The first guy scowled and crossed his arms. “Round back, last I saw him.”
“Thank you,” I said and headed for the door of the warehouse.
“I’d go around the side,” the second guy said. “Shit’s getting wild in there.”
I smiled my thanks and we hustled around the side of the building to the back.
“Whoa,” Addie said beside me.
Whoa indeed.
The party was in full swing back here. There were rough-looking bikers everywhere. Topless girls dancing. People making out…doing a lot more than that.
“No wonder Grifter didn’t tell you about it,” Trix muttered.
Honestly, I wanted to run the other way. This was even worse than what I’d seen at his house all those months ago.
“Hey, honey,” some older guy with a scraggly beard said.
That’s when I spotted Jesse. He stood on the other side of the bonfire. He was holding a bottle of beer and talking to a couple of guys. He was in low-slung jeans, his leather cut, with nothing on underneath despite the cold, showing off all that muscled, tattooed skin. There were girls dancing almost on top of him. But Jesse didn’t seem to notice, deep in conversation.
His gaze lifted at that moment and somehow came straight to me. His entire body rocked back—then he was on the move, striding around the bonfire toward me.
The older biker grabbed my arm. “Hey, I’m talking to you.”
Jesse planted a hand in the guy’s chest and shoved him off. “She’s taken.”
The guy stumbled back. I’d barely noticed him. I’d only seen Jesse.
“What the fuck are you doing here, Lila?” His gaze bored into mine before dipping, taking in what I was wearing. His nostrils flared.
“You lied about tonight,” I said. “And I know you’ve been avoiding me.”
His green gaze was hard. “I had stuff to deal with.”
“Okay, so why didn’t you just tell me that instead of lying to me?”
His jaw clenched. “Let’s go, and we’ll talk.”
“Was it so you could hook up with one of those girls?”
His head jerked back and he looked around, like he hadn’t even realized there were girls with their boobs out dancing around them. “What? No,” he choked out. “Of course not.”
“Are you embarrassed of me…”
“Christ, Lila, no.”
“You want to leave?” Trix said, moving closer to me.
Jesse looked at her, then to Addie, only now realizing I had my friends with me. “You two need to leave,” he bit out. “I can take care of Lila, but you shouldn’t be here,” he said to my friends. “Grinder,” he called to a guy close by. “Walk these girls to their car. Anything happens to them, I’m holding you personally responsible.”
Grinder moved in and started herding my friends away.
“Now hang on a minute,” Addie said as Trixie tried to break away.
Jesse shook his head, looking harder than I’ve ever seen him. “Lila’s staying, you two are leaving.”
Trix looked ready to do battle and Addie was right behind her. Shit. “I’m okay,” I said to my friends. I wasn’t one hundred percent sure I was yet, but they weren’t going to back down and neither was Jesse, unless I said something. “I’m with Jesse, I’ll be fine.”
Trix narrowed her eyes. “Are you sure?”
Jesse growled, cursing under his breath, and his hard gaze cut to Grinder. “Take them to their car.”
I nodded to Trix and did my best to give Addie a reassuring smile.
“Call us if you need us,” Addie said.
“And if not, I still expect a call in the morning, okay?” Trix said.
I nodded.
Then they let the big biker herd them back the way we’d come.
Jesse looked down at me. “We need to have a conversation, Bambi.”
“Yes, we do.” My hand lifted to his cheek before I could stop myself, tracing the multicolored bruise there. “What happened to your face?”
He covered my hand, pulling it away, and threaded his fingers with mine. “Nothing. Took a hit during training.”
“Grifter!” Two girls came running up to him, both topless, boobs out for all to see. They stopped beside us and grinned up at him. To his credit, Jesse looked unmoved and uninterested, in fact his gaze was downright cold.
“Busy,” he said dismissively.
They both turned, eyeing me from head to toe. I had my wavy hair down and a little tousled, and I’d gone heavy with the eye makeup. I’d worn my contacts to show it off. It was cold, though, so yes, I’d tried to dress provocatively, but I wasn’t willing to die of hypothermia to impress anyone. My jean skirt was tight and short and my tight, long-sleeved red shirt was low-cut. But I was also wearing a cute little jacket, because again, it was cold.
Still, I looked like a nun compared to the other girls here. Suddenly, I was extremely self-conscious. Jesse's fingers tightened around mine, then he was leading me across the yard to one of the small outbuildings with a porch and couch on it.
“Sit there,” he muttered and disappeared inside.
Jesse was different here with his club. Harder. Colder.
I bit my lip, my belly squirming.
He was back a few moments later with a quilt.
I screwed up my face when he went to put it on me. “No, thank you. God knows what’s on there.”
He threw it on me. “It’s mine. No one’s touched it but me.”
“Yours?”
He shrugged. “This is my room when I crash at the clubhouse.”
“Why? You already have a house.”
He sat down beside me and tugged me onto his lap, pulling the quilt over us. “Because I earned it.”
I tried to wriggle away, my anger still strong. “How?”
He scowled and tugged me back. “Stop trying to change the fucking subject.”
The anger I’d been working to suppress exploded, and I pushed at him, struggling to get off his lap. He held on tight.
I shoved at his chest. “Don’t you dare get pissy at me. I have every right to come here and ask my boyfriend why he chose to avoid me and lie about what he was doing.”
“Pissy?”
“Yes, pissy.”
“Boyfriend?”
I flushed hot. “I ah, I mean, I just…”
“I’m not your boyfriend, Lila.”
Pain lanced through me and I struggled again to get away.
He cupped my chin firmly but gently and made me look at him. “We’re not in high school. I’m not your boyfriend, I’m your man.”
My heart beat harder at the green flames in his eyes. “And are you just mine, or everyone else’s as well?” I rasped.
His nostrils flared. “That’s what you thought was going on? What I was doing here tonight? The conclusion you immediately leaped to?”
I refused to look away. “It’s an obvious conclusion to leap to.”
I didn’t think his eyes could get any colder. I was wrong. “Why?”
I opened my mouth, closed it. I’m not sure why I assumed he’d cheat on me. I guess I didn’t have very high expectations when it came to men. My ex had made me feel worthless, like there was something wrong with me. And in the end, I’d driven him away.