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“Fuck that shit,” I mutter. “It ain’t anything to me.”
He laughs again. “I sure as shit hope not, dude. You were whipped enough by her back in the day. I know you ain’t tryin’ to catch feelings for her again. Fool me once, know what I mean?”
I don’t say anything in response. Thorpe doesn’t know that technically, Rory and I are still married. Just like everyone else from back then, he just assumes that it all got dealt with.
I don’t feel like telling him I’ve seen Rory more than once since she’s been back. Or the fact that she and I just slept together. And that it was the best sex I can ever remember having.
I wonder who the suit Thorpe saw her with was. I get a little stab of something unpleasant in my gut thinking about it. Shit, just because we slept together doesn’t mean she ain’t also seein’ another guy — one who wears suits instead of leather. Someone who her daddy would prefer over someone like me.
I start to get a pain just behind my eyes, and I realize it’s because my jaw is clenched so tight I’m at risk of cracking a tooth.
“I gotta head out,” I say, my voice like gravel. “Call me if you see anything fucked up.”
I barely hear Thorpe’s answer. I’m already outside on my bike, the engine roaring almost as loud as the blood in my ears. Barely thinking about where I’m going next, I find myself on the way to Rory’s dad’s house. She mentioned she’s moved over there from the motel for now.
I need to talk to her. Now.
As I pull up in front of the Wilkins’ mansion, my anger subsides a little as a flood of memories overtakes me. Aurora and me in the swimming pool. Aurora sneaking out at night time to be with me. Aurora and me standing in her parents’ foyer, telling them we’d just gotten married.
Aurora’s tear-stained face as I drove away from her the day we broke up.
My gut churns. Past Aurora and present Rory have me all tied up in fucking knots.
I don’t see her car out front, but she’s probably parked it at the end of the long drive in the back of the house, which is invisible from the street. I march up the front walk and pound on the door before I remember there’s a bell, so I ring that, too. About fifteen seconds later, the door opens and a woman with dark hair pulled into a bun answers.
“I need to talk to Rory,” I demand. “Aurora. Is she here?”
The mask of professional blandness doesn’t flinch. “I’m not sure. Let me check. May I tell her who’s calling?”
“Brody.”
The woman lets me in and leaves me in the front hall as she climbs the stairs. I hear her call Rory’s name, and then a muffled response. The woman comes back down.
“She is here,” she smiles pleasantly. “She’ll be down in a moment.”
A few seconds later, Rory appears at the top of the stairs. She’s freshly showered, her hair hanging damp around her shoulders. Her face is puffy, her eyes more darkly bruised than they were a few hours ago.
The woman turns to look at her, and gasps at the sight. Clearly, she hasn’t seen Rory since she got back. “Miss Aurora!” she cries. “What happened?”
Rory’s face registers the reason for the woman’s surprise. “Gina, don’t worry,” she says as she reaches the bottom of the stairs. “It’s nothing, I promise. I just got hit by, uh, a tennis ball. It doesn’t even hurt, I swear.”
“Are you sure?” Gina gapes at her, her hands reaching for her own face in shock.
“I’m absolutely sure. Really.” Rory turns to me. “What are you doing here?” she asks.
“I need to talk to you,” I say gruffly. “About church.”
Gina blinks, turning to look at me in surprise. “Church?”
“Uh, sure,” Rory stammers as I grab her by the arm, turning to Gina. “Rogue here is a member of one of the congregations in town. He’s invited me to a service.” She grabs a set of keys off a table as I hustle her out the door.
“I keep forgetting about my face,” Rory murmurs as I lead her away from the house. “My dad hasn’t seen me yet, either. He’s going to flip if he sees me like this. I must really look like shit.”
“It’s not that bad,” I lie. It is, but somehow Rory still manages to look beautiful like this. Don’t know how the hell she does that.
“So what do you need to talk to me about?” She’s huffing a little bit, struggling to keep up with me.
“Rather tell you somewhere else,” I grit out. “I’m bringin’ you back to my place.”
