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McKelle nodded toward a blonde sitting at a table with Stormy and a couple other girls. “Bristol is one of his kittens. I don’t see Jinx or Lacey. Kodiak and a couple other bikers work for Bullet on the side.”

My mind spun. “Make this make sense,” I said to McKelle.

Maybe it was the whiskey making me stupid, or maybe I’d run another red flag with Brett. I didn’t know him, not really. Did he seriously bring me here knowing his side piece, the one he’d said he’d never had while married, would be here looking for a hookup? Did he pay her? I was going to be sick. “Is she with Kodiak or Brett?”

McKelle didn’t say anything. “Maybe you should talk to Steele.”

She didn’t need to say anything else. I’d been on this ride before. Never again.

The woman put her hand on his arm. He smiled but seemed to lean back to put a few inches of space between them. That was somewhat reassuring.

“She’s not his old lady,” McKelle said. “He wouldn’t have her on the back of his bike.”

I had to force myself to look away from Brett and focus on McKelle. “How do you know?”

“Because he wouldn’t be here with you if he wanted her.”

Clover’s hand fell away at the same time he lifted his head and scanned the room. His gaze locked with mine. He disengaged with the woman, picked up a second drink, and crossed the room with purpose.

“Come find me after you chat. I’m going behind the bar with Ryatt.” McKelle stepped away as Brett approached.

“Hi.” He handed me the drink.

I tried to swallow past the lump in my throat. He didn’t owe me an explanation. We weren’t dating. We weren’t even friends. Just a one-night stand that was going to be two. Or maybe more than two. But I couldn’t be casual without strings. He’d only been talking to a woman, and now, my chest was tight, knots twisted my stomach, and jealousy burned through me.

I lifted the glass and downed the double like a shot. Liquid fire seared down my throat and blazed into my belly. A flush of heat rushed through me. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. Whiskey courage wasn’t helping with the pressure behind my eyes.

“Come with me.” He took our glasses and set them on the nearest table, then held my hand and tugged me back down the hall. This time, he took the first door on the right and flipped on the overhead light.

Unlike McKelle’s room, this one was starkly decorated. A box fan blew in the corner next to a small dresser with insect stickers covering the drawers. There was a full-sized dresser next to it. This wasn’t just his room. Lili was everywhere. The bug stickers. The sparkly hair bands next to a small toothbrush and child toothpaste.

But the room smelled like Brett. The space was sparce but clean. Night air came through the open window. Brett shut the door and backed against it.

“What did McKelle say to you?”

I lifted my gaze to his. “Nothing.”

He growled and approached me. “Bullshit.”

I could pretend I didn’t know what he was talking about, but we both knew I’d be lying. I countered his steps, backing away until I was against the wall. “Nothing that’s any of my business.”

He pressed in close to me. His whiskey breath was warm on my lips. A days-worth of whiskers shadowed his jaw, and his tattoos seemed even more menacing with the intensity of his eyes staring into mine. “Ask me anyway.”

I moistened my lips with my tongue to speak. “I’m a teacher, not a lawyer, but I still know when not to ask questions because I already know the answer.”

I tried to slip out from between him and the wall, but he raised his arms, caging me in. “Ask me anyway. This is a test. A test for me. You want to know if you can trust me. That’s never going to happen if you don’t ask.”

His face was so close. His voice laced with a dark and dangerous edge. With his mouth tight, the dimple in his cheek became more pronounced.

My stupid fluttering heart revealed I was already into him more than I should be. “Have you slept with her?” I asked when I already knew the answer.

His gaze never wavered from mine, and his throat contracted with a swallow. “I have.”

It shouldn’t hurt to hear. He wasn’t mine, but I didn’t want him to be anyone else’s. Inhale. One. Two. Three. Four. Exhale. “It’s none of my business.” I barely breathed the words.

“I want to be your business,” he whispered back. “I’m not hiding anything from you.”

For a moment, we breathed the same air. This was crazy. He was in the middle of an ugly divorce. I was grieving a child and fighting my husband’s betrayal. We didn’t make sense. There was no future for us. But I was here in his room, and I wanted in his bed, but not if he’d slept with McKelle or Jazzy or Property of Blade—I couldn’t remember her name.