“Don’t start,” I warned. “I don’t need you joking about this when Reaper’s around. If he tells Merrick, I’m dead.”
Her grin widened. “So there’s something to tell?”
“There’snothingto tell,” I insisted. “She’s my friend. End of story.”
Eva arched a brow, amusement dancing in her eyes. “Whatever you say.”
I rolled my eyes and snagged a muted blue-gray paint swatch from the shelf. “Here’s the color for my room. Are you done interrogating me?”
Eva’s laugh echoed down the aisle. “For now.”
Chaos barked once, like she agreed.
By the time we pulled the truck onto the highway, the backseat looked like I was nesting, and the bed was filled with furniture I’d have to assemble. Domestic as hell.
Eva teased me the whole drive back, but once I dropped her off and pulled into the clubhouse lot, the silence hit hard.
Adult shit and responsibility—it all sounded good in theory until the noise stopped. Then it was just me, the quiet, and way too much room to think. Eva’s laughter still bounced around in my head as Leah slid a cold beer across the bar. Chaos perched in my lap, her little tail wagging.
Every time I thought I had my shit together, life found a way to knock me on my ass. Maybe that’s why the barstool felt unsteady, the clubhouse too damn quiet. Eva made it sound easy—family, a peaceful home, stability.
But when Merci walked in, I knew peace and quiet were officially off the table.
Her eyes were tired, and her hair still dripped with water from her post-shift shower. The long, dark strands left wet spots on the thin white cotton of her tight tank top. Her cut-off shorts showed her smooth, slender thighs and colorful tattoos.
I set Chaos on the floor, and she bounded over to her, showing off the newest toy I’d bought her—a squeaky rubber pig that was obnoxiously loud. Merci tossed the toy in the air, and Chaos snagged it in her tiny jaws.
“Do you want to come over and watch a movie?” she asked, not looking up from her game with Chaos. “The house will be too quiet with Merrick and Kenna gone.”
“Do I get to pick the movie?”
“No, but I’ll share my secret stash of ice cream if Merrick hasn’t found it yet. I hid it behind a box of frozen vegetarian burritos,” she said with a devious grin.
“Decoy burritos. Smart.”
We walked the path through the woods between the clubhouse and Merrick’s home, letting Chaos zigzag ahead of us with her nose glued to the ground. Cicadas screamed in the trees, and a squirrel barked at us from the top of an oak tree, offended by the pint-sized gremlin that was convinced she might be able to climb up and grab him by the tail.
Despite leaving my cut behind in my room, sweat slid down my spine, making my shirt cling to my back. “I’m going to need another shower by the time we get there,” I grumbled.
Goose bumps prickled across my skin as we stepped into the house, the blast of cold air a shock after the swamp outside. Merrick kept the air conditioning set somewhere between a polar vortex and a Michigan snowstorm. Merci’s tank top went from enticing to downright dangerous as her nipples pebbled as soon as the cool air touched her skin.
“Where’s Brisket?” I asked, looking for the oversized Dutch Shepherd Kenna had adopted a few months before.
“With Eva and Reaper,” Merci explained, tossing her flip flops to the corner.
She set Chaos on the floor, and the tiny menace bounded straight to a box of Brisket’s squeaky toys, most of them the same size as her. She dug around and settled on a lamb with one ear missing. She proudly dragged it to the oversized dog bed in the corner like she’d hunted it herself.
Merci grabbed the remote and flicked on the TV. “I’m the final decision-maker here, but I believe in democracy, so I’ll give you a vote.”
I smirked. “You’re such a giving person.”
“I know, right? Romance, thriller, or comedy?”
“Thriller.”
“New release or classic?”
I hummed and pretended to ponder while stroking my beard. “Classic.”
