“She’s not running you off; you’re being smart. Who knows how desperate your mom is or what she’s gotten herself mixed up in. Look, I get it’s no fun staying with me. It’ll just be for a few days.” His face softened. “I don’t care if they steal all your stuff. That’s replaceable. I can’t let anything happen to you.”
I thought back to the greasy-haired guy she’d been with at the bar, the one who had picked her up today, and suppressed a shiver. He’d said nothing to me, and two thingsaboutme, both comments on my looks. I didn’t want to be caught unawares if he paid me a visit.
“Just a few days?” I pressed. “How do we know she won’t stick around for longer?”
“It’s Sue. She’ll get bored and move on to her next mark soon enough.”
“Fine.”
Jackson knew where all the tools were. He changed the locks, grumbling about the brand I’d bought the whole time, even after I told him it was a perfectly respectable brand and that model had excellent reviews.
Meanwhile, I pulled together a bag, set out some extra food for the cat, and then we drove over to his house in silence. He was probably contemplating what an annoying mess he’d gotten himself into, all on Travis’s behalf.
4
Jackson
Iwas completely fucked. Iris was settled into my house, and I had to keep talking my dick down so she wouldn’t notice the massive tent in my pants.
It’s just that her toothbrush was next to mine on the bathroom sink, her clothes were in my bedroom, and she’d insisted on making dinner to “pay me back” while she was here. Seeing her in my kitchen, tending my stove with my favorite meal—which of course she knew—was every fantasy I’d ever had come to life.
“You should call up Cole and Hunter and invite them over. Hunter probably hasn’t had a good meal since he went to prison.” She glared at me, amber eyes fierce against her bold features. With her hand on her hip, waving a spatula at me and meddling…that was wife shit, right there. It was killing me.
“No.” The word was out before I could think better of it. Having my idiot brothers acting as a buffer was the smartest move, but I didn’t want to deal with either of them right now.
Her chin notched higher in the air. “I’m going to bring them something after dinner, then.”
“Only if I drive you.” Hunter had talked a good game earlier about cleaning up his act, and no fresh needle marks marred his arm, but his friends were no better than Sue’s. Hell, they might be some of the same crowd. If Hunter had brought any of that shit to Cole’s, Iris wasn’t going near it.
“Fine.” She turned back to the stove.
The next few days were going to be pure fucking torture. I needed to figure out where Sue was hiding out and run that bitch off ASAP before my dick hijacked my brain and I did something utterly stupid, like walk up behind Iris and start kissing a line up the side of her neck.
She slid two full plates onto my rickety table and turned to me. “Here. Hope you like it.”
Goddamnit. Of course she fixed me a plate. I sat, thankful the table would hide my erection, and dug in with a grunt.
The meal was a crime against high-quality meat, and I didn’t care one bit.
After dinner, I insisted on doing the dishes, and Iris busied herself with putting servings for Cole and Hunter in Tupperware. She chose my nicest Tupperware, too. Those bastards better not forget to give it back. And they better not say shit about how overdone those steaks were. I wasn’t having Iris insulted on top of everything else today.
Cole didn’t live far from me, so the drive was short. I’d texted to let him know we were on our way, and to make sure Hunter didn’t have any of his old crew over.
Hunter’s sat up in front of the tv. Says he hasn’t controlled the remote in four years and the novelty hasn’t worn off yet.
Well, that was a bit of a surprise.
Iris grumbled at me about giving Hunter a chance to prove himself, as if I hadn’t heard the same speech half a dozen times from Cole.
Inside Cole’s apartment, Iris set everything at his kitchen table, then cooed all over Hunter, who gruffly thanked her for the food, his eyebrows knit together. “Since when did you move in with Jackson?”
Iris blushed. “Oh, no. It’s not like that. My mom showed up last night and is being…well…she’s acting shady, and I’m crashing at Jackson’s place for a few days until she leaves town again.”
Hunter shot me a look over Iris’s head. I shrugged. He narrowed his eyes. “Sure, right.”
I glared right back.
Cole poked at his steak. I already knew it was tough as old leather. When he opened his mouth, I kicked him under the table.
