Fucking Rhett.

If I didn’t know he was madly in love with Monroe, I’d think he has a thing for Claire. I know he’s just looking out for her, but I’m his brother. What does he think I’m going to do? Hurt her? I saved her life, for God’s sake.

I stride across the floor, shouldering my way through the crowd at the bar and shrugging off a few grabby hands along the way. There’s a small line of women outside of the bathroom, and lucky for me, Shayla is at the front.

Her eyes shine with delight when I walk up. “How many women are in there?” I ask.

“Two, they went in together.” She glances over my shoulder at the line behind her and whispers, “Come in with me, and I’ll give you a sample of what you’re missing out on tonight.”

There’s a reason the men around the firehouse call her Shameless Shayla. She’ll do whatever, whenever, wherever, and she doesn’t care who’s watching or listening.

Just then the door opens, and two women who aren’t Claire stumble out. “Hold that thought.” I push the door open and walk into the ladies’ restroom.

“Claire?” There are two stalls. Both appear to be empty, but I push the doors open for good measure and then slip back out.

Where did she go?

I scan the hallway, the bodies along the bar, all of the tables, and the pool room, and when I come up empty, I decide to check Coop’s office—although I highly doubt she’s there. When I don’t find her there either, I walk back to my table.

“She’s not in the bathroom,” I say, looming over Mo.

Her eyes widen. “You went into the women’s bathroom looking for Claire?”

I nod curtly.

“Do I want to know why?” she asks, pulling out her phone.

“Probably not.”

Rhett frowns, so does Coop.

“Shit.” Mo types out a quick message on her phone and tosses it in her purse. “She left.”

The hair on the back of my neck stands up. “What do you mean she left? Why would she just up and leave?”

“Because she isn’t herself. I shouldn’t have pushed her to come out tonight. That damn fire messed with her head, and she hasn’t been right since.” She tosses a few bills on the table to cover her tab. Coop tosses the money back, and Mo rolls her eyes. “I’ve got to go after her.”

“Maybe you should let Trevor go,” Adley suggests.

“What?” I pull a face, looking at Adley and then Mo.

I expect Mo to cut the idea down, but she doesn’t. Instead she sets her purse on the floor beside her seat and leans back.

“Why should I go talk to her?”

I’m pretty sure I’m the last person she wants to see right now, but I can’t tell them that.

“Well, for one, you were there that evening, so you can relate to what she went through. Maybe you can get her to open up and talk. Mo sure as hell hasn’t been able to,” Adley says, reaching for her purse. “And she has a thing for you, so…” She doesn’t finish her sentence, just shrugs and looks down.

“You’re full of shit. She doesn’t have a thing for me.”

Mo laughs, and then her face sobers. “You’re joking, right?”

Hell yes, I’m joking. I know she has a thing for me. Or had a thing for me. But they don’t know that, and unless I want to get into a bar brawl with my brothers, I have to play dumb.

“Come on, bro. You’re not stupid. You have more hose honeys than I’ve got buckle bunnies—oomph.’” Rhett grunts when Mo elbows him in the chest.

“You’ve only got one buckle bunny, and that’s me. And if you ever refer to me as a buckle bunny, I’ll shove my Ariat up your ass,” she warns.

Rhett grins as though she just challenged him rather than threatened. “Two can play at that game, sweetheart. Only it won’t be a boot I’ll be shoving up your ass.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Are they like this all the time?” I ask the rest of the table.

Linc pops a fry into his mouth. “Pretty much. You’ll get used to it after a while.”

“No, you won’t,” Coop says. “But as much as I hate to admit it, I agree with Adley. You should go talk to her.”

“Funny, because if I remember correctly, you and Rhett were the ones keeping this information about Claire from me in the first place.” Not that it’s any of my business—I lost that privilege—but I want it to be. “In fact, you’ve been acting all protective and shit over her for years.”

Coop shrugs. “That’s because we don’t want you to hurt her.”

“Hurt her? Why on Earth would I hurt her?”

“Because Claire is relationship material, and you’re not,” Coop says. “On top of that, you’re our brother, and she’s one of our best friends. If something happened between the two of you, we’d be forced to kick your ass and then choose sides.”

“And we really don’t want to have to kick your ass,” Rhett adds.

“I’d never intentionally hurt Claire.” No truer words have ever come from my mouth.

Coop nods. “You better not.”

Mo smiles.

“Good,” Rhett says. “Now go after her, and keep your dick in your pants.”

“Or not. Just remember to talk first and then hanky panky.” Mo’s eyes widen when Rhett elbows her in the side. “What? Claire could use some action, and even though Trevor is a player, I don’t think he’s the worst choice for a one-nighter.”

“I’m not a player.”

“I don’t think he’s the worst choice either,” Rhett says, ignoring me. “But that doesn’t mean we should encourage them. He’s my little brother, and she’s your best friend, and you know damn well if one of them fucks the other over, it’s going to be Trevor.”

“I’m standing right here.”

Adley pulls a nail file from her purse and looks up at me. “Save your breath. This is some sort of weird foreplay for Rhett and Mo. They bicker until they get all worked up, and then they’ll have crazy monkey sex and work it out. It’s really quite disgusting. Want my opinion?”

“Not really.”

She shrugs. “I’ll give it to you anyway. Claire likes you, and you like her. Something happened between you two, but I’m not sure what it is because she wouldn’t tell me.”

I open my mouth, wanting to ask Adley when she and Claire talked, but she continues.

“But that doesn’t matter. What matters is that she’s hurting, and maybe you can help, so you need to put whatever happened between you two aside and go after her.”

Damn, she’s good.

Putting Claire’s feelings aside will be nearly impossible, because I’m not sure she still has said feelings. I wish things were different between us, and if we were different people in a different universe, they might be.

But that doesn’t change the fact that what Adley is saying is true. I can relate to Claire, and if she’ll forgive me for being an ass at the hospital, maybe I can get close enough to her to figure out what’s going on and help her through it.

But then I have to walk away. I absolutely cannot get sucked into the vortex.

“Trevor?”

I blink and look at Mo. “Yeah?”

“You’re wasting time.”

“Right.”

I rush out of Dirty Dicks, jump in my truck, and peel out of the parking lot. I take a left, knowing it’s the quickest way to Claire’s house, and not even half a mile down the road, I see the silhouette of a woman.

What the fuck? She walked?

Heaven isn’t a dangerous town, but it’s dark out, and this is a busy road, and what was she thinking? I know this isn’t the best way to approach an upset woman, but I’m pissed. Pulling alongside Claire, I roll the window down.

“Get in the truck.”

She startles at the sound of my voice. Hand covering her heart, she stops and takes a breath. “You scared me.”

“The feeling is mutual. What are you doing walking down this road at night? It’s dangerous.”

She rolls her eyes. It’s not a gesture I’m fond of, but somehow Claire makes it look sexy. “It’s not dangerous.”

“Bullshit. I barely saw you. You could’ve gotten hit—or worse yet, kidnapped.”

Claire ignores me and keeps walking. “Go away, Trevor. I want to be alone.”

I inch the truck along the road, checking my rearview mirror every few seconds to make sure no one is flying up on us.

“At least let me take you home.”

“No.”

Damn stubborn woman. I take my hat off and flip it around. “Get in the truck, Claire, or so help me God, I will chase you down and toss you in here myself. And make no mistake about it, if you push me that far, I will spank your ass.”

She stops, her breath hitches, and when she looks at me, I can tell she’s wondering if I would actually do that.

The heated look in her eye pulls the seductive words from my mouth before I have a chance to stop them. “You’d probably like that, though, wouldn’t you, sweet Claire?”

“In your dreams.”

Hell yeah, in my dreams. That’s what I want to say, but I’ve got to get a grip on this wild feeling that runs through me when I’m around her.

“Damn it, Red, just get in the truck.”

“Go home, Trevor.”

Her voice is lifeless, and although I can’t see her eyes because it’s dark and now she won’t look at me, I imagine they’re the same.

Screw this.

Rolling up the window, I step on the gas and fly past her.