Chapter Eighteen
Muerto threw hisphone across the table then pushed his chair back.Why the fuck isn’t she answering my calls?He racked his brain, trying to remember if he did something that pissed her off, but all he could remember was how wonderful it was between them. It’d been two days since he’d seen Raven. She’d answered his texts with brief replies, and she didn’t return his phone calls. He didn’t have a clue what the hell was going on with her.
“What’s up?” Skull asked as he sat down. He placed a sandwich in front of Muerto then took a large bite out of his.
“What the fuck is this?” Muerto looked at the plate.
“Ham and cheese. Lena’s making them. Thought you might want one.” He took another bite of his sandwich.
With a clenched jaw, Muerto shoved the plate away from him. “You thought wrong. I didn’t ask you to bring me one, so why the fuck are you getting into my business?”
Skull jerked his head up and stared at him. “What the hell’s your problem, dude? If you don’t want it then don’t fuckin’ eat it. No big deal.”
Muerto scowled, clenching his fists as he forced himself not to punch Skull in the face. As Skull chomped noisily on his food, hot rage burned in Muerto’s veins.
“Want a ham sandwich?” Skull asked Army when he came up to the table.
Army looked at Muerto. “You don’t want it?”
Muerto jumped up from his chair and slammed his fist down on the plate. Pieces of blue stoneware bounced across the table. “I don’t fuckin’ want it!”
Army’s eyes narrowed and Skull pushed away from the table. “What the hell’s your problem, asshole?” Army clenched his fists.
“Fuck all of you.” Muerto grabbed his phone and stormed out, electricity shooting up his spine. He jumped on his Harley and sped out of the parking lot. As he made his way to the backroads that crisscrossed the desert, anger consumed him. The landscape surrounded him as he increased his speed on the deserted roads. Soon he and his bike became one, and exhilaration overtook the anger. As he rode past sagebrush, rock formations, and miles of open expanse, all thoughts went out of his mind. He felt alive and free.
After several hours of riding, Muerto entered Alina and headed over to Raven’s place. He was going to find out what the hell was going on with her. His Harley had helped in calming the rage that had been coursing through him, so when he pulled up in front of the duplex, he smiled when he saw her watering her garden. She looked over her shoulder and nodded at him.
“Hey,” he said as he came up to her. “How’ve you been?”
“Real busy. You?” She averted her eyes.
“Good. You’ve been dissing me. Why?”
“Not really. I’ve just been busy.” He went over to the valve and shut off the hose. She turned toward him. “What’re you doing? I wasn’t finished watering.”
“You are for now. I wanna know what’s going on in that pretty head of yours. And I’m not buying your ‘too busy’ shit.” A tense silence filled the space between them. “Did I piss you off about something?”
She chewed on her cuticles while she shook her head no.
“Then what?” He came close to her and grabbed her hand.
“Let’s go in,” she said softly.
Once inside, he sat on the couch and watched her as she tucked the stray tendrils into her bun. Not wanting to push her, he waited for her to start the conversation. She didn’t.
“What’s going on?” he asked in a low voice.
“Nothing. Why?”
“You’ve got a faraway look in your eyes. It’s like something’s going on inside you that’s taking you away from us.”
“Isn’t an ‘us’ too soon? I mean, we don’t know each other very well.” She tucked her legs under her.
“What the hell does that mean? Some people are together for a long time and they don’t know shit about each other. It’s the way people connect that’s important. And I’ve never been so drawn to a woman as I am to you. Let’s face it, we tried to pretend this strong attraction we have didn’t exist, but we couldn’t pull it off.” He reached out and grasped her hands into his. “Talk to me,” he said in a low voice. “I can see something’s battling inside you.” His dark gaze drew hers to his.
She exhaled. “I’m scared. There I said it.”
His head flinched back. “Scared? Of me?”
