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I shook my head, before finally leaving the front porch and heading back to my truck. It had been a long fucking night, and now it was a bad night on top of it. I stared at the spare tire as I made my way around her car…
Who the fuck changed it for her?
Don’t get me wrong, Hal was a smart woman, and I was pretty sure she knew how to change a tire. However, Iknowthere was no way that she got out in the middle of the night and did it herself—not if she was calling me. And was Iris with her? Or had she called her mom to watch her? The more I thought about it, the more I wished I had stayed and asked more questions.
Something about the entire situation just…buggedme.
I slid into the driver’s seat of my truck, started the engine, and backed out of the driveway. Her neighborhood street was dead silent, and that was exactly why I hadn’t ridden my bike over here. I didn’t want to cause her any problems with noise complaints. However, now that she had called things off between us…
I really fucking needed some wind therapy.
Rolling down the truck's windows, I made my way across town again, heading back out to the clubhouse. Axle was supposed to be heading back to keep an eye on Francis and make sure the squirrelly cop got the hell out of town.
So much for some goody-two-shoed cop.
Francis had been dirty, and that was still something that we had to talk to Sergeant Johnston about. My mind was still trying to pick out how he and his partner were involved, though we all had a good inkling ofwhoit was. Robbie Johnston had asked for a loan of the exact amount that Francis had needed. And if Francis was offed instead, then that set Robbie free of any kickback from the decision to be in business with the cop…
But something about it still didn’t feel quite right in my gut.
I pulled into the clubhouse parking lot, surprised to see Axle standing out on the front porch, smoking a cigarette. I swore the guy never fucking slept, and I felt his eyes on me as I made my way toward the entrance.
“What the fuck are you doing here? I thought youhadto go see your girl.”
“Yeah, well, she broke up with me,” I muttered, shaking my head. “What I want to know is why the fuck you’re here, when you’re supposed to be watching over Francis.”
“Well, Gunner, he left town, so I got to come back.” Axle chuckled, taking a long draw on his cigarette. “Why’d your girl break up with you?”
I took a deep breath. “For the hundredth time, she couldn’t reach me when she needed me. She got a flat tire tonight, and it happened after I busted my phone.”
“Ouch.” Axle hardly sounded sincere. “I guess you can just consider yourself lucky that you got out of it before she started ordering you around.”
“She wouldn’t have ever ordered me around,” I snapped. “That’s her whole fucking problem. She won’t rely on anyone for anything—but then when she tried to, I wasn’t there for her. She deserves better than me.”
“You’re being too hard on yourself,” Axle’s voice flattened, losing all sense of amusement. “I get that you broke up with her a decade ago or whatever, but she’s clearly holding that over your head, man. There’s no reason that a busted phone would lead to a breakup. She’s holding a grudge.”
“Hallie isn’t the kind to hold a grudge. She’s a fucking saint.” I ran my hand along the railing, wishing that I had a reason to hate her, because that would be much easier.
“I think you’re putting the woman on a pedestal. You have to be realistic. You broke her fucking heart, so now she’s nitpicking at everything you do. She’s just scared of what’s going to happen—and if you’re going to let her down like you did all those years ago. Cut your losses. It’s not worth the work.”
I blinked a couple times, half of what he said making sense and the other half just sounding like his usual I-hate-women spiel. “Maybe I should talk to her about it.”
“Here’s a thought, Gunner,” Axle shook his head. “Maybeyou should give the lady some space and let her figure out what she wants.Maybe,if you’re just bound and determined to be in the woman’s life, you should let her come to you now. You gave her the reason you weren’t there tonight, and she called it off between the two of you anyway. If she regrets it—because she was just tired or some typical woman shit—then she’ll be back. Otherwise, consider it luck.”
“You do have a point.” I was reluctant to agree, but maybe I had been trying too hard to make things work with her. Maybe I did need to give her some space. After all, there was a chance she was still processing all of the past information I had given her…
“Let’s go drink a couple of beers.” Axle slapped my shoulder. “Tonight was a success.”
Chapter 25
Hallie
“You want to grab lunch?” Taylor peeked into my office, giving me a smile. “You look like you could use a pick-me-up.”
“Yeah,” I said with a sigh. My stomach wasn’t really feeling like eating anything, but staying cooped up in my office wasn’t helping.
“We could go to the café?” Taylor suggested as I stood to my feet. I had forgotten to bring my lunch, too busy wondering if I had made the right decision when I had turned Gunner away last night.
“That’s fine.” I grabbed my purse and slung it over my shoulder, following Taylor out into the lobby.
