Sage

She’s grown up. Tall and stacked is what I’d normally say, but since she’s my best friend’s daughter, I’m going with grown up. And she looks grown up. Her hands fidget at her waist as I stare her down. Almost like she’s ready to bolt. Sweat beads across the small sliver of exposed skin on her chest. I force myself to believe it’s from her time on stage and not from being in my presence, but the devil inside me wants it to be the latter.

“Wh—What are you doing here?”

She might have thought she was well hidden in this small college town, but she’s had eyes on her since the day she left Cental. And Gin was pissed when he found out his little girl was working at a strip club. It took a force of nature by the name of Grace to talk him out of riding down here to California and dragging her back home.

“It’s time for you to come home.”

“No. Absolutely not. This is my home now. I like it here, I like my job, and—” I stop her there, hand in the air.

“Your dad got shot, kid. He’s in pretty bad shape.” If the information affects her, she doesn’t let on. She blinks only once, then glances at the wall behind me before bringing her baby blues back to me, the shield of defiance I’m well acquainted with falling back into place.

“Is he going to die?” She crosses her arms over one another just to push her teenager bullshit a little further.

I shake my head. “Hope not, but still don’t know. He’s been in a coma for over a week.”

“What the hell happened?” Her voice raises just a bit, but she keeps her cool.

“Got shot.” Her eyes roll, just like they have at me in the past. Instantly, my palms spring to life, the prickling tingles blooming to the surface at the remembrance of landing them on her backside for giving me her sass—sass I had secretly come to crave.

“Obviously. But how? What the hell has the club gotten into this time?” She crosses her arms tighter, pushing her tits up. Her fake leather jacket is open just enough for me to see the outline of her nipples. Look away.

“We don’t know. It looks like it was a hit. No shots were heard, nor was there any trace of a shooter. Reek is looking into who the hell would have it out for Gin.”

When Brook was younger, and her mother was still married to Gin, they were involved in the club, but after her mother moved her and her brother away, I’m not sure how much Brook really heard. From her attitude toward me right now, I’m guessing she’s been misinformed by a woman who most likely talked bad about the father of her children.

“Well, that list is probably long. It might take him a while,” she scoffs. “I don’t understand how coming here to tell me this is going to change anything. Whether I go back or not, he’ll still be in a coma and probably die. Me being there isn’t going to change that.”

“If he dies and you aren’t there, you’ll regret it, kid.”

“Don’t call me that,” she hisses. “And you don’t know that. If he dies, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference to me.”

“Watch it. He might not have been there most of your life, but he’s still your dad,” I growl at the girl, taking a step forward and pointing a finger in her direction. She’s not fifteen anymore, but still not too old to take over my knee.

“Fine. I will go to the funeral—”

I storm over and grip the little brat by her waist, cutting her off. She lets out a screech as I toss her over the top of the desk. Things clatter to the floor, but I pay them no mind as I bring my hand down onto her ass. Her jeans do nothing to hide the sound of my palm connecting in five quick smacks, sating the sick need of my palm on her backside, ready to delve out more if needed. We both pause for a moment when I’m done, almost as if we aren’t sure what to do next. Her breaths are fast, her back rising and falling as she tries to fill her lungs again.

I back away.

“You will come with me and stop being such a brat, or I will make sure you don’t sit for a week,” I demand, quickly trying to compose myself before she eases from her position on the desk, straightening out her shirt and jacket.

“I guess some things never change,” she huffs, her face flushed and eyes slightly dilated. “Fine. I need to talk to Adrian, let him know I’ll be gone for a while.”

“No need. I already told him you won’t be working here anymore.”

“What! Oh hell no, Sage. I’m coming back here when this is all over.”

“We’ll see.” I reach out to grip her arm, but she jerks it out of my grasp and storms past me to the back exit labeled staff. I don’t hurry after her. I know where she lives.

Her little red Honda fucking Civic peels out on the asphalt, leaving black tire marks in its wake as I step through the heavy metal door.

“She seems to be cooperative,” College laughs as he shifts on his bike, getting ready to ride after her.

“She’s still a brat,” I grumble. “Hear anything?”

“Nah. Just got off the phone with Pres. No change. You tell her about Jay?”

“Keeping that piece of info for backup. Don’t want her panicking over nothing.” Jason, Gin’s son, was with him when Gin got shot and took a bullet in the shoulder. She’ll no doubt be furious when she finds out I omitted that little slice.

“Guess so.”

“Shit.” I let out a long sigh and look down at the cracked asphalt of the parking lot. “Well, let’s bring G’s daughter home.” I bring my bike to life, letting the rumble calm my frayed nerves.

It takes us only minutes to get to her place, but a little longer to get in. College waits downstairs while I go get her. The apartment is in a good building, and the security is better than I thought. After buzzing her four times without any response, I pick the lock of the door leading to the lobby, then pick the lock to the door leading to Brook.

When I step into her apartment, she’s nowhere in sight, but the moisture in the air clings to my skin and the fruity scent from the shower seeps into my lungs. Deciding not to let her know I’m here just yet, I go to her fridge and open it to find a half empty twenty-four pack of Coke and a few takeout boxes. Not much else. When I open the freezer, I find a lot of the same: nothing. Well…nothing but a bottle of vodka. Shutting the door, I open the fridge back up and snag a Coke before looking around the apartment. She doesn’t have much hanging on the walls. A clock, some ugly ass painting of some ridicules looking flower, and a calendar of a half-naked guy with a fireman’s hat on. I bypass that and look down the short hall where I’m guessing she is. I don’t hear anything, but there’s a light shining from under a closed door. I get one foot headed in that direction when knocking stops me.

My brows pull together in a scowl as I swing the door open, figuring it’s College. Definitely not him.

“Who the hell are you?” the knocker asks, trying to look past me.

“Could ask you the same,” I grunt. He tries to bypass me, but my arm flies out to stop him.

“Carey, what are you doing here?” Brook’s voice comes from behind me, but I don’t turn around. I’m too focused on the fucker in front of me. Carey. I wasn’t aware she was dating. And it annoys the fuck out of me. Even more than seeing her up on that damn stage peeling off her scraps of clothing.

“I heard your door close. Figured you were home and—”

“Now isn’t a good time,” I bark at him.

“Jesus, Sage, let him in. He isn’t going to hurt me.” She could probably hold her own against the scrawny little fucker either way. He damn near looks like skin and bones and is barely taller than her. “Sorry. I apparently have a guard dog now.” She narrows her eyes into slits at me. Her wet hair hangs down to her waist, draping over a tank top and shorts that could pass as underwear. Christ.

“I see.” The guy looks me over, then turns back to Brook. “So, I was—”

“Do you have a bag packed yet? We need to get goin’,” I say, not giving a shit about interrupting his pitiful attempt at asking her out. Probably not for the first time either.

“Now? Seriously? It’s two o’clock in the morning. I just got off my shift and I’m tired,” she complains.

“Don’t matter what time it is. We need to hit the road. Pack light. I can’t fit much on my bike.”

“Oh hell no! I’m not going all that way on your bike. And I’m sure as hell not leaving my car here.”

“College can stay behind and get your car squared away.”

“College?” the scrawny fucker asks.

“You’re still here?” I look over at him, raising an eyebrow. “Take a hike.”

“Oh my god! Sage, Carey is my friend. Don’t talk to him like that,” she snaps at me. “Carey, you can go. Call you later?” She offers him a smile, and I grind my teeth to keep myself from reacting.

“Yeah. No problem.” He looks me over one more time before reluctantly backing out of the apartment. I swing the door shut without hesitation and hear him shuffle on the other side to keep from being hit.

Turning back to face her, she has her arms crossed in a defiant pose—one I’ve seen so many damn times. “I’m not going,” she says, and I only let out a laugh in response. Stalking forward, I pass her with a brush of my arm, go right for her room, and start pulling clothes out from her drawers and tossing them onto the bed, ignoring her shrieks and demands for me to stop.

“You are being an unreasonable asshole!” she yells out as I get to the third drawer. I have thrown out mostly skimpy articles of clothing that wouldn’t even dress one of those tiny ass dogs women carry around in their purses. What the hell does she wear to cover herself?

“Don’t you have any fucking clothes?”

“Those are clothes.”

“This?” I hold up a small strip of denim with a button attached to it and laugh. “You wear this at home, you’ll freeze your ass cheeks off. You know why? Because they won’t be covered!”

“Oh, give me a break. Like the girls you screw have on any more than that.”

“Not while I’m screwing them, no.”

“Everything okay in here?” College interrupts, stopping me from throttling the girl’s ass for a second time tonight.

“Just fabulous. Can you tell him I’m not going?” She directs her pleading eyes to College, as if it will work in her favor. He’s on the same orders I am. Bring Brook home.

“Brook, I know you don’t want to go back, but maybe if you talked to someone, it might change your mind.” College holds out his hand, offering Brook his phone.

Reluctantly, she takes it and puts it to her ear. “Hello?”