I stormed to the door and paused, centering myself and knocking once with the respect for the club president that had been ingrained into me from childhood. Thane’s gruff voice floated through, inviting me to enter.
“I’m sorry if I’m interrupting, but I need to talk to Hatchet. Now.”
Thane glanced between the two of us before hardening his gaze at Hatchet. “What the fuck did you do now?”
Hatchet raised his palms. “Nothing.”
I marched toward him and grabbed a handful of his shirt, pulling him to his feet. “You blocked Luca’s number last night.”
“Oh, that.”
“So you admit it?” My grip tightened for a beat before I shoved him back, forcing him to brace a hand on the table.
Hatchet smoothed out his shirt and shrugged. “He was being a dick. I didn’t want you to wake up to those types of text messages, so I deleted them.”
“You went through my phone?” My voice rose with every word.
He worked his jaw and tipped his head back to stare at the ceiling. “No, of course not. He sent you a bunch right as I dropped you on the bed. Said some real nasty shit. You didn’t need to see that. I deleted them and blocked him. I meant to tell you.”
I clenched my fists. “I have it handled. Don’t ever touch my phone again.”
Thane’s eyes flicked between Hatchet and me as he cleared his throat. “Is this ex going to be a problem?”
I absently rubbed my throat. “I have it under control.”
“You know we’ll take care of him if you want us to.” Thane’s voice stayed even, but there was nothing soft in the way he looked at me. He’d rally the Mavericks to burn everything Luca owned to the ground if I asked.Maybe even if I didn’t.
“I know.” I reached for the whiskey glass on Thane’s desk, swallowed the remaining two shots in one gulp. I glared at Hatchet one last time as the burning liquid slid down my throat. “Don’t ever do that again.”
Eva grinned at me as I shut Thane’s door harder than necessary. “Hatchet still standing?”
“Only because Thane was there.”
We decided on dinner at Onyx Taproom, a local bar owned by a Maverick. Eva listened as I shared most of the story about Luca—leaving out the encounter against my truck.
“So that’s why I’m living at the clubhouse,” I lamented, sipping my second strawberry-jalapeño mojito. “Whenever I meet a guy, he turns out to be a piece of shit. I’m going to be single forever. At least life wants to fuck me.”
“You should get on one of those dating apps,” she suggested. “Maybe it’s all in the numbers. The more dates you go on, the more likely you’ll meet a good one.”
I peered at her over my drink, stirring the bits of mint in the glass. “And that worked for you, how?”
She giggled. “It took a man literally saving my life before whisking me away to his secluded cabin to protect me for me to findthe one.”
“Got it. Almost get killed. Get kidnapped. Live happily ever after.”
Eva shrugged. “Worked for me.”
“I’m not holding my breath.” I toggled to the App Store on my phone and downloaded the hottest dating app I’d heard nurses tittering about on their breaks. “I’m going to regret this.”
We quickly filled out the short profile, and Evatexted a photo she’d captured of me at a bonfire. The warm glow gave me an ethereal look, like a beautiful forest witch who’d suck away your soul. It was exactly the vibe I wanted to go for. Beautiful, yet terrifying.
“And now I just scroll through and see who I match with, I guess?” I swiped several times before pausing. I turned the phone to face Eva. “Want to swipe a few times for me? Clearly my judgment is shit.”
Eva swiped three times before her eyes lit up, laughter bubbling from her lips.
I turned the phone back to face me and froze.
Hatchet’s bright blue eyes stared back at me from the screen.
