“Who’s Danny?” he asked, and my head turned to him as confusion swam in my brain.
“Danny is the guy at work who won’t give up on asking me out. We’ve talked about this. You’ve talked to my boss about it.” That was strange. Dry didn’t forget things like that.
“That’s right. My head is all over the place right now.”
Again, that was odd.
“Are you feeling okay?” I asked, looking at his profile. Everything looked like it should, but I knew from experience that the inside didn’t reflect the outside. His hand was on the wheel with his arm extended, just like he always drove.
“Yeah, just shit goin’ on. Let’s get you home.”
I felt my brows turn in. “I thought we were going to the clubhouse again tonight.” Not that I didn’t want to go home, but it was starting to not feel so homey.
“Nah. Thought we’d go to your place so you can grab some stuff, and then we can go to mine.”
This surprised me. He told me that his house was up for sale and he’d been crashing at the club. Said there was no furniture in it.
“Yours?”
“Yeah. Mine,” he replied as we pulled into my apartment complex. We pulled in the usual spot at the front door.
“My car’s at the club,” I told him something he already knew.
“You don’t need it tonight.”
Okay… The man was being a bit mysterious. I walked up to my apartment with Dryerson on my heels as I unlocked the door and walked in.
I hadn’t been here in a bit and when I flicked on the lights, the room didn’t give me the same comfort it once did. With Dryerson here, though, it helped. He felt like home.
“What do I need to take?” I asked him, setting the keys on the small table next to the kitchen.
“Whatever chicks need.”
Whatever chicks need. That was strange. I’d never heard Dryerson say ‘chicks’ in that way before. It was almost condescending, but that wasn’t Dry.
I said nothing and went to my room, searching for a bag. “You know this would’ve been easier if we would’ve stopped at the clubhouse so I could’ve got my bag.”
Finding a small two handled tote, it would have to do. I stuffed in some underwear, a top, and bottoms. I quickly stripped out of my work clothes and put on some jeans and a t-shirt.
I stopped for a moment, not hearing anything out in the living room. No television. He wasn’t asking any questions. What the heck was going on here?
The front door opened and then shut. Did he leave?
Moving out to the living room Dryerson stood there with a laptop in his hands.
“Why do you need a computer?”
“You seriously ask too many fuckin’ questions,” he snapped at me, and it felt like a knife to the heart. He’d never. Not once in the time I’d known him ever snapped at me like that. I felt the tears well in my eyes. I loved this man, and he was angry, saying mean things.
That was not what I’d ever expect from him.
“What’s wrong? Talk to me,” I pleaded, needing some answers as to why his behavior had changed.
“Nothin’s fuckin’ wrong. Just sit your ass on the couch and let me finish what I’ve gotta do,” he told me, moving to the table where I threw my keys.
I ignored his command. That was not how this relationship was going to be. “No. Talk to me.”
His sky eyes were full of menace when he stalked toward me and slapped me hard across the cheek, sending me flying to the couch. The bag fell from my hand as it reached up to hold my face.
Like a spider, I moved quickly to get as far away from him as I possibly could, crawling into a little ball at the far edge of my couch.
“Fuckin’ listen when I tell you to do somethin’,” he said, pointing his finger at me, then he turned and went back to his laptop.
Flashbacks of my childhood flooded back to me. The abuse. The helplessness. All of it twisting my insides. No. I left all of that there. I didn’t have that out here in the world.
Fear gripped me in its clutches. I’d never been afraid with Dryerson, but I was now.
Something had happened, and I had no idea how to fix it.
I just wanted to disappear like I had tried to when I was younger.
This couldn’t be our life.
27
DRYERSON
Tommy started to chuckle, but I was more concerned about the men starting to fan around me. Their stares turned to scrutiny as the seconds ticked.
“I have no fuckin’ clue what this guy is talkin’ about,” I told them.
Tommy coughed then said, “You planned this shit from the beginning. Don’t play stupid.”
“I’m not playin’ fuckin’ stupid. This guy is fuckin’ crazy,” I countered. What the fuck was going on here? Did I enter a new universe or something? And why the fuck were the men I wanted to call brothers looking at me as though I’d betrayed them?
“He’s ATF,” Tommy said, and instantly I took a step back as if the words were slashes against my face. ATF? No way in fuck.
“You checked me out. You know I’m not ATF.”
“Undercover,” Tommy said, chuckling.
“Shut the fuck up, you piece of shit.”
This only made Tommy chuckle more.
Cruz stalked up to me. We were equal in height, both Marines, but he had a lot more years on him when it came to club life. The most important thing was I knew he’d protect this club with his life. If that meant taking mine, then so be it.
My gaze did not leave his. “I didn’t plan shit. I also ain’t ATF. That motherfucker is lying.”
“Dry is not that kind of man.” Micah jumped in for me as any brother would do, but I shook my head once. He didn’t need to get brought into whatever was going on here. His father was in the inner circle of the Ravage MC. No way in fuck would I want this to tarnish his stature trying to help me.
“Fuck you,” Micah said, not listening to me, and instead turned to Cruz. “You have his entire history. Not only that, I’ve been with him for years, and the fucker never once wavered from me. He’s loyal to the marrow.”
While what he was saying was indeed nice to hear, it wasn’t the time.
“Micah. Know you’re tryin’ to help, but this isn’t the time,” I told him as Cruz’s anger pulsed off of his body.
He really thought I’d turned against the club.
He thought I would want to take everyone here down.
When did I ever give him the impression I was against anything the Ravage MC did?
When did I ever go against anything he told me to do or was told?
Why would he flip so hard on me?
“Brother,” GT said, coming to stand next to Cruz. While I was sure I could hold my own, I didn’t even want to think about trying to fight my way out of here. It would never work.
But why was it coming to that?
Cruz didn’t respond, so GT continued. “What do you want to do with him?”
Him. He used the damn word like it tasted sour coming from his mouth.
“What the fuck is going on here?” I asked the room at large. “I haven’t done shit for you to think I’d ever go against any of you. Not only that, I’ve been loyal since the day I came here. Fuck no I’m not ATF. If I was, why the fuck would I almost get blown up in a building? Why would I have killed flat out with no questions asked? Tommy is fuckin’ lyin’.”