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“Where the fuck are you off to?” Viper barked, appearing from the open garage.
“To see Hal,” I said, not even bothering to lie. “I know that Hannah will be back sometime this evening, but I’ll just leave Hallie’s place whenever she gets here.”
He nodded. “Don’t fuck around and be late. Once she talks to Bethany, we might have to go ahead and take care of shit.”
“I know. I’ll be here the moment I get a call or text saying that she’s back.”
Viper let out a sigh, giving me a weary look. I didn’t give him the chance to expand on the reason behind it, worried that it might just turn into another fucking lecture—and I wasnotin the mood for that. It was one thing for Axle to grind on me about it, considering we all knew how anti-women he was, but Viper… Nah. I didn’t have to listen to his shit. He bent over backwards at just a fuckinglookfrom Hannah.
And I wanted that kind of partnership.
I pulled into Hallie’s driveway less than ten minutes later, realizing just how close she was to the clubhouse. It would be a convenience when it was time to go—especially if we were mid-fuck when Hannah got back. I killed the truck engine and got out, smiling as the porch light kicked on. The door creaked open, and I had to catch my breath as Hallie stepped out onto the old porch in a pair of white cloth shorts and a black tank top.
Fuck, I missed her.
In truth, if the world was perfect, I would never leave the woman.
“Hey, you made it here quick,” she greeted me, her eyes lighting up, but also revealing some hesitancy.
“Am I interrupting anything?” I peered around her, seeing the mostly dark house.
“Not at all. I just got Iris in bed, so I guess it’s perfect timing.” She gestured to me to step inside, and I did as she asked. The place was much more organized, though there were still a few boxes stacked in the corner of the main living room. The scent of pizza hit me, making my stomach growl.
“You said there was pizza, right?” I looked over at her, not sure why there was so much tension between us—and not the sexy, sultry kind. It was fucking awkward the way she was standing there with her arms folded across her chest, like she was waiting for me to say something important. And if she was…
Well, I had no fucking clue what that would be.
“There is pizza in the kitchen.” Hallie motioned to the open doorway, her blonde hair blowing slightly as the air conditioner kicked on in the living room.
I nodded, trudging through the house. The walls were lined with paintings of open fields and old barns, along with pictures of Iris scattered in the midst. I wanted to poke and prod, figuring out exactly what happened with whatever loser knocked her up and left, but the silence she was giving me wasn’t a go-ahead for that kind of conversation. Hallie was a talkative woman, and when she went quiet, that meant shit wasn’t good.
My eyes landed on the pizza box, still sitting on the center island in the kitchen. I went straight for it, lifting the lid and grabbing a slice of plain cheese pizza.
“That’s all I can ever get Iris to eat.” Hallie let out a slight laugh. “If it’s got anything else on it, she won’t touch it.”
“I don’t blame her,” I said with a shrug. “Anything other than cheese is a waste of a good fucking pizza.”
She raised a brow at me but didn’t say anything more about it. “So… You’ve been busy with club stuff?” The tone in her voice made me feel like I better answer it right, or she might shoot me right there in the middle of the kitchen.
“Yeah, mostly.” I took a bite of the mostly cold pizza. It was fine though, I happened to be a fan of cold pizza.
“Okay…” Her voice trailed off, and I knew she was waiting for an explanation for my absence.
“I just was trying to give you some space.” It wasn’t the whole truth, because while I was giving her time to unpack, I was also trying to unpack all the shit that Axle had said. “And I don’t know if you want anything to do with the club,” I added, deciding to give her more honesty. After all, I had lied when we broke up, so the least I could do was give her the truth now.
Because I was still feeling guilty as fuck over the grace she extended.
“Right… I don’t know.” She let out a sigh and leaned against the counter, her baby blue eyes zeroing in on me. “Everything was really great between us the night that you were here, but then after that, I just didn’t hear from you.”
“I’m sorry, Hal.” I blew out a sharp breath and sat down the slice of pizza. “I am.” I swallowed the rest of what I wanted to say, the things that Axle said about women being a distraction and bringing out weakness in us. I wanted Hallie to tell me that wasn’t true—and that shewantedto live this life with me.
But I wasn’t going to do that.
I wasn’t a fucking beggar, either.
“I was at work today, and Taylor showed me an article about, um…” She chewed her lip in hesitation, wringing her hands nervously, and I realized thatthismust be why she called me over. It had nothing to do with me actually putting some space between us. Whatever the fuck Taylor showed her must be fucking with her head. “It was about Dr. Hereford.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
