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“It’s only five,” I said, noticing the grandfather clock in the hallway. “You’re early.”
“You were having lunch with Saxon,” he replied.
I frowned. “That’s why you’re early?”
He nodded his head once.
I followed him down the stairs and to the front door. Pausing, I looked back. “I should tell someone I’m leaving.”
“They know,” he said.
Of course they did. Apparently, Blaise had Melanie on speed dial. I didn’t want to witness a confrontation between Saxon and Blaise anyway, so I left the house without telling anyone bye.
When we got to his truck, he opened the passenger door, then tossed my bag inside. I started to get in, but then he picked me up and put me inside. While I watched him walk around to get in on the driver’s side, thinking about how sexy he made a pair of jeans, I saw someone standing off by the far round pen. It was Saxon. He was watching us. I wished he weren’t so worried. But I didn’t know how to ease that concern for him.
Blaise climbed inside, and we pulled away. I didn’t look back at Saxon.
Twenty-Six
There was a crowd here. The moment we pulled up, I noticed extra vehicles outside the house. Three big, expensive trucks, some kind of sports car, and a few SUVs.
“Fight night,” Blaise said simply as we pulled into the garage.
“MMA?” I asked, thinking that season was over.
My dad and brother had watched it when they could get it on TV. Most of the time, they’d had to go to a bar that was showing it.
“Boxing,” he replied.
“I didn’t know you were into boxing,” I told him, but then I didn’t know that much about his likes and dislikes.
“I’m not. The guys are,” he explained as we got out of the truck.
I followed him inside as he carried my bag in his hand. This would be his crowd. Not just the rodeo squad, but also his group of people. They were going to be older than me, and I wished I’d put on some makeup so I felt like I at least looked older. Saxon’s words about our age difference came back to haunt me.
The television was loud, and people were sitting everywhere. Some standing. The kitchen had voices coming from it too. I felt somewhat better about things. I could blend in easier with so much going on.
That thought was instantly wiped out when a large man with red hair and a beard saw Blaise walk into the room. He waved his beer in the air.
“Boss!” he called out loudly, and every eye in the room was now looking in our direction.
“You didn’t bet!” another man shouted, who was covered in tattoos and had a piercing in his face. “It’s an easy win,” he added, throwing his hands in the air.
A tall, curvy bleached-blonde, wearing a short pink dress, walked up to Blaise with a glass of whiskey in her hand. He took it from her, then reached back to take my hand as he made his way through the room. Everyone moved out of his way, like the parting sea.
“We got jambalaya in the kitchen. The good shit that Tanya makes,” someone told him.
Blaise kept moving until we were in the empty hallway. He was taking me to the cave. We weren’t staying up here with his friends. When he opened his door with the key, I didn’t move to follow him down. He turned and looked up at me.
“You don’t want to stay up here?” I asked him. I felt like something he was trying to hide.
“We’re coming back,” he said. “I was going to change and let you put your things away.”
“My things away?” I asked, not sure I understood that exactly.
The corner of his mouth curled up. “Yeah, this bag. Your things. Put them in the closet.”
Oh. I was putting my things in his closet. Okay. I had not expected that. I stepped down and closed the door behind me. He continued on, and I followed him. The cave looked exactly like we’d left it earlier today.
