Sex is where Glitch and I excel. Fucking him is like riding a stallion while eating lobster and drinking a fine wine. I can’t find a single flaw on his body, and I’ve savored every inch. He’s perfection in bed—where thinking means nothing and feeling is all that matters.

Then we wake up and endure a conversation. I want to blame Glitch for our inability to connect, but I barely survived a conversation with Anise last night at dinner without punching her in the face. Not that she wasn’t annoying as shit even before she decided to run down a mouthy pimp.

No, I just didn’t want to open up and share my feelings. She talked about having kids, and I wonder if I should have one. She talks about finding a man, and I wonder why I can’t connect with the one I have. She talks crew business, and I wonder why I’m only happy when I’m pounding on a troublemaker. Why can’t I enjoy the small joys in life like Ginger? Even permanently fucked-up Yarrow found love. What the hell is wrong with me?

“Let me tell you something about that pretty hair of yours,” I mumble while Glitch and I sit at breakfast surrounded by people in business suits. “Your tiger mane might make people think you’re a sissy bitch, but don’t you dare cut it.”

“Why?” he asks while absented-mindedly reaching for his head.

“That’s great hair, for one thing. And for another, nothing makes a man weaker than giving up what he wants to impress other men,” I say and sip my coffee. “Can you imagine a man like Oz changing his appearance to impress Joker? No fucking way. Joker doesn’t worry how you view him either. Men with power don’t bow to other men with power.”

“Is that why you’re so sexy?” he asks without an ounce of flirtation. “You know your beauty won’t stop you from getting respect.”

“I’m sexy because I know no other way,” I say with a straight face for all of ten seconds before laughing. “My mother was an attractive woman. Very natural too. Didn’t need fancy makeup or clothes to be beautiful. I wish I took after her more.”

For years, I nearly forgot my parents existed as if I’d been spawned by the universe with no past to hold me back. Lately, though, my mother pops in my head too often.

“What was her name?”

“Elaine,” I say, seeing her face so clear in my mind that I nearly reach out to touch it. “I never knew her middle name.”

Glitch drinks his coffee for nearly a minute before reaching across the small, round table to caress my cheek. Only then do I realize I’m crying.

“What the fuck?” I grumble loud enough to gain the attention of a lady suit at the next table. I catch her annoyed gaze and hold it. “Turn your busy-body ass around and mind your own fucking business.”

The woman shifts in her seat, shooting me a dirty look before her back faces me. I smile at her irritation, but I’m only distracting from my unexpected tears.

“I don’t know why I’m such a wimp today. I wonder if Anise slipped me something last night.”

“It’s the weather,” Glitch says, leaning back in the plastic chair before realizing it won’t hold him. “Seasonal disinfectant disorder or something.”

“Disinfectant?”

“I said ‘or something.’ Oz’s mom gets depressed during winter because of the constant gray skies and cold weather. It makes her think of her childhood in Hawaii. That’s probably what you have.”

Studying Glitch, I finish my coffee before standing. “That’s smart, and you’re probably right. I guess that means I’ll be a wimp for another few months since that stupid rat said winter would be six extra weeks.”

“Groundhog,” he corrects. “Like the movie.”

“Anything with those teeth is a rat to me.”

Glitch thrusts out his front teeth and does a spot-on impression of a rat. I’m both impressed and grossed out.

“Don’t make that face during sex. It’ll kill my groove.”

“Fine, but only if you stop saying ‘lickety-split’ whenever you want oral.”

“Can I still snap and point?” I ask, laughing at his expression.

“Sure, but I wouldn’t mind more begging if you want me to go down on you,” he says while dumping his trash and heading back to the room.

I follow him, still laughing. “You mean like how you beg?”

“Yeah, just like that.”

“Should I pout like you do when I say no?”

Glitch fights a smile until we’re in the room and I keep poking at his gut. “Huh? Well?”

Grinning at me, he pokes me in the cans. “What’s the plan for today?”

“What did Oz say about the fire starter joining your club?”

Glitch runs his fingers through his thick hair, and I wonder if he’s flirting. I can never tell with him and that hair.

“Oz says that guy can come down and hang out, but we won’t agree to patch in a stranger.”

“I wonder if this flamethrower guy is hot,” I say and climb into bed. “Man, I’m tired. Do you think my fatigue is related to my disinfectant problem?” I ask, snickering.

“Why would you care if he’s hot?”

I rest on my stomach with my head on the pillows. Sleeping all day would feel great and then I could run the streets with Anise tonight before leaving for Rawlins tomorrow. A solid plan if I’ve ever heard one.

“Clove, I asked you a question.”

Peeking back at him, I wave my booted feet in the air. “Will you take them off so I can nap?”

“No.”

“Look, I never said we’d be together forever. I might want to fuck this new guy. Well, assuming he doesn’t want to do anything weird with fire. I tried that wax thing once and it fucking hurts.”

Glitch’s jaw twitches wildly until I laugh. “I was thinking about Firestarter and Cayenne. She could use a good hard fuck to clean away the cobwebs in her cave.”

“He’s a convict, and Cayenne has a kid.”

“Cayenne’s a criminal too, and she needs a big dick, not a husband. I don’t think she’d know what to do with one anyway,” I say and then stretch out my leg to tap Glitch in the thigh. “Now that your jealousy is out of the way, will you pretty please take off my boots?”

Glitch yanks them off without saying a word. The stick up his ass from earlier remains shoved deep even after he climbs into bed next to me.

“No, thank you,” I say when he runs his fingers up my back.

“Can’t I be affectionate without it leading to fucking?”

“I don’t know. Can you?” I ask, keeping my eyes closed. “Tonight, we’ll hit up Suede and be seen by Joker’s boys. Then we might cause trouble. I haven’t chased anyone down on my Harley in a while. Could be fun.”

“Are you asking me to join you or are you ordering me?”

“Ordering you,” I mumble and smile as sleep pulls at me. “Did you see that bitch’s face when I cussed in the breakfast room? People are so easily riled up. They should be chill like us.”

I think Glitch laughs at my comment. Or maybe I dream he does. After a long night of fucking and a morning of emotional bullshit, I’m ready to sleep until the gray day is over and a night full of trouble awaits us.