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I lean against the counter, watching him.
I almost formulate the thought to wonder where the guys are, but the half-formed question is answered a second later when Ash and Knox come walking into the kitchen. Ash makes a face at Dog going to town on his food.
“Ugh. I’m tired of cleaning up your kibble drool, Augustus Gloop,” he says to the dog, pushing his glasses up his face with one finger. “Maybe try eating a little neater once in a while.”
“Yeah, I don’t think he’s listening,” Knox says, laughing.
Ash rolls his eyes and turns his attention to me. “I saw you head out last night,” he says. “You get anything good? Was my idea useful?”
“Maybe,” I tell him. The last thing I want to do is think too hard about last night. I don’t want to get dragged back to that place. Truth be told, I almost forgot that was the reason I went out last night in the first place.
Ash’s face lights up. “Yeah?”
“Yeah. I’ll keep poking around, but I might have a lead.”
He smiles, looking pleased that he was helpful.
Knox crosses to the fridge, stepping around Dog, and rummages inside for a bottle of water. “You want me to beat anyone up for you?” he asks over his shoulder, looking like he hopes the answer is yes.
I grin at him. “I’ll let you know.”
Dog finishes up his food and licks the bowl clean before going to curl up under the kitchen table, which is apparently his new favorite spot to be.
I’m considering going back up to my room now that that’s taken care of, but then Gage comes walking in, followed by Priest, the two men deep in conversation.
“We just need to make it happen,” Gage says. “Simple as that. The logistics will fall into place or they won’t, but we can’t wait around for it.”
Priest nods, either to show he’s listening or that he agrees. It’s a toss-up with him, really.
Of course, the blond-haired man doesn’t look at me. He doesn’t so much as spare me a glance. He’s the same harshly handsome statue he pretty much always is. There’s no mention of what happened last night, and there’s no way anyone else would know unless they saw it, so I guess it’s just back to business as usual.
I haven’t really talked to Gage much since our rough, violent fuck in the library, but when he looks at me, there’s not quite as much rage simmering in those bright green eyes as there usually is.
“Get dressed,” he says to me. “We’re going somewhere.”
I lift one eyebrow very slowly, and he stares back. “Iamdressed,” I retort, not used to taking orders from anyone, least of all him.
“I mean in clothes you can go out in,” he grinds out. “Not your pajamas. Just do it, River.”
The moment of him not looking pissed has clearly passed, and that crabby expression is back on his face. It puts the scar on his upper lip into more focus than usual, but I tear my eyes away from it. I don’t like how that little imperfection makes him look even more gorgeous somehow, or the way it draws my gaze down to his mouth when he speaks.
“You’re too bossy for your own damn good,” I tell him. “I’m not one of your employees for you to be giving orders to like this. What if I don’t want to go anywhere?”
He tilts his head back and tugs at his lower lip, probably trying to keep his irritation under control. “Do you have to be combative about everything?” he snaps. “Will you just go do it?”
“Fine,” I relent, rolling my eyes right back at him.
I take my sweet time about it though, throwing on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and slipping my feet into comfortable shoes. I have no idea where the fuck Gage is taking me, but I’m not getting dressed up all fancy for it.
When I get back downstairs, they’re all waiting for me, and we all pile into one car—Knox’s, because it’s bigger. I end up wedged in the back between Priest and Ash, confused and curious as fuck.
When Gage said ‘we’ were going somewhere, I didn’t think he meant all of us. What the hell is going on?
If it’s club business, there wouldn’t be a reason for me to come along, and if it has something to do with Ivan, Gage probably would have told me that from the get-go. And we probably wouldn’t all be making the field trip if it was to do recon. There’s nothing inconspicuous about four big dudes and one woman with silver hair stalking around somewhere.
Instead of going somewhere appropriately shady, we end up in what looks like a strip mall, driving around to the back side where there’s a field with a building out front.
Bright Wars, it says in big letters on the front, and I frown, blinking in surprise. It’s clearly a place to play paintball, and I have no idea what the fuck we’re doing here.
