by KD Robichaux
“Sure, you don’t,” July says, seeing right through me.
“I don’t,” I retort, stomping past her as soon as she unlocks the door. “And if he thinks he’s staying at my house tonight, he has another think coming!” I yell to her as she disappears into her office.
A few hours later, the front door chimes, and I unconsciously scoot my rolling chair back several feet at the infuriated look on the man’s face. He looks familiar, and I squint my eyes, trying to place him. Then it hits me. Even though we were always a safe distance behind him the night we followed him to the biker bar, this is undeniably the guy who’s been dropping off the fighting dogs.
“You,” I squeak then clear my throat. “You’re the guy—”
“Whatever you planned on doing the other night when you followed me, you need to forget it. You have no idea who you’re dealing with,” he growls, his deep voice not matching his young looks.
Before I can respond, July walks up to my desk, sweeping her eyes over me to see if I’m okay. “Can I help you?” she asks when she looks over at the guy.
“Like I was just telling your friend, you guys need to mind your business.”
“I need to mind my business?” She steps toward him and to my surprise pokes a finger in his chest. “You made whatever it is you’re doing my business when you started dropping dead dogs off at my hospital.”
I nod, scooting my chair forward and silently giving my best friend support. I tamp down my urge to stand up and say, “Yeah!”
“I was trying to do the right thing, but I won’t be able to save your stupid asses again. They will kill you,” he says, and I suck in a breath at his rudeness.
But July takes a much different approach than I would have, if I were taking over this situation. “I know people who can help you,” she tells him gently, and it makes me look at him more closely. He’s definitely as young as we originally thought, around twenty years old. But his blue eyes look exhausted, as if he’s seen much more in his years than he should have. He seems to take in July’s words, as if wishing he could get the assistance she’s offering. “They can help; I promise,” she adds, and he shakes himself, his eyes turning angry.
“Just mind your fucking business!” he shouts then turns around and pushes so hard against the door that the glass cracks as it hits the outside of the building.
“I wonder what we’re missing,” July says aloud as we both watch him screech out of the parking lot.
“I don’t know, but he seems scared,” I reply, thinking about the flash of longing I saw in his face.
“Yeah,” she agrees, swallowing.
“Do you want me to call Wes or Z and tell them what just happened?” I ask, and she meets my gaze and shakes her head.
“No, if anything else happens, I’ll tell him,” she promises.
I pooch my lips out doubtfully, but I nod anyway.
8
Z
“Um. Hello. Excuse me. What the hell are you doing in my house… again?” Kayan’s sweet, haughty voice is thrown at me from her front door.
I slide my arm up across the back of her couch and watch her eyes heat when they land on it. I haven’t figured out if it’s the muscles or the tattoos that make her practically forget her name. Maybe it’s both. In any case, I’ll continue working out the rest of my life just to keep getting that look from her.
“Told you already, kitten. Ain’t never letting you go.” I watch her roll her eyes, and then ask, “How was your day today?”
“Yeah, you said that in like… the throes of passion. Guys don’t mean stuff when they’re balls-deep in some chick—”
“As good as your sweet pussy was, Kayan—” My use of her real name makes her head jerk back. Good, she’s paying attention. “—not even it is good enough to make me lie to you. Nothing is. And I meant every single word I said while we were making love.”
“Making lo— Ugh. You’re annoying.”
She crosses her arms over her scrub top-covered chest and plops down on the couch as far away from me as possible, which is laughable, because it’s barely bigger than a loveseat. But I can tell by the look in her eyes she’s putting on a front. My words hit home. She’s just trying to save face. But why?
I try again to move along the conversation. “How was your day, kitten?
She visibly deflates, rolling in on herself and putting her head in her hands, her elbows resting on her knees. I want to pick her up and pull her onto my lap, rock her until everything is all better in her mind. But I stay where I am, hoping she’ll open up to me.
“Don’t tell Wes, but that guy showed up at the clinic today,” she murmurs, and my brow furrows.
“The guy? The one with the spider tattoo?” I growl, pissed she hadn’t called me as soon as it happened.
She waves her hand at me, shaking her head. “No, no… you freaking bear. Calm your tits. The guy July and I followed, the young one who’s been dropping the injured dogs off at the clinic.”
“That’s barely any better. They’re all connected somehow, and next time, your ass better tell me as soon as possible,” I order, and her narrowed eyes turn to me.
“Excuse you. You can’t just order me about! We didn’t know the other even existed a week ago, and suddenly you think you can tell me ‘my ass better’ do something? You’ve got a lot to learn.” She stands from the couch and stomps to her room, slamming her door.
All I can do is smirk and adjust my rock-hard cock behind my zipper. I fucking love it when her feistiness comes out to play. Almost as much as I like her shy. But she’s the one who has a lot to learn. I’m not backing down. She’s mine. All fucking mine. And in being mine, she’s going to have to start turning to me for help instead of fighting me every step of the way. She’s obviously been on her own for a long time, the epitome of an independent woman. I know it’ll take some reconditioning to get her to actually lean on me, but I’m willing to put in the work. Nothing she does or says will push me away.
A few minutes later, after I’ve called Wes to let him know the girls received a visitor at work today, she storms out of her room, now dressed in skinny jeans that fit her like a second skin and a loose-fitting tee. “You did not just call Wes and tell him, after I specifically told you not to!” she yells, obviously having heard me through the door. She glares at me as she snatches up her purse, and then turns to stomp toward the front door, stopping to dig her key out of it.
“Where we going?” I ask right behind her, making her squeal as she spins around to look up at me.
She puts her hand to my chest and shoves, moving herself backward instead of me, and I fight my grin. “We… are going nowhere. I… am hungry, because I skipped lunch when the dog fighter guy came and gave me anxiety. But now I’m angry, not anxious. Which means I’m hangry. And you do not want to see me hangry,” she threatens, and all I want to do is pet her hair and tell her how fucking adorable she is.
“I’m coming with you,” I say matter-of-factly. “What do you want to eat?” I try to pull her key out of her hand, but she snatches her arm back, hitting her elbow against the door and wincing.
“Mothertrucker, that freaking hurt! Gah! Go away!” She spins to pull open the door, but I wrap my arm around her waist, pulling her back against my front, and rub her elbow with my other hand, soothing away the ache. I feel her instantly melt against me.
“I’m going to feed my little kitten. You’re not going anywhere alone, not after someone broke into your house just last night. You’re going to have to get over it. You have people who care about you, and it’s okay to allow them to protect you,” I murmur into the side of her head, and she twitches in my arms, obviously trying to hold strong in her frustrating beliefs. But when she speaks, her voice is much calmer.
“Fine. But I don’t want restaurant food. I want bestie food. Plus, I need to check on her, since you’re a big freakin’ tattletale. We’re going to July’s,” she tells me, and I nod reluctantly. I was hoping to take her out to eat jus
t the two of us, to try to get to know each other a little better. But if she needs the buffer of her best friend for now, then I’ll allow it, because at least she’s saying “we” instead of just her.
When we arrive at July’s, I see Wes’s bike parked in the driveway and pull in next to it. I had to practically wrestle the keys from Kayan before we left, but there was no way I was letting her drive me around like some pussy. It put her right back into her sassy-ass mood.
She jumps out of the car before I even put the gear in Park, making me growl and jump out after her, stalking her to the front porch. She tries to barge in, but is stopped abruptly by the locked door, so she lifts her fist and pounds with all the strength in her tiny body.
“July, open the door right now!” she yells, tapping her foot.
“Kitten,” I rumble next to her, wishing she’d calm down just a little. Knowing she hasn’t eaten today, I don’t want her to pass out if she gets too upset.
She pounds on the door again, more frantically this time, and I do the only thing I can think of to snap her out of it. I grab her upraised hand from the wooden door and spin her toward me, my other hand going into her hair to tilt her head back just as my lips come down hard, cutting off her “What are you—” as I steal the breath right from her lungs.
I’m vaguely aware of the door opening next to us before slamming closed again. But I’m not quite ready to give up Kayan’s mouth. I kiss her deep and thorough, and it’s not until I feel her lower half grind against me that I know I should pull back, leave her wanting more of me in the hopes she’ll stop fighting her feelings. Feelings I know she has. Feelings that match mine.
Kayan
“You can’t just kiss people,” I breathe, my body a melted pile of goo in his strong arms still holding me up, taking all of my weight.
Just then, July opens the door, and I stumble inside as I try to get out of Z’s embrace before she sees what we were doing on her front porch. I trip over the threshold, landing right where I started—wrapped up in Z’s arms right before my face becomes one with July’s floor.
“What’s going on?” she asks. Is that a hint of amusement I hear in her voice?
I swat at Z’s hands on my waist and stand to my full height before cocking my hip. “I came to make sure you were okay.”
“Why wouldn’t I be okay?” She frowns.
“I may have been frustrated about Z being at my house when I got home and told him about the guy coming to the hospital. I told him not to tell Wes, but no sooner did the words leave my mouth did this big lug call Wes.” I stab a finger in Z’s direction, but all he does is smile at me, the look traveling right to my lady bits, as I can still feel where his beard scratched at my tender face only moments before. He must be a mind reader or something, because his grin grows, and I glare. “You’re annoying.”
“You’ve said that, kitten,” he reminds me, and I roll my eyes.
“You couldn’t call?” Wes asks, taking his place beside July. From his disheveled appearance, I can tell we interrupted something. Good. Serves him right for his rudeness.
July backs me up. “Don’t be rude.”
“I’m hungry,” is all he says, but I can tell he’s most definitely not talking about food by the way my best friend’s face turns a bright shade of red.
“I’m hungry too,” I chime in.
“I was going to make tacos,” she tells me, and then sighs.
“Do you have enough?” I question, begging her with my eyes not to send me off alone with the intoxicating man standing entirely too close to me.
“Yes,” she states, at the same time Wes growls, “No.”
“Yes, I have plenty,” she reiterates, glaring at Wes as if daring him to say otherwise. “Why don’t you help me make dinner, while Wes and Z do guy stuff?”
“Guy stuff.” Wes shakes his head, looking over to his friend.
“Yeah, drink beer, scratch your balls… guy stuff,” she says, her voice exasperated as she throws her hands in the air, rolling her eyes when Z laughs.
I swat him in the stomach with the back of my hand, but it hurts me more than him. “I’m going to start cooking,” I state, rubbing my hand as I walk toward the kitchen.
Behind me, I hear Wes tell Z, “I’m beating the shit out of you tomorrow,” and my suspicions we interrupted some hanky-panky are confirmed.
A few seconds later, July enters the kitchen, and we start to cook dinner.
“How much trouble did I get you in with Wes?” I ask with a wince.
“None. Well, he was pissed, but he got over it.”
“I didn’t mean to open my mouth, but when I got home, Z was there and it just came out,” I confess.
“I kinda got that. What’s going on with you guys anyway?” she asks, handing me two tomatoes to dice.
I duck my head, trying to hide the guilty look on my face when I lie, “Nothing.” I’m still not ready for her to know I slept with a guy I barely know.
“Didn’t look like nothing when I opened my front door and his tongue was down your throat,” she says gently, and my eyes widen. I must’ve been too consumed by his kiss to realize July had opened the door and seen us there.
“That was an accident,” I chirp.
“He accidently kissed you? Or you accidently kissed him back?” she clarifies, and I shrug.
“I don’t know.” I sigh.
“He seems to like you.”
He does. And I really like him too. But this is all happening so fast! I want to confide, but instead, I only whisper, “I don’t know.”
“I just don’t want you to miss out on something great,” she tells me after a few minutes of us silently preparing the food.
“He makes me crazy,” I tell her, looking into my best friend’s beautiful eyes.
“I think that if you don’t explore things with him, you’re going to end up regretting it,” she implores, and I feel that statement deep in my soul. I know she’s right. What I feel when I’m with Z, what I feel right in my very bones when he smiles at me, or kisses me. That’s not just some regular old chemistry. I know in my heart it’s a much deeper connection than anything I’ve ever experienced in my life, and I should probably stop fighting him off before I ruin my chances and finally push him away for good.
I don’t say all this though. I give her a quiet, “I know you’re right,” and look down at the pan in front of her, frowning. “I thought we were making tacos.”
She gestures at the concoction she put together. “These are tacos. They’re ‘I don’t want to wash a million dishes’ tacos,” she explains, and I see she’s just dumped everything into one large container. I guess we’ll be eating it like a taco salad, which is fine by me. It’s all going in the same place anyway—my growling belly.
I laugh and shake my head at her, going back to chopping.
“Psst,” July whispers conspiratorially, and I lift my eyes once more. “I thought you should know, Wes just told me something about Z that might soften you up a bit.”
“Oh yeah? What’s that?” I ask, moving closer to her so the guys won’t hear us.
“When I asked Wes if you’d be safe with him, he told me they’ve been friends since they joined the Navy when they were eighteen. Said he was one of the best guys he knows. And call me crazy, but I kind of trust Wes. He seems to have a fine-tuned radar for trustworthy people.”
I have to agree with that. After all, he’s in love with best girl I’ve ever known.
Z
“So what happened with your girl after I called?” I ask Wes curiously, taking a drink of beer.
“What do you mean?” he questions.
“Did you tell her what we found out about the guy?” At his sideways look, I put my hands up defensively. “I only ask, because I’m not sure how much to tell Kayan. I was going to let you be the guinea pig. See how July reacted before I did the same with her wonder twin.”
He chuckles, shaking his head. “Yeah, I told her some. She was being hardheaded
as fuck, so I had to scare her a bit so she’d listen the fuck up.”
“I see. And how did she react to your tough love?" I wince.
“Made her cry. Felt like shit, but it had to be done,” he confesses, rubbing the back of his neck.
“What did you say exactly? Maybe I’ll take a different approach. Don’t think I could take seeing Kayan cry. Not after seeing her that way after that fucker broke into her house.”
He eyes me but doesn’t call me out on the clear feelings I have for her. “I told her that the person this young guy and his father are involved with—the one fighting the dogs he ends up bringing to her clinic—are drugging women until they have no idea what they’re doing and put them on the street, only letting them quit prostituting when they are too broken to make them money.”
I suck in a breath between my teeth. “That had to be a shocker. I’m sure she hadn’t thought past the dogs being fought.”
“No, she hadn’t. But she did say that boy looked scared, terrified even, and could tell he was there to warn them because he didn’t want the girls to get hurt. I told her his dad owns Momma’s Country and is actually a good man. But over the last couple months, he’s gotten mixed up with some bad dudes. I confessed we didn’t know exactly what was going on, but that my guess is he owes the guys money.” He takes a pull from his beer. “I ended up promising her I’d help the boy and his dad if I can. Her cousin and I are looking into what’s going on.”
“Well you know I’ve always got your back, brother. The sooner we catch these assholes, the sooner the girls can stop worrying about the dogs. Although I do like having a reason to hang around and protect Kayan all the time.” I chuckle.
Wes shakes his head with a small smile. “Never seen you like this, man. Not in all the years I’ve known you. Such a tiny thing to bring down such a big man.”
“What is it they say? Big things come in small packages? She packs quite the punch.”
