Cole (The Ride Series) (10 page)

I laughed at his possessive hold.
“Well ok then,” I said and grinned, looking down and kissing him.

He gave me a crooked grin in return
and squeezed my neck in that gesture I had come to love.

The backyard was plain. It had a large
concrete patio and some simple landscaping bordering it. The whole yard was
enclosed by a high fence that provided a sense of privacy, but it obviously did
nothing for the noise of the rowdy crowd. I assumed that if he had these get-togethers
often, either his neighbors hated him or they had some sort of understanding.

A cute brunette with curly hair
approached almost immediately. If it weren’t for her welcoming smile I’d worry
that she was one of Cole’s past flings.

“Hi, Scarlet, I’m
Ettie
,”
she said and grinned.

I gasped and smiled back. “So you
do
exist,” I said as I laughed.

“So how much credit should I take for
you two getting together?” she teased Cole. I liked her immediately.

Cole chuckled as a tall, heavy set guy
with a buzz cut came out to join us.

“I’m Mack,
Ettie’s
man,” he introduced, holding out a hand.

“Nice to meet you,” I said and shook
his hand as I marveled that such a petite woman seemed to fit so well with this
huge man. But they clearly adored each other. It was apparent within two
minutes of seeing them together. Mack promptly put an arm around his girl and
kissed her temple sweetly.

“Need a beer
darlin
’?”
he asked.

“I’m good for now,” she said as she
smiled, her eyes alight.

“How long have you two been together?”
I asked as the guys started talking shop.

“Five years,” she told me.

“Wow with how smitten you two seem I
would think it would have been mere months,” I said with a laugh.

“We’re lucky,” she said. “Though I’ll
tell you, all these guys, they get a girl and that’s it, or so it would seem,”
she added.

I tilted my head, beyond interested in
what she was saying.

“They play the field and fuck anything
that walks, but once they settle, they
settle
,”
she said with a wink.

“Has Cole, um settled before to your
knowledge?” I asked.

She shook her head. “You’re the talk
of the town,” she replied.

I wasn’t quite sure how to feel about
that. Cole pulled me back down on his lap and I focused on finishing my beer
instead.

“Scar, there you are!” Kat exclaimed,
finding us outside. “Can I steal her for a bit Cole?” she asked.

He nodded, “I suppose. Don’t get into
any trouble,” he said, kissing me solidly.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I said,
winking at him.

Kat took my hand and led me back into
the house where we got another beer.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“Sal is being weird,” she muttered.

“Weird?” I asked as she pulled me to
the relatively empty living room and onto the couch.

“Standoffish,” she sighed.

I’d been afraid of that and knew she
had been too.

“Oh sweetie, I’m sorry,” I said
sympathetically.

“Ugh, I shouldn’t have slept with him
so soon,” she groaned. “I
never
do
that, but I couldn’t seem to help it!” she lamented.

“You went with your instincts and you
had fun right?”

She nodded.

“He might come around. For now I’d
just give him his space, make him come to you. If he knows what’s good for him,
he will,” I said firmly.

“What’s going on ladies?” Connie
asked, plopping on the couch next to us.

Kat took a moment to fill her in.

Connie waved her hand dismissively.
“Sal’s just weird like that. I wouldn’t read much into it.”

“Yeah well I’m not into being treated
like a pariah after I sleep with a guy,” Kat muttered.

“I hear you,” Connie agreed. “Wes was
a bit like that at first,” she confided. I found that hard to believe with how
much he clearly doted on her now. “I think some of these tough guys are just
like that at first when they meet a woman they actually like. They don’t know
what to do with it after all the skanks they’re used to,” she said dryly. “But
Sal is a mystery to all of us to begin with. He’s so guarded it’s hard to get
to know him even a little bit. Just play a little hard to get, see what
happens,” she advised.

“Done and done. I don’t even have to
play,” Kat muttered.

I squeezed her thigh for a moment in
reassurance, hoping like hell that Sal pulled his head out of his ass. Kat was
gorgeous and funny and just amazing all around. She deserved the best. She also
had a temper that you did
not
want to
fuck around with.

I went to find the bathroom and then
planned to look for Cole. The house was small, but I meandered a bit trying to
find it. I was slightly tipsy and the house was packed.

“Looking for something sweet cheeks?”
a deep voice inquired. I turned to find a very handsome dark haired man looking
hungrily at my ass.

“Did you seriously just call me ‘sweet
cheeks?’
”
I asked, dumbfounded that he had the nerve.

“Well, it’s a seriously sweet ass,” he
said, moving toward me.

“You don’t back up immediately, we
have a serious fucking problem Parker,” Cole’s voice boomed from behind me.

“Oh sorry man, this yours?” my asshole
admirer said as he nodded toward me, immediately backing up.

“Is this yours?” I repeated back his
words with supreme irritation. “Seriously? Are you fucking kidding me?” I
demanded incredulously.

“Baby, cool it,” Cole commanded,
putting a hand on my waist.

Oh no, I did
not
think so. I would not be told to “cool it” but I knew enough to
have those words later, not in front of an audience.

I turned back to jerk face. “A word of
advice, you ever want to raise your standards a bit and try getting a decent
piece of tail, I wouldn’t start off by calling a woman ‘sweet cheeks,’” I
advised.

I felt Cole stiffen behind me. Clearly
he hadn’t heard that part.

“I also wouldn’t refer to a woman akin
to an inanimate object,” I added helpfully.

The guy chuckled and turned amused
eyes to Cole. “Got your hands full, huh Jackson?” he taunted. His quip clearly
had a double meaning as he took a good long look at my breasts and backside.

I narrowed my eyes.

“You want to make this an issue you
keep
talkin
’,” Cole goaded, his voice full of menace.

Oh dear, perhaps it was time to try to
diffuse the situation.

“Forget it babe, let’s go get a beer,”
I prompted, even though my bladder was now seriously protesting.

But Cole didn’t even spare me a glance.
He was too busy glaring at Parker.

“Babe,” I prompted, quietly putting a
hand on his chest.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”
Sal demanded of Parker, coming to join our tense little huddle. “You weren’t
invited, get the fuck out.”

“Just came to see how the other half
lives,” Parker replied as he chuckled. “Clearly, the other half is pussy
whipped,” he said with a grin. “Though, I admit, I can’t say I blame you man.”
He winked at Cole.

“One more word and you won’t be able
to fucking walk tomorrow,” Cole threatened.

Parker held up his hands in surrender,
though he was still visibly amused as he walked away.

“Who was that?” I demanded.

“One of the reasons to remain vigilant,”
Cole muttered unhelpfully. “Let’s go get that beer.”

“Actually, you go. The whole reason I
came in here was to pee, where’s the bathroom?” I asked him.

He pointed me in the right direction,
still seeming aggravated. Perhaps leaving him alone for a few minutes wasn’t a
bad idea anyway. It was clear that he and that Parker guy had some sort of
history and it wasn’t a good one.

When I found the bathroom it was
locked, so I leaned against the wall patiently waiting for it to become
unoccupied.

I groaned inwardly when I heard
obvious retching from the bathroom. I debated for a moment on what to do before
I knocked quietly.

“Hey, can I get you something?” I
offered. “Water?”

“Water, please,” a female voice
croaked a response.

Moments later I returned with a huge
plastic cup filled with water and knocked again. I was taken aback slightly
when my not so favorite person, Daisy opened the door. But she looked so sick I
couldn’t hold a grudge.

“Here you go,” I offered.

“Thanks,” she muttered, mascara
running down her face.

“Here, I’ve got some makeup remover
wipes in my purse,” I offered, entering the decent sized bathroom and closing
the door behind me. The smell of vomit was strong, and I cracked the window
after handing her a wipe.

“Should have had dinner,” she
muttered.

“Been there,” I replied
sympathetically.

“Your Cole’s new woman, huh?” she asked.

I nodded a bit wearily.

“I would have really preferred to
dislike you,” she muttered.

I laughed despite myself as she wiped up
her makeup into some semblance of normalcy.

“Us girls
gotta
stick together don’t you think?” I said and smiled, cocking my head at her in
the mirror.

“Not a stance I’m used to, but I like
it,” she muttered.

“Mind if I pee since I’m already in
here?” I asked, thankful the toilet had a separate door.

“Go ahead,” she replied, looking
herself over in the mirror.

I peed, washed my hands, and regarded
her for a moment in the mirror. “Much better,” I said. “I’ll let you finish up.”
I opened the door to leave and give her some privacy.

“Hey, um thanks,” she called to me.

“Sure thing,” I replied and almost ran
into Cole on the way out.

“I was looking for you,” he said,
looking quizzically at me. “Who was in the bathroom?”

“Oh, Daisy had a little too much to
drink. I just got her some water and some makeup remover,” I said as I shrugged
nonchalantly. “I could use that beer now,” I added as he followed me out to the
kitchen.

“You were in there
helpin
’
Daisy?” he asked clearly confused.

I sighed exasperated. “Yeah babe, of
course. It’s not like I hate her or anything. She wasn’t being vindictive the
other night. She was just playing the role she knows” I said. “I doubt she knew
you were spoken for. From what I gather the knowledge is slightly surprising to
folks,” I said dryly. “If she had her hands all over you now that we’re clear,
that’d be a different story,” I clarified.

“Uh huh,” he replied, still regarding
me as though I’d grown two heads.

I rolled my eyes at him as he took my
hand and led me back outside. It was clear that he didn’t intend to let me out
of his sight for the rest of the night, which was fine by me. I sat perched on
his lap and laughed with Connie,
Ettie
, and some of
the guys. It felt very natural spending time with all of them and I couldn’t
remember the last time I’d had such a fun, carefree night despite our earlier
run in with Parker.

When Kat emerged from the house awhile
later, I locked eyes with her to carefully assess her mood. She met my gaze and
I knew I needed to take care of my friend.

“Babe, I’m
gonna
go home with Kat,” I told Cole quietly in his ear, still perched on his knee.

“What?” he asked.

“She’s not having a good night,” I
explained, not wanting to go into the details. “We look out for each other. As
much fun as I’m having and as much as I’d love to stay, I
gotta
take care of my girl,” I said, kissing him when he turned his face to look up
into mine.

“Take her to my place,” he instructed.
“I’ll stay here a while longer, give you time to talk with your girl. But then
I end the day with you in my bed,” his deep voice rumbled in my ear. “Put her
up in the guest room.”

“You sure?” I asked surprised and
pleased by the suggestion.

He nodded. “Hank is trailing you to my
place,” he added, referring to one of the many new Knights I’d met that
evening.

“It’s a few blocks,” I protested.

He leveled me with a look and I
sighed. “Okay, fine,” I relented before I kissed him again and arose from his
lap. I did need to be careful these days.

I headed straight for Kat, took her
hand, and led her out of the house without a word. Once we were on the street,
I put an arm around her and started walking. I knew Hank was behind us, but he
kept his distance and it almost felt like we were alone.

“We’re going to Cole’s,” I explained.
“He has a guest room and he’ll give us some time.”