CHAPTER NINE
___
LIZ
WE STOPPED AT a diner for a late lunch after shopping. Angela and Ashley took off to the bathroom, and Jenna scooted closer, so only I would hear her.
“What’s the deal with this Angela chick? And what happened to you last night? You went home with one of the club members, right?”
“Ugh, Jenna. I’m in a mess. I went home with Jake Castle.”
“Oh my God! I saw him! He’s really hot. So, did ya?” She elbowed my side and winked.
“No, we got interrupted… by her.” I pointed toward Angela’s vacant seat.
“What do you mean?” Jenna’s brows pinched inward.
“She’s his ex-girlfriend, I think. Or ex fuck-buddy. I don’t know. Either way, there was something between them. She needed his help last night, so he took off in the middle of the night to help her, but asked me to stay and wait for him.”
“And you did?”
I nodded.
“Why?”
“I don’t know. It seemed important to him I be there when he got back. He says whatever was between them is in the past. He called her a friend, a friend who needed his help. Nix lost it when he found out I stayed the night with Jake. They got in a fight about it this morning. There’s something going on between them that neither one is telling me.”
“Well, I don’t like this chick. She seems like trouble.”
“You sure it’s not a little competition jealousy?” I flicked one of her loose, red curls. “Nix likes redheads.”
“I know.” The corner of Jenna’s mouth twisted. “I want him to like this redhead, not that redhead,” she pointed toward Angela coming out of the bathroom, but low enough Angela couldn’t see.
“When we get back to my house, I’ll talk to Nix and figure out where to take her. She must have family or a friend somewhere.”
“Nix said the members are going to be hanging out at the club again tonight. You mind if we go?”
“Of course, we can.” A smirk lifted my lips as I glanced at Jenna and winked. “I can tell how much you like him. I’ll do what I can to help.”
“Love you, sister.” Jenna leaned over and kissed my cheek.
After the waitress took our order, Jenna set her eyes on Angela.
“So, where you from?”
Angela’s eyes studied Jenna with displeasure before catching my gaze and changing her expression. “I’m from Jersey.”
“How’d you end up in Nashville?”
“Followed an ex-boyfriend.”
It was obvious Angela didn’t want to play Jenna’s twenty questions game, but she kept catching my watchful eye and answering each one.
“How’d you meet the Kings?” Ashley asked, chiming in.
“My ex was prospecting for them for a while before he left town,” Angela’s tone softened when responding to Ashley.
“That’s how you met Jake?” I asked, swallowing the lump in my throat.
Angela glanced at me and gave me a half-smile as she nodded. Thankfully, the waitress brought our plates and ended the awkward tension.
Jenna and Ashley rattled off a few more questions, and I noticed the more they tried to dig, the more uncomfortable Angela got. She avoided any conversation about Jake or the Kings. I assumed it was to make things less awkward for me. After lunch, everyone piled into my Camaro and I dropped Jenna and Ashley off at Jenna’s.
“I’ll see you both tonight. Stop by my house. We can walk over together.”
Once the both of them were out of the car, Angela and I rode in uncomfortable silence for several minutes before she spoke up.
“Your friends are nice.” Her unenthusiastic tone told me they weren’t her kind of friends.
“They are nice friends, but I could tell you weren’t comfortable. I’m getting the impression you like to live on the edge. My first hint was you were dating an asshole, then the clothes, then trying hard to bite your tongue all day. You can be real with me. I’ll respect you more if you are.”
“I like the no bullshit directness,” Angela let out a humored breath. “You’re my kinda girl, Liz, but buttercup and dandelion are a little too sweet for me. I don’t hang with chicks often. I’m a run-on-my-own kinda girl.”
Finally, the real Angela was coming out, the spitfire I knew was bubbling under the surface, anxiously awaiting freedom.
“You seem street smart. How’d you end up with the asshole who marked up your face?”
“Same as you.” Her smoky, shadow-covered eyes slanted at me. “I like ‘em tall, tatted, and rough around the edges.”
Hearing the words escape her lips like that had sirens going off inside my head. I didn’t trust this woman at all. She may have been the battered victim last night, but how much of the tears were to get a reaction out of Jake? The woman I’d spent the day with today wasn’t showing any residual effects of trauma. She seemed all too calm, cool, and collected. My curiosity about what happened between her and the boyfriend who hit her was eating at me, gnawing sharp little teeth right into my chest, but personal topics were clearly off the table between us.
“Any plans of where you’re headed next?”
“I was thinking of sticking around for a while, spending some time with the Kings.” A sly grin raised her lips.
With my stomach twisted into a knot, I turned into the driveway of our house. Nix’s and Jake’s bikes were parked side-by-side in the driveway.
When I approached the door, I heard them arguing. I walked in and they both went silent. Their eyes drifted back and forth between me and Angela.
“You two are still fighting? I thought you would have worked it out by now?” Irritated, I shifted my weight on my right heel and crossed my arms.
“You been with her all day?” Nix asked.
“Yeah.” I glanced at Angela who seemed amused.
Jake’s heavy feet pounded the floor right toward me. The swelling on his upper lip had gone down, but Nix had added a bruise across his jaw.
“Come on, Peach. We’re leaving.”
Nix’s face was flushed and his eyes were stabbing darts into Jake’s back. Their fight had left him with battle wounds too. He had a gash on his cheek, the surrounding skin still red and puffy.
“Don’t go with him, Liz. We need to talk.”
Jake took my hand and pulled me toward the door. I dug my feet into the floor and stopped him.
“I’m not going anywhere until one of you starts telling me what the hell is going on.”
I looked from Jake to Nix to Angela who was leaning casually against the wall with an expression of levity I found odd.
“If I’d known, I wouldn’t have let you leave with Angela.” Nix stepped forward and ran his hand through his hair. “She’s not someone I want you around.”
“We need to go.” Jake’s arm wrapped around me.
Nervous tension built in my chest. I ignored him and returned my gaze to Nix.
“Why wouldn’t you want me around her?”
“She used to be my girl until I walked in on Jake fucking her.”
I slid out of Jake’s arm and stepped away from him as anger swarmed in my gut. My eyes went to Jake first and his expression deadpanned, he wouldn’t even look me in the eye. I looked at Angela and she shrugged her shoulder, as if to say, it is what it is.
“Get out. Take Angela with you.”
Jake lifted his hat and rubbed the back of his head. “Fuck, listen to me, Peach.”
“Get out!”
Jake glanced at Angela and nodded his head toward the door. She followed behind him.
I closed the door once they were out and glared at Nix.
“Next time you better damn well tell me what I need to know before I go and develop feelings.” I stormed past him to the stairs.
“Liz!” The sound of heavy boots followed me up the steps. “I’m sorry. Liz!”
I stopped just inside my door. He stood on the outside with his hand on the door, keeping me from slamming it in his face.
“Had I known she was back, I would have told you. I never expected to see her again. She took off after the breakup, and I haven’t seen her since.”
“Why didn’t you kick him out of the club? He broke one of the biggest codes and your trust.”
“If I kicked him out, I would have to tell everyone why I was bringing it to vote. I’d have to admit that a brother was sleeping with my girl without me knowing. How does that make me look, as the President, to not know my own woman is cheating behind my back?”
I opened the door wider.
“You understand why I didn’t tell you now?” Nix gave me his bright, green, puppy dog eyes. “I was tore up about the whole situation. At least with her gone, Jake and I were able to be civil until he decided he wanted to seduce you too. That crossed the line for me. I blew up. I’m sorry I involved you like that. I did warn you about Jake, but you didn’t listen.”
“I thought I saw something in him, but clearly, I was wrong.”