Stone’s expression switched from miffed to incredulous in the time it took for him to blink. “She’s talkin’ to me.”
“She let you home yet?” Tripp asked, the tug of a half smile twisting his lips.
“As a matter of fact, yes.”
Addy allowing her husband to come back home explained why he didn’t look as pissy as he had the past couple days.
“Good, ’cause we need the room.” Marek pointed to the three Laredo guys. He then grabbed the gavel and raised it in the air. “If there’s not anything else.” He looked around the room, but no one said a word. The crash of the wooden hammer erupted, releasing everyone from the meeting.
After I grabbed my phone from the outside table, I flicked it open to see if I had any missed calls or messages from Chelsea, and as I’d suspected… nothing.
“You okay?” Linc sidled up next to me and slapped me on the back.
“I guess we’ll see,” I mumbled, already thinking about our upcoming encounter. She asked if I was really gonna come by her place at three forty-eight in the morning to get my answer. If I did, I risked the chance Chelsea would be dead to the world, figuring I’d show up at a more decent time. But depending on how much I mentally tortured myself over the possibilities of her acceptance or rejection, the outcome would steer my decision on whether to stick to the strict twenty-four hours I initially gave her.
“I’m sure this has something to do with a certain blonde, am I right?”
“When doesn’t it?” I shook my head. “I told her to make up her mind. Either she wants to be my woman, or she doesn’t. Simple as that.”
“Is it?”
“Is it what?”
“Is it that simple?” he asked. “When it comes to you two, simple isn’t the word I’d choose.” His smile fell flat when he saw my irritation.
“I can’t do this back-and-forth with her anymore. If she doesn’t wanna be with me, then I’ll find someone who will.”
“Did she give you an answer yet?”
I glanced at my watch. “She has just under nine hours.”
“You timin’ it?”
“You’re damn right. I’ve wasted enough time wondering.” I shifted my feet, wanting to talk more about my dilemma but also wanting to forget. “How is that?” I pointed toward the mark on the side of his face, his reminder of how close he came to dying just a short time ago.
“It’s fine. I forget it’s there sometimes, but I do play it up with Maddie to get some extra lovin’.” His laughter was stolen when his woman approached, looking between the two of us, probably wondering what was so funny. How he found her was by no means ideal, but he was lucky he had Maddie. “Hey,” he greeted, pulling her into his side. “I was just on my way to get you.”
“Hi, Ace.” She beamed up at me, her hair piled on top of her head in some sort of messy bun. She was such a tiny thing. The both of us towered over her small frame.
“How ya doin’, Maddie?”
“Good.” She’d come out of her shell in the time she’d been with us, but there were moments, like this, when she reverted into a bout of shyness.
“You’re puttin’ on some weight. Looks good on ya, sweetheart.” I needed something to distract me and it appeared I’d just found it. Maddie looked down at herself before meeting my eyes again.
“I eat all the time now.” She laughed, cuddling closer to Linc, whose arm tightened possessively around her.
“First off, stop lookin’ at my woman. And second, don’t call her sweetheart.” Linc’s jaw muscle twitched and his eyes narrowed, but his features softened when he glanced back at Maddie. “You ready?”
“Where you two goin’?” I wasn’t ready to be left alone with my thoughts right now.
“I’m takin’ her to Kaden’s for the night. The guys need the space,” he answered.
“Speaking of,” Maddie chimed in, “can you grab my things from the room? A guy with a ponytail just walked in there and I don’t know him.”
“Was he younger or older?” I looked toward the hallway.
“Older.”
“Nash,” Linc uttered.
“You sure you want to stay at Kaden’s, man? Your sister is movin’ in there, and I don’t have to tell you what they’ll probably be doin’ to celebrate.” I wiggled my brows which got a laugh out of Maddie but a groan from Linc.
“Don’t.” He closed his eyes for several seconds. “Just don’t. And when the hell did this happen?”
“Earlier today when we stopped by the salon. She told him. Well, Chels blurted it out before she could tell him.”
“They’ll have to keep their hands to themselves for the night.” Meeting my eyes, he said, “Can I leave her with you or are you gonna hit on her?” His question was serious but riddled with sarcasm.
“Depends on how long you take?”
Again, Maddie laughed, but instead of coming back with another retort, Linc walked away to gather her belongings. And since she didn’t have much, he’d be back in no time, then they’d take off, leaving me to amuse myself until I had to go see Chelsea.
Rubbing Maddie’s upper arm in a show of genuine concern, I asked, “How are you doin’ with everything?” Linc had explained her reaction to Pike showing up here and how much she didn’t want anyone to hurt him, even though he was the sole reason she’d gone through what she had at the hands of his club.
“I’m okay. I just wish…” She looked down, pulling her eyes from mine. “I don’t know. That things had turned out different.” I didn’t need to ask what she meant.
“We didn’t do anything to him, you know that, right?”
She nodded, exhaling slowly before finally picking her head back up. “Linc told me.”
I was about to ask her what exactly he’d said to her when he walked back toward us, slinging his arm over her shoulder, and kissing her temple. “He’s not botherin’ you, is he?”
“Of course not.” Maddie smiled up at me. “I always enjoy talking to Ace.”
“That’s because you don’t know him that well yet.” She lightly smacked his stomach in my defense, which I appreciated, even though he was just joking. At least, I hoped he was. I had been a pain in the ass with my grumblings about Chelsea every now and again, but if that was the worst anyone could say about me, then that wasn’t too bad.
My buddy winked at me before whisking his woman away, and I was left feeling annoyed that I didn’t know where I stood with Chelsea yet.
11
“Then he gave me an ultimatum.” I needed to talk to Riley, and even though I’d been closed off with her about Ace, passing off my attraction to him as purely sexual and nothing more, she saw through my façade.
“All because you wanted him to wear a condom?”
“That’s what I said.” A half-hearted laugh escaped on a rushed puff of air, my mind whirling between wanting to divulge every thought and emotion I held toward Ace and wanting to skip over a lot of it. It wasn’t because I didn’t trust Riley. The opposite was true. I trusted her with my life, and I knew she’d keep whatever we said between us, but I was the one who was conflicted. How could I explain anything to my bestie I didn’t quite have a handle on myself?