Page 22 of Penn

A wide smile appears, and it confirms my suspicion. She’s doing it on purpose. “If you say so.”

“I do. It’s really unattractive.”

“Let me tell you something about Penn Calloway.”

Shaking my head, I move to the other side of the bar. “No, thank you.”

Lainey walks around behind the bar and corners me by the register. “Dixie, listen to me. That man has a heart of gold that he keeps locked up in a vault. He’ll never admit it, but he’s been looking for someone to love for a long time.”

“Lainey—”

“He’s been hurt, Dixie,” she says.

There’s a serious tone that makes me stop fighting. I’ve assumed. And it would make sense that he always wants what he can’t have because it avoids being hurt.

Damn it. Now I want to know everything she knows.

“Hurt how, exactly?” I ask.

She shrugs. “I don’t know the specifics. All I know is that whatever happened fucked him up pretty good. He was never the biker type until his heart was shattered into a million pieces. I think he’s scared to trust someone enough to let them in.”

“He doesn’t seem like he struggles to trust.”

No, that’s me. That’s one hundred percent me.

“He hides it well beneath that cocky attitude of his. He’s got walls built so damn high, but by the way he looks at you, I think he’d be willing to dismantle them brick by brick.”

“Really?”

“Just make sure if he does, you’re not going to break his heart again. The next time he builds that wall up, it’s never coming back down. For anyone.”

My chest tightens with a strange mixture of warmth and terror. A broken man is a dangerous thing. They either cling to you like a lifeline, or they push you away the second you get too close. And I know all about broken. I see it on Mom’s face every time I visit her.

I don’t know if I have it in me to fix someone. Considering the state of the people in my life, I’m not sure I’m actually any good at it.

The heavy front door swings open, and the still-hot night air blows in with Zeppelin and Kannon. The two sent to watch over me.

They look big, dangerous, and completely at home in the Seven Crows bar. I was a bit intimidated at the thought of bikers being in the bar and having to serve them. Especially rival biker clubs, but they’re all really nice.

Except Butch. I don’t like anything about that man. Thankfully, he’s not in here often.

“Evening, ladies,” Zep says with a wide grin. “And Lainey.”

“Fuck you,” Lainey says, giving her sort-of stepbrother the bird.

“Love you, too.”

Kannon sits down beside Zep, and I pour him his usual whiskey without needing to ask. Kannon always orders whiskey when he’s in the bar. There are times I don’t understand how he could drive his motorcycle after downing nearly an entire bottle himself, but Nancy assures me he’s fine. To keep serving him.

“What can I get you, Zep? Beer? Whiskey?”

“Soda. I need to stay sober just in case the old lady goes into labor.”

I don’t know Misty well, but I know she’s got a high-risk pregnancy and is confined to bed rest. “Should you be home with her?”

“She told me, and I quote, ‘I’m annoyed by your breathing. You need to leave for a while.’ Such a beautiful confession of love, don’t you think?”

“I can about imagine how crazy she’s going,” I say, pouring him a soda and handing him the glass. “There’s only so much television you can watch.”