of me.

She clung to me on the drive back to Zada’s, and my cock jerked when she absently rubbed at my abs as we cut through town. When we pulled up to Zada’s place, the lights were still out. I cut the engine and helped her get down before I pulled my helmet off and took hers from her when she handed it to me.

“Let me guess,” she said, shaking her head. “You want to do a walkthrough and make sure no one’s in there waiting to kill me.”

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