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Pushing him back into the couch where Royce was already sitting, I pulled my own cell out. “You’re drunk. So, yeah, it’s fucking necessary.”
Without another glance back, I headed out through the front door and hesitated.
I could grab her with my bike but that would mean she couldn’t tell me why she was in town to begin with, and I needed to know what the hell she was up to. It was nearing midnight, and I made myself pretty clear about her not leaving the club, so I knew she wasn’t trying to apartment hunt. So what was she doing?
Letting out a heavy sigh, I turned for the garage, pulling my keys from the reserved spot on the wall. Minutes later, I was hauling down the road, heading toward her location. The dashboard said it was nearly thirty degrees out, which with the wind chill and fog was practically freezing. We didn’t normally get harsh winters here, but every now and then the season would throw us a curveball. I flipped the temperature gauge up and pressed the heated seat button for the passenger side.
Within five miles, I was approaching her location. I began to slow down and then hit my blinker, turning onto a residential street. What the hell was she doing here?
Seeing her standing out on the curb, I pulled up directly next to her and idled the truck.
Her eyes snapped down to her phone while she took a step back, which had me shoving my door open and getting out.
“What the fuck are you doing out here alone?” I asked, rounding the hood. I searched the street, my nerves suddenly raw as I had to picture her just standing here, waiting for fucking Kip.
Her blue eyes locked onto mine; it wasn’t fear but something else reflected back in them. Hesitancy or nerves.
She narrowed her focus on the phone again. “Kip’s coming.”
“Kip is drunk as shit.” I opened her door and held it for her. I wanted to add that tonight was a special night for me. I wanted to know why she wasn’t there. I wanted to explain how badly it burned that she’d decided to leave.
Her shoulder sagged, but it got her moving. I didn’t wait for her to ask for help, my hand went to her ass on its own, lifting her into the truck before she could turn me away. “Hey?—”
I slammed the door on whatever she was about to say and stretched my hand out.
Touching her ass was absolutely one way of sliding back into obsession territory.
Once I was back in the truck, I took off, not even checking to see if she was buckled. I needed to get back to the club, and get her out of my truck, and out of my space.
The silence began to stretch, the radio was playing something moody and slightly perfect. Then it began to snow.
Laura gasped. I caught how she leaned closer in her seat, trying to see out the windshield.
“When’s the last time you saw snow?”
She looked over at me with a small smile. “The better question is, when is the last time I saw it in Rose Ridge? That would be right now. Every place is different when it snows, and that very first one is always special.”
I tried to hide my smile at her excitement.
“Why were you in that neighborhood so late at night?”
She shrugged. “No reason.”
That fire she always seemed to have was burning again under my skin, and I hated how much I liked it.
“There had to be some reason?”
With a tiny tug at the hem of her jacket, she finally released a sigh.
“There’s a bar I like to go to from time to time. Red dropped me earlier, but she already went home.”
I looked over at her then refocused on the road. “And how do you normally get home?”
My stomach twisted, waiting for her to say that Kip was the one who picked her up. If they had a weekly routine where he’d come and get her, fuck I’d probably end up breaking his legs or something.
“I walk.”
That made me laugh.
